A core principle that all #W3C work group must follow is to allow access across disabilities, country borders, and time.
It hinges mainly on excellent minuting and record-keeping, on W3C's persistence policy (that's why the number of resources we put on the web is so huge).
This allows all participants –present and future– and observers to participate and understand the rationale and origins of decisions, and to guarantee long-lived access to published documents.