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2. Policy Requirements

2. Policy Requirements​

Decisions about SVG tooling and implementation are made by the RPC and must follow these policy requirements:

  • SVG drawings may be included in RFCs to explain concepts more clearly, but they should not be the only representation of those concepts. Authors should make a good-faith effort to ensure that protocol, format, or architecture descriptions are fully represented in RFC text. At minimum, SVG drawings should be consistent with that text.
  • SVG drawings must not include animation or interactive features. They should include only limited reactive design elements, such as scaling, dark/light mode, and minor adjustments for display technology.
  • Images and diagrams should render successfully and be understandable to the widest possible audience. The RPC may prohibit SVG features that lack support on common devices, fail on small or low-resolution screens, or reduce comprehensibility for significant readership.
  • SVG drawings must not contain pointers to external resources.
  • SVG drawings must not contain executable script.
  • SVG drawings should be as accessible as possible for people with visual disabilities, including color blindness, scaling or font needs, and use of screen-reading software. The RPC will refer to [WAI] for accessibility guidance.
  • Authors may include multiple image or diagram versions in RFCXML [RFC9720]. Publication formats should present the version best suited to each format.
  • SVG vocabulary and implementation may change over time. Changes need not remain backward compatible, though maintaining compatibility where possible is encouraged.
  • The RPC is authorized to constrain SVG usage in RFCs for technical and editorial reasons, so that published RFCs meet this policy and remain consistent across the RFC Series.
  • The RPC must document acceptable SVG usage and must widely communicate changes to SVG tooling and implementation decisions to the RFC author community.
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