Mission | Activities | Industry Impact
Nearby: People of the Interaction Domain.
W3C's Interaction Domain is responsible for developing technologies that shape the Web's user interface. These technologies include (X)HTML, the markup language that started the Web. We also work on second-generation Web languages initiated at the W3C: CSS, MathML, SMIL and SVG and XForms all have become an integral part of the Web. Finally, we develop ways to integrate these components together into the Rich Web Clients of tomorrow.
W3C Interaction Domain technologies enable millions of people every day to browse the Web and to author Web content. Industry uses these technologies for purposes such as distributing information within an organization and creating new business opportunities.
From the introduction of the Graphics Activity Statement:
Graphics continue to play a critical role in everyday usage of the Web, from decorative graphics through advertising to diagrams and interactive graphical user interfaces. Graphical front-ends for live networked data, Web services, and visualizations of the Semantic Web are current growth areas as is the use of graphics in industrial control, automation, and embedded applications.
The W3C Graphics Activity has worked in this area for over ten years. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), the current effort of the Activity, brings the powerful combination of interactive, animated two-dimensional vector graphics and Extensible Markup Language (XML). WebCGM 2.0 is used mainly in industrial and defence technical documents. Earlier work was concerned with Portable Network Graphics (PNG) and with WebCGM 1.0.
Read more on the Graphics Activity home page.
Chris Lilley is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes this group:
From the introduction of the HTML Activity Statement:
The HTML Working Group is currently chartered to continue its work through 30 June 2015. A Plan 2014 document published by the group includes details about the timeline for taking the HTML5 spec to Recommendation in 2014. As part of that plan, the group has published the following Candidate Recommendation (CR) drafts:
The group publishes a number of other deliverables in addition to the HTML5 and HTML Canvas 2D Context specifications; for a listing of all the group’s deliverables, see the publications status page.
The group uses the following to keep track of proposed extensions to HTML:
- HTML extension specifications (actual drafts defining proposed extensions to HTML)
- HTML.next bugs (requests for future enhancements to HTML)
The group using the following for tracking issues and decisions related to its deliverables:
- decision history
- issue change-proposal status and deadlines
- formal objections
- closed issues with possible new information and all closed issues
- raised and open issues
- decision-policy bug list
Per Plan 2014, the milestones for publication of the HTML specification are as follows:
Specification FPWD LC CR PR Rec HTML5 N/A 2011 Q2 2012 Q4 2014 Q4 2014 Q4 HTML 5.1 2012 Q4 2014 Q3 2015 Q1 2016 Q4 2016 Q4 Note: Plan 2014 calls for a short Last Call for HTML5 in Q3 of 2014, prior to the move to PR in Q4 2014.
The group meets face-to-face up to twice a year. Below are records for previous and upcoming meetings.
- November 14-15, 2013, Shenzen
- April 23-24, 2013, San Jose
- TPAC 2012, Lyon
- May 2012, Mountain View
- TPAC 2011, Santa Clara
- TPAC 2010, Lyon
- TPAC 2009, Santa Clara
- TPAC 2008, Mandelieu
- TPAC 2007, MIT/Cambridge
Michael[tm] Smith, W3C HTML Activity Lead
Read more on the HTML Activity home page.
Robin Berjon is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes these groups:
From the introduction of the Internationalization Activity Statement:
Note: This Activity Statement covers the period from October 2013 to May 2014.
The goal of the Internationalization (I18n) Activity is to ensure that W3C's formats and protocols are open to all of the world's languages, writing systems, character codes and local conventions.
I18n advises W3C Working Groups, reviews W3C publications, coordinates with the Unicode Technical Committee, the IETF, ISO committees, and the localization industry. I18n increases awareness of internationalization issues via conferences, workshops, articles and Working Group Notes. I18n provides upfront input to Working Groups and reviews Last Call Working Drafts on a wide range of topics, including Unicode character normalization, international typographic requirements, script issues in text-to-speech implementations, internationalization and localization requirements for schemas, usage scenarios and requirements for the internationalization of Web services, implementation of international resource identifiers, and many more.
For the curious, "I18n" is shorthand for the first, last, and 18 middle characters in the word "Internationalization."
Read more on the Internationalization Activity home page.
Richard Ishida is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes these groups:
From the introduction of the Math Activity Statement:
Mathematics is an essential aspect of science and education. So, to realize the potential of the Web for science, it must be possible to use mathematics on the Web. Mathematical expressions must move seamlessly between the Web and a wide range of environments including authoring tools, content management systems, XML-based work flows, e-learning environments, and scientific computing software.
W3C brought together key players and major stake holders and formed the Math Working Group. It created and maintains the Mathematical Markup Language (MathML), a highly structured, information-rich, XML encoding for mathematical expressions.
MathML facilitates authoring and presentation of mathematical expressions in print and on the screen, and forms the basis for machine to machine communication of mathematics on the Web. MathML provides two sets of tags, one for the presentation of mathematics and the other associated with the meaning behind equations. MathML is not designed for hand-editing; specialized tools provide the means for typing and editing mathematical expressions.
The MathML 1.0 Recommendation appeared on 7 April 1998. The latest version, version 3.0, became a Recommendation on 21 October 2010. It includes OpenMath Content Dictionaries, and supports right-to-left writing, such as used in some countries with Arabic script. The 2nd edition (10 April 2014) synchronized it with Unicode 6.
Read more on the Math Activity home page.
Bert Bos is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes this group:
From the introduction of the Rich Web Client Activity Statement:
The Rich Web Clients Activity contains the work within W3C on Web Applications.
With the ubiquity of Web browsers and Web document formats across a range of platforms and devices, many developers are using the Web as an application environment. Examples of applications built on rich Web clients include reservation systems, online shopping or auction sites, games, multimedia applications, calendars, maps, chat applications, weather displays, clocks, interactive design applications, stock tickers, office document and spreadsheet applications, currency converters, and data entry/display systems.
Web client applications typically have some form of programmatic control. They may run within the browser or within another host application. A Web client application is typically downloaded on demand each time it is "executed," allowing a developer to update the application for all users as needed. Such applications are usually smaller than regular desktop applications in terms of code size and functionality, and may have interactive rich graphical interfaces.
The work of the Web Applications (WebApps) WG covers both APIs and formats. APIs are the assorted scripting methods that are used to build rich Web applications, mashups, Web 2.0 sites. Standardizing APIs improves interoperability and reduces site development costs. Formats covers certain markup languages, including Widgets for deploying small Web applications outside the browser, and XBL for skinning applications.
Read more on the Rich Web Client Activity home page.
Doug Schepers is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes these groups:
From the introduction of the Style Activity Statement:
Many people are accustomed to style sheets in word-processing. W3C's style sheets offer extensive control over the presentation of Web pages. The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language is widely implemented. It is playing an important role in styling not just HTML, but also many kinds of XML documents: XHTML, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) and SMIL (the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language), to name a few. It is also an important means of adapting pages to different devices, such as mobile phones or printers.
W3C is also developing the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL, see the XML Activity Statement). XSL applies a “style sheet” to transform one XML-based document into another. XSL and CSS can be combined.
W3C has a page on CSS resources, including browsers, authoring tools and tutorials.
Read more on the Style Activity home page.
Bert Bos is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes this group:
From the introduction of the Video in the Web Activity Statement:
The goal of this activity is to make video a
first class citizenof the Web. Video on the Web (and this includes audio, as the two are typically used together) has seen explosive growth, improving the richness of the user experience but leading to challenges in content discovery, searching, indexing and accessibility. Enabling users (from individuals to large organizations) to put video in the Web requires that we build a solid architectural foundation that enables people to create, navigate, search, link and distribute video, effectively making video part of the Web instead of an extension that doesn't take full advantage of the Web architecture.
Read more on the Video in the Web Activity home page.
Philippe Le Hégaret is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes this group:
From the introduction of the XForms Activity Statement:
XForms is a markup language that addresses the modern needs of electronic forms. It is based on XML and can deliver the collected values as an XML document. It addresses questions of authorability, usability, accessibility, device independence, internationalization, integration into different host languages, and reducing the need for scripting.
Read more on the XForms Activity home page.
is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes this group:
From the introduction of the Fonts Activity Statement:
Fonts for Web documents come from different sources: they can already be on the reader's machine, they can be carried inside the document (possible with SVG, e.g.), or they can be indicated with a link and downloaded on demand. That last possibility exists in CSS and SVG under the name of Web Fonts. It's often also simply called @font-face.
Read more on the Fonts Activity home page.
Chris Lilley is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes this group:
From the introduction of the Web Testing Activity Statement:
The role of the Web Testing activity is to develop the testing mechanisms, outreach activities, and collateral materials for testing Web technologies.
For the past 10 years, W3C has been developing test suites for the purpose of demonstrating interoperable implementations of each specification when requesting the Director to approve a Proposed Recommendation transition. For example, one of the most recent specifications, CSS 2.1, has a test suite of around 9000 tests. Each Working Group has been developing test suites and generating test results in their own ways. Using ad-hoc processes and testing methods, most of them did not attempt to reuse existing methods or approaches. In the past, the Mobile Web Initiative did produce a series of integrated test suites for the Mobile platform and this kind of effort needs to be generalized across W3C Working Groups.
With the new wave of developments in the Open Web Platform, the increase diversity in devices, and the increase in demands for real interoperability between the technologies, it is important for W3C to step up its efforts and coordinate the energies in testing new technologies like HTML5, CSS3, ARIA, etc. There is a strong need for Web technologies to work out "out of the box" on any devices (Desktop, TV, mobile, tablet) and reliably in more consumer oriented use cases, including accessibility.
The intent of the acitivty is to enable testing of the various facets of Web agents: rendering, scripting, animation, performance, user interaction, or integration with platform APIs, such as Accessiblity APIs.
Read more on the Web Testing Activity home page.
Michael[tm] Smith is the Activity Lead.
The Activity includes this group:
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