# Presentation: 186736

## Leuven ZIG Meeting, July 2000

- Overview of the W3C

## W3C Was established in 1994

- To develop common protocols for the web,
- promote its evolution, and
- improve interoperability.
- Motto:

- "lead the Web
- to its full potential"

## What is the W3C?

- Two Views:
- The W3C View
- The cynical view

## "lead the Web to its full potential”   AND .........

- ensure that the web remains a robust, scalable,  and adaptive infrastructure;
- make the web accessible to as  many users as possible;
- promote  technologies that bridge differences in culture,  education, ability, material resources, and  physical limitations.

- W3C View

## Cynical View

- W3C is an invention of Microsoft,
-  Netscape, and IBM, to
- enable them to bring products
- to market more quickly.

## An international industry consortium jointly hosted by institutions in

- the US
-  Europe
-  Asia

- (MIT)
- (INRIA)
- (Keio University, Japan)

## 424 members (as of June 23):

- commercial companies
- academic institutions
-  consortiums
-  government agencies

## commercial companies:

- hardware,
- software,
- and telecommunications companies;
-  content providers;
- and corporate users.

## Adobe Systems Inc. 
America Online, Inc. 
American Express
Andromedia 
Apple Computer, Inc. 
AT&T 
Autodesk, Inc. 
Baltimore Technologies 
The Boeing Company 
University of Bologna 
University of Bristol 
Bull S.A. 
Cardiff Software 
CERN 
Cisco Systems 
CiTEC 
CITIBANK, N.A. 

- America Online, Inc.
- American Express
- Andromedia
- Apple Computer, Inc.
- AT&T
- Autodesk, Inc.
- Baltimore Technologies
- The Boeing Company
- University of Bologna
- University of Bristol
- Bull S.A.
- Cardiff Software
- CERN
- Cisco Systems
- CiTEC
- CITIBANK, N.A.

- CNRS
- Coalition for Networked Information
- Compaq Computer Corporation
- Concur Technologies
- Corel Corporation
- Data Channel
- Data Research Associates, Inc.
- Eastman Kodak Company
- Federal Geographic Data Committee
- France Telecom
- Fretwell-Downing
- Fulcrum Technologies, Inc.
- GE Information Services, Inc.
- George Washington University
- Graphic Communications Association
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

## Hewlett Packard Company 
HiT Software
Hitachi, Ltd. 
HitchHiker Software GmbH 
Honda Motor Co., Ltd 
Hong Kong Jockey Club
HTML Writers Guild, Inc. 
IBM Corporation 
IBM Taiwan Corporation 
IEEE Computer Society 
Intel Corporation 
 DOI Foundation 
Japan Broadcasting Corporation  
Keio University 
Library of Congress 

- HiT Software
- Hitachi, Ltd.
- HitchHiker Software GmbH
- Honda Motor Co., Ltd
- Hong Kong Jockey Club
- HTML Writers Guild, Inc.
- IBM Corporation
- IBM Taiwan Corporation
- IEEE Computer Society
- Intel Corporation
-  DOI Foundation
- Japan Broadcasting Corporation
- Keio University
- Library of Congress

- Lotus
- Lucent Technologies
- MIT
- Merrill Lynch
- Metropolitan Police Service
- Microsoft Corporation
- Microstar Software Ltd.
- Microsystems Software, Inc.
- MindQuake Interactive, Inc.
- MITRE Corporation
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- Motorola
- NASA Ames Research Center
- NSA
- National Univ of Singapore

## NBC Internet 
NCR 
NEC Corporation 
Network Solutions 
University of New South Wales 
Nokia 
OCLC
Open Text Corporation 
SilverPlatter Information Inc. 
Stack Overflow AG 
Sun Microsystems, Inc. 
EPA
Web3D Consortium 
webMethods, Inc. 
WinStar 
Xerox Corporation 
ZOT Group 

- NCR
- NEC Corporation
- Network Solutions
- University of New South Wales
- Nokia
- OCLC
- Open Text Corporation
- SilverPlatter Information Inc.
- Stack Overflow AG
- Sun Microsystems, Inc.
- EPA
- Web3D Consortium
- webMethods, Inc.
- WinStar
- Xerox Corporation
- ZOT Group

## Membership

- $50,000. (full)
- $5,000. (affiliate)
- government agencies
- non-profit
- limited revenue

- (no difference in privileges)

## Services and Products

- Primary service:
- a vendor neutral forum
- Primary product:
- “Recommendations”

## W3C Recommendations

- XML

- CSS

- RDF

- XHTML

- HTML 4.01

- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

- (XML) Namespaces

- Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines

- PICS

- DOM

- SMIL

## Stages of a Recomendation

- Working Draft
- in development (42)
- last call (15)
- Candidate Recommendation (3)
- Proposed Recommendation (1)
- Recommendation (22)

## Organizational Elements

- Staff.  About 60.  The “**Team”**
- Advisory Committee/Board
- Working Groups

## “Domains”

- User Interface
- Technology and Society
- Architecture
- Web Accessibility Initiative

## User Interface

- Premise
- As web information continues to grow, both in volume and  variety, it will be used by a greater diversity of people, and simplicity and interoperability will take on even greater importance.
- Focus
- formats/languages that will present information to users with more accuracy and a higher level  of control

## User Interface Domain:Activities

- HTML
- Style sheets
- Graphics
- Internationalization (character sets)
- Document Object Model
- Mobile Access
- Synchronized Multimedia
- Voice Browsers

## “Domains”

- User Interface
- Technology and Society
- Architecture
- Web Accessibility Initiative

## Technology and Society

- “trying to understand the social impact of the web” ........
-  Looks at Ethical and Legal issues......
- electronic commerce
- privacy
- ...... “from an international  perspective, (seeking) to understand these issues  in light of new technology, both by changing  the technology and by educating users about technology's benefits, costs, and limits."

## Technology and Society (continued)

- Educate public and policy makers about web capabilities and how these affect and are affected by proposed policies.
- “support a diverse range of public policy options without cultural fragmentation or domination.”

## Technology and Society DomainActivities

- Metadata
- RDF
- Digital Signature Initiative
- various privacy and security-related initiatives.

## “Domains”

- User Interface
- Technology and Society
- Architecture
- Web Accessibility Initiative

## Architecture

-  HTTP
-  XML
- naming and addressing
- web characterization

-  XML

- But Mostly:

## XML 

- XML Schema
- XML Linking
- Namespaces
- XML Core
- Canonical XML
- XML Information Set
- XML Query language

## “Domains”

- User Interface
- Technology and Society
- Architecture
- Web Accessibility Initiative

## Web Accessibility Initiative 

- promote web-usability and accessibility with respect to various:
-  constraints
- and disabilities

## Constraints 

- noisy surroundings
-  poor illumination
- eyes, ears, or hands  busy (e.g.driving to work)
-  loud environment
- early version of  browser, voice browser, different operating system
- text-only screen,  small screen,  slow Internet connection.

## Disabilities

- inability to see, hear, move, process certain types of information
- difficulty reading or comprehending text
-  inability to use a keyboard or mouse
- lack of fluency of the language in which a document is written

## Guidelines Produced by WAI

- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
- User Agent Accessibility guidelines
- Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines

- W3C Recommendation May 1999

- W3C Candidate Recommendation  Jan 2000

- W3C Recommendation Feb 1999

## Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 
 how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities.
User Agent Accessibility guidelines
Designing user agents accessible to people with disabilities -- graphical desktop browsers, multi-media players, text/voice browsers, plug-ins,  other assistive technologies.
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
How to design authoring tools that produce accessible web content, and create accessible authoring interfaces.

-  how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities.
- User Agent Accessibility guidelines
- Designing user agents accessible to people with disabilities -- graphical desktop browsers, multi-media players, text/voice browsers, plug-ins,  other assistive technologies.
- Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
- How to design authoring tools that produce accessible web content, and create accessible authoring interfaces.

## W3c in 7 Pointshttp://www.w3.org/Consortium/Points/

-  Universal Access
- Semantic Web
-  Trust
-  Interoperability
-  Evolvability
-  Decentralization
-  Cooler Multimedia!

## Universal Access

-  Internationalization
-  Mobile Access
-  TVWeb
-  Voice Browser
-  Web Accessibility Initiative

## Semantic Web

- RDF
- XML
- digital signatures

## Trust

- digital signatures
- annotation mechanisms
- group authoring
- versioning

## Improved Multimedia

- Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) language
-  Synchronized Multimedia  Integration Language (SMIL).
- To achieve:
- interactivity
- richer media
- resizable images
- quality sound, video, 3D effects
- animation?

##      IETF          and       W3C

- Open. Meetings attended by anyone who wishes to participate.
-  Effective for	 collection of ideas, and  providing criticism, from a wide community.
- Domain:  Internet protocols

- Assigns defined groups of committed experts to solve specific tasks.
- effective at producing  specifications likely to meet the needs of mem-bers and the community.
- Domain:  architecture of the Web