:) I don't think that's pedantic, it's a really good point to bring up.
On the web side of things, the W3C often describes their role as being partially descriptive.
From their doc on the Web of Things[0]: "The Web of Things is descriptive, not prescriptive, and so is generally designed to support the security models and mechanisms of the systems it describes, not introduce new ones... while we provide examples and recommendations based on the best available practices in the industry, this document contains informative statements only."
This is exactly for the reason you mention - if browsers collectively decide to go in a different direction, what the W3C says doesn't matter. The web standard is what the browsers do.
However, two things to keep in mind:
Even where browsers are concerned, there is still an API and a canonical version of "correct" for each browser. What we're trying to do is get those APIs to be compatible and consistent with each other.
Many people believe that language even on an individual level doesn't directly map to an actual reality; in web standards that would be like the browsers themselves not having their own consistent API.
But assume those people are wrong for a sec. Let's assume that language is just a standardization problem between different communities and individuals. Well, the W3C should teach us that even in the realm of computing, standardization is really stinking hard.
So even in that scenario, we have to ask whether standardization becomes easier or harder when every single individual in a community has the ability to change norms or introduce more language. We can't even get 3-4 browser manufacturers to agree on a single API, now imagine if every single hair salon owner could increase divergence whenever they wanted just by answering phone calls differently.
On the web side of things, the W3C often describes their role as being partially descriptive.
From their doc on the Web of Things[0]: "The Web of Things is descriptive, not prescriptive, and so is generally designed to support the security models and mechanisms of the systems it describes, not introduce new ones... while we provide examples and recommendations based on the best available practices in the industry, this document contains informative statements only."
This is exactly for the reason you mention - if browsers collectively decide to go in a different direction, what the W3C says doesn't matter. The web standard is what the browsers do.
However, two things to keep in mind:
Even where browsers are concerned, there is still an API and a canonical version of "correct" for each browser. What we're trying to do is get those APIs to be compatible and consistent with each other.
Many people believe that language even on an individual level doesn't directly map to an actual reality; in web standards that would be like the browsers themselves not having their own consistent API.
But assume those people are wrong for a sec. Let's assume that language is just a standardization problem between different communities and individuals. Well, the W3C should teach us that even in the realm of computing, standardization is really stinking hard.
So even in that scenario, we have to ask whether standardization becomes easier or harder when every single individual in a community has the ability to change norms or introduce more language. We can't even get 3-4 browser manufacturers to agree on a single API, now imagine if every single hair salon owner could increase divergence whenever they wanted just by answering phone calls differently.
[0]: https://www.w3.org/TR/wot-security/