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

Introduction 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 W3C

Tim 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 Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence MIT Directs W3C Author of “Weaving the Web”

Facts 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 , 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 10 th 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 , 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 10 th anniversary with symposia about the history and future of the Web and W3C

Achievements Over Time Oct First W3C Recommendation published is Portable Network Graphics Dec Separating content from structure, CSS Level 1 is published Dec HTML 4.0 adds tables, scripting, style sheets, internationalization, and accessibility features to Web publishing Aug Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 enriches Web graphics May W3C adopts royalty-free Patent Policy

Achievements (Continued) March W3C gives voice to the Web with VoiceXML 2.0 Feb Character Model brings unified approach to using characters on the Web May Mobile Web Initiative launched to facilitate mobile Web access March W3C gives voice to the Web with VoiceXML 2.0 Feb Character Model brings unified approach to using characters on the Web May Mobile Web Initiative launched to facilitate mobile Web access

W3C 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 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

Notes 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 Draft Published every 3 months Attains “Last Call” status when near completion Published every 3 months Attains “Last Call” status when near completion

Candidate Recommendation “Final Draft” Submitted to developers for Testing/Implementation Special Circumstances “Final Draft” Submitted to developers for Testing/Implementation Special Circumstances

Proposed 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.

Recommendation Voted in Considered stable Voted in Considered stable

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

CSS 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.

PNG 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.

RDF 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.

XML 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?

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? 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? 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? 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.