Who do you think is in the standards groups? The browser makers. There isn't enough representation from the people who actually will be using these features, and it seems that even when those people can get a word in edgewise it is ignored.
> The developer community did everything asked of them. They followed procedure, they thoroughly discussed the options available. They were careful enough to consider what to do for browsers that wouldn’t support the element—a working polyfill is readily available. Their solution even emulates the existing standardized audio and video elements. Meanwhile an Apple representative writes one email about a new attribute that only partially solves the problem and the 5 days later it’s in the spec.
So yes, it appears that not only does the standards discussion start with working code, it ends with it.
In this case, the community group that was created did not include browser implementors or people who actively contribute to mainline HTML standards, and was not advertised on forums that they frequent. In light of this, their expectation that their proposal would be taken up wholesale was somewhat misguided.
> The developer community did everything asked of them. They followed procedure, they thoroughly discussed the options available. They were careful enough to consider what to do for browsers that wouldn’t support the element—a working polyfill is readily available. Their solution even emulates the existing standardized audio and video elements. Meanwhile an Apple representative writes one email about a new attribute that only partially solves the problem and the 5 days later it’s in the spec.
So yes, it appears that not only does the standards discussion start with working code, it ends with it.