[mcchampion]

> If they choose "not to ratify" something... will it have any effect on browser behavior at all?

W3C has no authority to change browser behavior, no. But they CAN influence browser behavior by providing expert assistance to promote W3C's traditional values (accessibility, internationalization, privacy, etc.) in WHATWG.

We'll have to see if W3C's ratification or not has an impact on the larger web ecosystem, but it would probably get key customers' (and regulators) attention if W3C refused to ratify changes to HTML, DOM, etc. on accesibility or privacy grounds. Browser developers may respect W3C's supposed authority to set standards, but they definitely do respect the opinions of customers and authority of regulators.