diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8cf2e6f..4e249d8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,12 +1,5 @@
 # Agentic Resource Discovery (ARD)
 
-> **Proposing a change to the specification?** Please
-> [open an issue](https://github.com/ards-project/ard-spec/issues/new) to start a
-> discussion first. The spec is maintained by its authors, and changes to it are
-> made by the maintainers once a proposal is agreed. Pull requests that modify the
-> specification will generally be closed in favor of that discussion. Issues,
-> questions, and feedback are always welcome.
-
 Canonical home of the **Agentic Resource Discovery** specification — a federated,
 domain-anchored standard for cataloging, searching, and discovering agentic
 resources (MCP servers, A2A agent cards, Skills, APIs, and other callable
@@ -25,10 +18,27 @@ this is the single source of truth.
 - [`adr/`](adr/) — architecture decision records
 - [`conformance/`](conformance/) — conformance test tooling
 
+## Contributing
+
+We'd love your involvement — contributions and feedback are very welcome. To keep
+the standard coherent, we handle two kinds of changes differently:
+
+- **Normative spec changes** (anything that alters the standard itself —
+  [`spec/ard.md`](spec/ard.md) and the schemas in [`spec/schemas/`](spec/schemas/)):
+  please [open an issue](https://github.com/ards-project/ard-spec/issues/new) to
+  discuss the proposal first. Once there's agreement, a maintainer lands the change.
+  This keeps the spec consistent and gives every change a clear rationale on record.
+- **Everything else** (examples, conformance tooling, reference implementations,
+  documentation, typo and link fixes): **pull requests are welcome** — just open one.
+
+Not sure which bucket your idea falls in? Open an issue and we'll figure it out
+together.
+
 ## Status
 
 **v0.9 (Draft).** The specification is open and evolving; feedback and proposals
-are welcome via [issues](https://github.com/ards-project/ard-spec/issues).
+are welcome via [issues](https://github.com/ards-project/ard-spec/issues) and,
+for non-normative changes, [pull requests](https://github.com/ards-project/ard-spec/pulls).
 
 ## License