World Wide Web Consortium

World Wide Web Consortium

Recommendations for the Web

By Charlie Thompson, Jeff Schroeder, and Romney Bake

Recommendations for the Web

By Charlie Thompson, Jeff Schroeder, and Romney Bake

IntroductionIntroduction

• W3C: who is it, where did it come from and what does it do?

• How does it develop its recommendations?

• Why do people listen to them?

• W3C: who is it, where did it come from and what does it do?

• How does it develop its recommendations?

• Why do people listen to them?

History of W3CHistory of W3C

Tim Burners-LeeTim Burners-Lee

• Oxford University, England, 1976

• Two years with Plessey Telecommunications Ltd. (transaction systems, message relays, and bar code technology)

• 1989, World Wide Web

• 3Com Founders chair @ Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab @ MIT

• Directs W3C

• Author of “Weaving the Web”

FactsFacts

• 1994, Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at MIT

• April 1995, INRIA became the first European W3C host

• Followed by Keio University of Japan, in Asia in 1996

• 2003, ERCIM took over the role of European W3C Host from INRIA

• December 2004, in Boston, MA, and in June 2005, in France, W3C celebrated its 10th anniversary with symposia about the history and future of the Web and W3C

• 1994, Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at MIT

• April 1995, INRIA became the first European W3C host

• Followed by Keio University of Japan, in Asia in 1996

• 2003, ERCIM took over the role of European W3C Host from INRIA

• December 2004, in Boston, MA, and in June 2005, in France, W3C celebrated its 10th anniversary with symposia about the history and future of the Web and W3C

Achievements Over TimeAchievements Over Time

• Oct 1996 - First W3C Recommendation published is Portable Network Graphics

• Dec 1996 - Separating content from structure, CSS Level 1 is published

• Dec 1997 - HTML 4.0 adds tables, scripting, style sheets, internationalization, and accessibility features to Web publishing

• Aug 2000 - Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 enriches Web graphics

• May 2003 - W3C adopts royalty-free Patent Policy

Achievements (Continued)Achievements (Continued)

• March 2004 - W3C gives voice to the Web with VoiceXML 2.0

• Feb 2005 - Character Model brings unified approach to using characters on the Web

• May 2005 - Mobile Web Initiative launched to facilitate mobile Web access

• March 2004 - W3C gives voice to the Web with VoiceXML 2.0

• Feb 2005 - Character Model brings unified approach to using characters on the Web

• May 2005 - Mobile Web Initiative launched to facilitate mobile Web access

W3C Process DocumentW3C Process Document

Describes:• Organizational

Structure• How W3C Functions

Does not describe:• Public interactivity• W3C Team internal

workings

Describes:• Organizational

Structure• How W3C Functions

Does not describe:• Public interactivity• W3C Team internal

workings

Process OverviewProcess Overview• Working Draft (WD)• Last Call Working Draft• Candidate Recommendation (CR)• Proposed Recommendation (PR)• W3C Recommendation

• Working Draft (WD)• Last Call Working Draft• Candidate Recommendation (CR)• Proposed Recommendation (PR)• W3C Recommendation

NotesNotes

Receive the attention of W3C personnel, yet have no official standing

Notes from a number of sources:• Working Groups in Trial Phase• W3C Member Organizations• W3C Staff

Receive the attention of W3C personnel, yet have no official standing

Notes from a number of sources:• Working Groups in Trial Phase• W3C Member Organizations• W3C Staff

Working DraftWorking Draft

• Published every 3 months

• Attains “Last Call” status when near completion

• Published every 3 months

• Attains “Last Call” status when near completion

Candidate RecommendationCandidate Recommendation• “Final Draft”• Submitted to developers for

Testing/Implementation• Special Circumstances

• “Final Draft”• Submitted to developers for

Testing/Implementation• Special Circumstances

Proposed RecommendationProposed Recommendation• “Revised Final Draft”• Working Group Members cast

ballots on their acceptance or revision.

• “Revised Final Draft”• Working Group Members cast

ballots on their acceptance or revision.

RecommendationRecommendation

• Voted in• Considered stable

• Voted in• Considered stable

StructureStructure

• Director• Members• Advisory Committee• Team• Advisory Board• Technical Architecture Group• Working Groups

• Director• Members• Advisory Committee• Team• Advisory Board• Technical Architecture Group• Working Groups

Working GroupsWorking Groups

• Do most of standards’ development

• Document development process

• Focus• Degree of

membership disclosure

• Consensus

• Do most of standards’ development

• Document development process

• Focus• Degree of

membership disclosure

• Consensus

CSSCSS

• Short for Cascading Style Sheets, a feature added to HTML that gives both Web site developers and users more control over how pages are displayed. With CSS, designers and users can create style sheets that define how different elements, such as headers and links, appear. These Style Sheets can then be applied to any Web page.

• Short for Cascading Style Sheets, a feature added to HTML that gives both Web site developers and users more control over how pages are displayed. With CSS, designers and users can create style sheets that define how different elements, such as headers and links, appear. These Style Sheets can then be applied to any Web page.

PNGPNG

• Portable Network Graphics - A file format for bitmapped graphic images approved by the World Wide Web Consortium as a replacement for GIF files. GIF files use a patented data compression algorithm; PNG is patent- and license-free.

• Portable Network Graphics - A file format for bitmapped graphic images approved by the World Wide Web Consortium as a replacement for GIF files. GIF files use a patented data compression algorithm; PNG is patent- and license-free.

RDFRDF

• A set of rules (a sort of language) for creating descriptions of information, especially information available on the World Wide Web. RDF could be used to describe a collection of books, or artists, or a collection of web pages as in the RSS data format which uses RDF to create machine-readable summaries of web sites.

• A set of rules (a sort of language) for creating descriptions of information, especially information available on the World Wide Web. RDF could be used to describe a collection of books, or artists, or a collection of web pages as in the RSS data format which uses RDF to create machine-readable summaries of web sites.

XMLXML

• Extensible Markup Language is a W3C initiative that allows information and services to be encoded with meaningful structure and semantics that computers and humans can understand. XML is great for information exchange, and can easily be extended to include user-specified and industry-specified tags.

• Extensible Markup Language is a W3C initiative that allows information and services to be encoded with meaningful structure and semantics that computers and humans can understand. XML is great for information exchange, and can easily be extended to include user-specified and industry-specified tags.

Why Should We Listen to the W3C Recommendations?Why Should We Listen to the W3C Recommendations?

Here are just a few reasons:Here are just a few reasons:

• Adobe Systems Inc.• America Online, Inc.• Apple Computer, Inc.• AT&T• The Boeing Company• British Broadcasting

Corporation• Canon, Inc.• Cisco Systems• Daimler Chrysler Research

and Technology• Google, Inc.• HP• Hitachi, Ltd.• IBM Corporation

• Adobe Systems Inc.• America Online, Inc.• Apple Computer, Inc.• AT&T• The Boeing Company• British Broadcasting

Corporation• Canon, Inc.• Cisco Systems• Daimler Chrysler Research

and Technology• Google, Inc.• HP• Hitachi, Ltd.• IBM Corporation

• Macromedia• Microsoft Corporation• Mozilla Foundation• Nokia• Novell, Inc.• Opera Software• Oracle Software• SEMANTIC SYSTEMS,

S.A.• Sun Microsystems, Inc.• Walt Disney Internet

Group• Yahoo!, Inc.

• Macromedia• Microsoft Corporation• Mozilla Foundation• Nokia• Novell, Inc.• Opera Software• Oracle Software• SEMANTIC SYSTEMS,

S.A.• Sun Microsystems, Inc.• Walt Disney Internet

Group• Yahoo!, Inc.

But why do they listen to the W3C?But why do they listen to the W3C?• Because a standards body is the

only way to keep internet technologies from being fragmented.

• It is better for customers and users of the internet.

• Because they are members.

• Because a standards body is the only way to keep internet technologies from being fragmented.

• It is better for customers and users of the internet.

• Because they are members.

But why do they want to members? But why do they want to members? • Communication, project

management, accounting, advertising, and security.

• Web technologies are the very heart of many organizations.

• Companies need that part of their organization to be stable, and want to have a say in how it evolves.

• Communication, project management, accounting, advertising, and security.

• Web technologies are the very heart of many organizations.

• Companies need that part of their organization to be stable, and want to have a say in how it evolves.

Why not the IETF?Why not the IETF?

• When Tim Berners-Lee took HTML to the IETF it didn’t work out.

• The IETF has traditionally been for “lower middle-ware.”

• Its method for standards is thorough but not very efficient.

• Practical for critical low level standards, but not for upper level standards.

• When Tim Berners-Lee took HTML to the IETF it didn’t work out.

• The IETF has traditionally been for “lower middle-ware.”

• Its method for standards is thorough but not very efficient.

• Practical for critical low level standards, but not for upper level standards.