W3C - The World Wide Web Consortium Sam Rola Mitchell Smith Claire Stewart May 30 th 2007 Sam Rola Mitchell Smith Claire Stewart May 30 th 2007

W3C  An international consortium, where organizations and the public work together to develop Web standards  Develops technologies to lead the Web to its full potential.  W3C is a forum for  information  commerce  communication  collective understanding  Published more than ninety such standards, called “W3C Recommendations”  Created by Tim Berners-Lee  An international consortium, where organizations and the public work together to develop Web standards  Develops technologies to lead the Web to its full potential.  W3C is a forum for  information  commerce  communication  collective understanding  Published more than ninety such standards, called “W3C Recommendations”  Created by Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee  Worked at CERN: (physics lab) information sharing was hard within the lab  Wanted to make file sharing easier  People liked the idea of Hypercard and hyperlinks for other documents  Worked at CERN: (physics lab) information sharing was hard within the lab  Wanted to make file sharing easier  People liked the idea of Hypercard and hyperlinks for other documents

 Developed  HTML protocol for formatting, and  HTTP for transferring data from one computer to another  Allowed computers to transfer information in a language most computers could understand  Wanted to keep it open  Needed to prevent big company hijacking  Needed coordinated standards for the Web, to develop for the future  W3C was born, offices is France, US, Japan  Developed  HTML protocol for formatting, and  HTTP for transferring data from one computer to another  Allowed computers to transfer information in a language most computers could understand  Wanted to keep it open  Needed to prevent big company hijacking  Needed coordinated standards for the Web, to develop for the future  W3C was born, offices is France, US, Japan

Standards  Different parties can abide by standards  TCP/IP protocol -rules computers must follow to communicate with each other; e.g., -TCP: Transmission Control Protocol -IP: Internet Protocol -Microsoft tried to rewrite some of these protocols -Rest of the world did not buy into the idea  Different parties can abide by standards  TCP/IP protocol -rules computers must follow to communicate with each other; e.g., -TCP: Transmission Control Protocol -IP: Internet Protocol -Microsoft tried to rewrite some of these protocols -Rest of the world did not buy into the idea

Membership in the W3C  Open to any organization or individualorganization  Best for businesses that have a significant stake in the Web  Requires application, agreement, and membership dues:  Annual fee depends on entity’s nation and revenues  E.g., USA membership for entities with over 50,000,000 USD in annual revenue = $63,500; all other organizations = $6,350.  Size of company does not reflect amount of influence  Open to any organization or individualorganization  Best for businesses that have a significant stake in the Web  Requires application, agreement, and membership dues:  Annual fee depends on entity’s nation and revenues  E.g., USA membership for entities with over 50,000,000 USD in annual revenue = $63,500; all other organizations = $6,350.  Size of company does not reflect amount of influence

Membership by Country

Membership by Sector

Why become a member of the W3C?  Influence technical standards  Have a say in the future of the Web  Introduce new ideas  Track development of emerging technologies and markets  Implement standards ahead of the market  Ensure that standards remain royalty free  Influence technical standards  Have a say in the future of the Web  Introduce new ideas  Track development of emerging technologies and markets  Implement standards ahead of the market  Ensure that standards remain royalty free

Standardization: the process of establishing a technical standard among competing entities in a market, where this will bring benefits without hurting competition Companies conform to Web standards instead of creating proprietary ones because they estimate that everyone (including them) will benefit more. How might this restrict new development? Standardization: the process of establishing a technical standard among competing entities in a market, where this will bring benefits without hurting competition Companies conform to Web standards instead of creating proprietary ones because they estimate that everyone (including them) will benefit more. How might this restrict new development?

Benefits of Web Standards  Interoperability  Accessibility and browser compatibility  Decreased development and maintenance time  Versatility  Stability  Interoperability  Accessibility and browser compatibility  Decreased development and maintenance time  Versatility  Stability

Other Standard Setting Organizations:  International Organization for Standards (ISO)  The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE = ‘I-triple-E’)  American National Standards Institute (ANSI)  International Organization for Standards (ISO)  The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE = ‘I-triple-E’)  American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

Common Web Standards  HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol  HTML: HyperText Markup Language  XML: Extensible Markup Language  DOM: Document Object Model  XHTML: Extensible HyperText Markup Language  CSS: Cascading Style Sheets Where would we be without them?  HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol  HTML: HyperText Markup Language  XML: Extensible Markup Language  DOM: Document Object Model  XHTML: Extensible HyperText Markup Language  CSS: Cascading Style Sheets Where would we be without them?

Validators  Markup Validator  Line Checker  CSS Validator  Markup Validator  Line Checker  CSS Validator

Markup  Markups are computer languages  Most pages on the Web are written in computer languages such as HTML  As with all languages, these have grammar, vocabulary, and syntax which should be followed  The process used to verify conformance is called validation, and the tool used is called a validator  Markups are computer languages  Most pages on the Web are written in computer languages such as HTML  As with all languages, these have grammar, vocabulary, and syntax which should be followed  The process used to verify conformance is called validation, and the tool used is called a validator

Markup Validator  Markup validation is the process of checking a Web document against the grammar it claims to be using  It is a free tool which checks to make sure Web documents are written correctly  Similar to Microsoft Word's spell/grammar check  Markup validation is the process of checking a Web document against the grammar it claims to be using  It is a free tool which checks to make sure Web documents are written correctly  Similar to Microsoft Word's spell/grammar check

Why Validate  Web browsers will try to make an educated guess about what you probably meant  Problem is that different browsers, or even different versions of the same browser, will make different guesses  Or if your language is really bad the browser could produce a mangled mess or even crash  Web browsers will try to make an educated guess about what you probably meant  Problem is that different browsers, or even different versions of the same browser, will make different guesses  Or if your language is really bad the browser could produce a mangled mess or even crash

Validator Example  

Decision Making process  Consensus based  If a consensus can not be reached then a formal vote is used  Organizations may formally object to a decision, but it is not desirable  Tim Berners-Lee can veto any decision  Consensus based  If a consensus can not be reached then a formal vote is used  Organizations may formally object to a decision, but it is not desirable  Tim Berners-Lee can veto any decision