l e a d i n g t h e We b t o i t s f u l l p o t e n t i a l

“The Consortium has

been changing constantly
since it was formed. a new era
Having completed a
‘catching up’ and where people use a semantic Web
stabilizing phase with
HTML 4.0 and HTTP 1.1,
to engage, enrich, and educate
W3C has started
state-of-the-art common
specifications such as in The World Wide Web provides people with information on every topic. For growing numbers
Scalable Vector Graphics
of people, it is also emerging as the environment of choice for services related to their pro-
(SVG) and Platform for
Privacy Preferences (P3P). fessional activities and personal interests. The Web provides a vehicle for civic participation,
It is also forging ahead commercial transactions, and education. It gives people access to world news, employment
with a new idea—the
opportunities, and each other. And while the potential uses for the Web seem endless, exer-
semantic Web—
a unification of data cising that potential requires new technology development.
everywhere, through the
Web, into effectively one
What has been missing from the Web is a standard way to create and collect information
large database. The
Resource Description about information—also known as metadata. Enabling the creation of descriptive informa-
Framework (RDF) and the tion makes it possible for Web data to be effectively searched and processed by computers.
Extensible Markup
These models produce results that surpass current technologies in accuracy and scalability,
Language (XML) are the
two layers which provide while providing additional features, such as validation.
a stable foundation for a
very exciting set of
Implementation of a stable, extensible model for metadata is the next step in leading the Web
developments to come.”
to its full potential. RDF—Resource Description Framework—and XML—Extensible Markup
Tim Berners-Lee Language—are two technologies from W3C that will aid the Web to grow and better serve
Director, W3C
the needs of the global Web community.
 “The Consortium is pivotal in ensuring that the World Wide Web advances
communications and serves cultures around the globe.”

Nobuo Saito
Dean and Professor of Environmental Information
Keio University

THE INTERNET: THE WORLD WIDE WEB: THE WORLD WIDE WEB CONSORTIUM:
THE WORLD’S LARGEST SIMPLIFIED AND UNIVERSAL ACCESS THE LEADER IN GLOBAL WEB EVOLUTION
COMPUTER NETWORK TO THE INTERNET AND INTEROPERABILITY
In 1969, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced The World Wide Web, commonly referred to as the The rapid growth of the Web made it difficult for CERN
Research Projects Agency (DARPA), established the “Web,” was first conceived in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee to continue to oversee and coordinate the entire Web
Internet as a way to connect the many military, universi- as a project to improve collaboration between development effort. It became clear that the Web had
ty, and defense contractors working on its projects. researchers at CERN (the European Laboratory for outgrown its beginnings in the physics community. In
ARPANet was designed to use decentralized network- Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland). The Web was 1994, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was
ing.This allowed the network to grow extremely quickly devised as a seamless model in which all information on founded at MIT in collaboration with CERN and with
and to survive isolated computer failures. the Internet could be accessed in an extremely simple seed funding from DARPA and the European
and consistent manner—from any computer, in any Commission. From the beginning, Director Tim Berners-
In the mid-1980s, the National Science Foundation country, by any authorized user. Although the Web soon Lee has been committed to developing a neutral, open
(NSF) developed its own network, NSFNet, to be used spread outside the halls of the CERN research laborato- forum for the evolution of Web technology, a mission
for scholarly research at colleges throughout the United ries, it didn’t really take off until late 1992. Its sudden reflected by today’s 300-plus-Member global
States. NSFNet also offered students and faculty new success was due, in part, to the popularity of Mosaic, a Consortium.
ways to collaborate with their peers. Before long, email, graphical browser created by NCSA (National Center for
newsgroups, and public file servers sprouted, computer Supercomputing Applications). Currently the Web is the
lines became overloaded, and the Internet was flourish- most popular and fastest-growing information system
ing. Since then, the Internet’s continued growth has deployed on the Internet, representing more than 80%
been phenomenal to say the least.Today it spans all of its traffic.
seven continents. The number of users easily approach-
es hundreds of millions.
the Web and the Internet:
a place to share information and do business

01
 uniquely positioned to lead the evoluti
Leading the World Wide Web’s evolution means staying ahead of a significant W3C provides a vendor-neutral forum for its Members to address Web-relat-
wave of applications, services, and social changes. For W3C to effectively lead ed issues. Working together with its team and the global Web community, the
such dramatic growth at a time when a “Web Year” is equivalent to a few Consortium aims to produce free, interoperable specifications and sample
months, it must demonstrate exceptional agility, focus and diplomacy. To this code. Funding from Membership dues, public research funds, and external
end, the Consortium fulfills a unique combination of roles traditionally contracts underwrites these efforts.
ascribed to quite different organizations.
The Consortium’s Advisory Committee (AC) is composed of one official repre-
Like its partner standards body, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), sentative from each Member organization, who serves as the primary liaison
W3C is committed to developing open, technically sound specifications between the organization and W3C. The Advisory Committee’s role is to offer
backed by running sample code. Like other information technology consortia, advice on the overall progress and direction of the Consortium.
W3C represents the power and authority of hundreds of developers,
researchers, and users. Hosted by research organizations, the Consortium is
able to leverage the most recent advances in information technology. TEAM
W3C is led by Director Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, and
W3C works on technologies that impact people’s daily commercial, cultural Chairman Jean-François Abramatic. With more than 30 years combined
and personal activities. For several years W3C has recognized the social, legal, expertise in a wide array of computer-related fields, including real-time com-
and public policy challenges associated with the development of the Web.
munications, graphics, and text and image processing, Berners-Lee and
Abramatic are well prepared to lead the Consortium’s efforts in spearheading
the global evolution of the Web. The Consortium’s technical staff include full-
HOST INSTITUTIONS time and part-time employees, visiting engineers from Member organizations,
W3C was formally launched in October 1994 at the Massachusetts Institute of consultants, and students from more than 13 countries worldwide. The W3C
Technology’s Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS). Moving beyond the Team works with the Advisory Committee, the press, and the broader Web
Americas, the Consortium established a European presence in partnership community to promote W3C’s objectives.
with France’s National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control
(INRIA) in April 1995. As the Web’s influence continued to broaden interna-
tionally, the resulting growth in W3C Membership created the need for an RECOMMENDATION PROCESS
Asian host. In August 1996, Keio University in Japan became the Consortium’s Specifications developed within the Consortium must be formally reviewed by
third host institution. the Membership. Consensus is reached after a specification has proceeded
through the review stages of Working Draft, Proposed Recommendation, and
Recommendation. As new issues arise from Members, resources are reallo-
MEMBERS cated to new areas to ensure that W3C remains focused on topics most criti-
The Consortium’s real strength lies in the broad technical expertise of its cal to the Web’s interoperability and growth.
Membership. W3C currently has more than 300 commercial, non-profit, and
academic Members worldwide, including hardware and software vendors,
telecommunications companies, content providers, corporate users, citizen
groups, and government and academic entities.

02
 “W3C’s hope is to
become a truly
o n o f t h e Wo r d W i d e We b global organization
with an ever-expanding
and wide-reaching
membership.
DOMAINS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE Our goal is to further
Leading the evolution of a technology as dramatically in flux as the World The natural complement to W3C specifications is running code. the Web’s evolution
Wide Web is a challenging task. W3C is a unique organization, well adapt- Implementation and testing are an essential part of specification develop- as a robust, scalable,
ed to today’s fast-paced environment. Its mission is to lead the Web to its ment and releasing the code promotes exchange of ideas in the developer and adaptive
full potential: as a scalable computer-to-computer system, as an efficient community. All W3C software is Open Source. W3C Open Source Software
infrastructure; as a
human-to-computer interface, and as an effective human-to-human com- includes:
munications medium. In order to achieve these goals, W3C’s team of platform for the
experts works with its Members to advance the state of the art in each of Jigsaw, W3C’s object-oriented web server, written in Java application of
the four Domains: Architecture, User Interface, Technology and Society and and supporting HTTP 1.1 computation to
The Web Accessibility Initiative. Each Domain is responsible for investigat-
Amaya, W3C’s testbed browser/editor knowledge; and as a
ing and leading development in several Activity areas which are critical to
the Web’s global evolution and interoperability. A CSS Validator which allows the user to validate the responsible human
CSS style sheets used by HTML and XML pages communications
An HTML Validator which allows HTML documents to medium—all while
ACTIVITIES
be validated against the DTDs for HTML, including for HTML 4.0 preserving its universal
When W3C decides to become involved in a new technology or policy, it interoperability.”
Libwww, a general-purpose Web API written in C for
seeks the approval of its Membership to initiate an Activity in that area.
Unix and Win32. It is a highly modular extensible API which can be
W3C Members are formally invited to review the proposed scope and char-
used as the code base for writing Web clients, servers, and proxies. Jean-François
ter, and subsequently to participate in the work of the Activity. Generally an
activity is carried out by one or more groups which may be working groups, HTML Tidy, a free utility for correcting HTML syntax automatically and Abramatic
interest groups or coordination groups. An Activity may also be carried out producing clean markup. Tidy can be used to convert existing HTML con- W3C Chairman
by establishing a software project. tent into compliant XML.

The current list of Activities is as follows:

Architecture Domain User Interface Domain Technology and Society Domain Web Accessibility Initiative
HTTP Amaya Digital Signatures WAI International Program Office
HTTP-NG DOM Metadata WAI Technical Activity
Jigsaw Graphics Micropayments
TV and the Web HTML Privacy
Web Characterization Internationalization
XML Math
Mobile Access
Style Sheets
Synchronized Multimedia
Jean-François Abramatic Tim Berners-Lee Nobuo Saito Alan Kotok Vincent Quint Tatsuya Hagino Philipp Hoschka
W3C Chairman W3C Director W3C Associate Chairman W3C Associate Chairman W3C Deputy Director for W3C Deputy Director for Asia W3C Architecture
Joined W3C April 1995 Joined W3C September 1994 Joined W3C September 1996 Joined W3C May 1997 Europe and User Interface Joined W3C September 1997 Domain Leader
Domain Leader Joined W3C January 1996
Responsibilities Responsibilities Responsibilities Responsibilities Responsibilities
Joined W3C February 1996
Oversees all activities within Responsibilities
Spearheads the Consortium’s Associate Chairman of W3C Membership recruitment and Assists Chairman and Director
strategic direction the Consortium W3C Site Management at MIT Responsibilities with the Consortium’s Asian Coordinates all activities within
Education Assists Director with the operations the Architecture Domain.
Education
Education Ph. D. in Computer Science, Education Consortium’s European Chair of Synchronized
B.A. in Physics, Queen’s Education
Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Tokyo, Japan M.B.A. Clark University, operations Multimedia (SYMM)
College at Oxford University,
University of Paris VI, France Worcester, MA, USA Coordinates all activities with Ph.D. in Computer Science, Interest Group
England M. Eng. in Mathematical
M.S. in Engineering, Ecole des Engineering and Instrumentation, B.S. and M.S. in Electrical in the User Interface domain University of Edinburgh, Chair of TV and Web
Honorary degrees from the Scotland
Mines, Nancy, France University of Tokyo Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, Chair of the Hypertext Interest Group
Parsons School of Design
(D.F.A., 1996), Southampton MA, USA Coordination Group M.S. in Mathematical Education
Related Positions University (D.Sc. 1996) and Related Positions Sciences, Kyoto University,
Related Positions Japan Ph.D. in Computer Science,
1997–Present: Director of University of Essex (D.U. 1995–Present: Dean, Faculty Education
University of Nice-Sophia
Development, INRIA, France Essex) of Environmental Information, 1996–1997: V.P. Marketing, Ph.D. in Mathematics, Antipolis, France
Keio University, Japan GC Tech, Inc. Related Positions
1996–1999: Associate University of Grenoble, France
Related Positions 1993–Present: Associate Diploma (M.S.) in Computer
Director of the Laboratory of 1990–1995: Professor, 1962–1997: Corporate Ph.D. in Computer Science, Science, University of
Computer Science (LCS) at 1994–Present: Principal Faculty of Environmental Consulting Engineer, Digital Professor, Keio University
University of Grenoble, France Karlsruhe, Germany
MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA Research Scientist, MIT LCS Information, Keio University Equipment Corp. 1990–1993: Lecturer, Keio
M.S. in Engineering, Related Positions
1992–1996: Director of 1984–1994: Fellowship at 1978–1990: Professor, 1994–1996: W3C AC University
University of Grenoble, France
Development, INRIA CERN. In 1989 he invented Faculty of Engineering, Keio Representative, Digital 1987–1990: Assistant 1992–1996: Graduate
the World Wide Web and University Equipment Corp. Professor, Kyoto University Research Assistant, High
1989–1992: Chairman and Related Positions
since then has continued to Speed Networking Group
Chief Executive Officer for a guide the development of the 1990–present: Leader,
start-up X Window terminal Other Activities Other Activities Other Activities (Rodeo), INRIA, France
Web including early work on Project Opera, INRIA
company HTML, HTTP, and URLs ISO/IEC SC22/WG15(POSIX), Member of Science Advisory Actively involved in several 1991–1992: Software
1980–1990: Project Manager, Development Engineer,
the head of Japanese Board, Cylink Corp. system projects, including the
Structured Documents Project Networking Research Group,
Other Activities Awards delegation Consultant: Compaq. next generation micro kernel
General Chairman of the Fifth Distinguished Fellow of the The Chairman of AOW (Asia project and multimedia University of Nottingham, UK
Other Activities
International World Wide British Computer Society Oceania Workshop) network education project. 1990–1991: Research
Member of several committees, Assistant, IBM European
Web Conference, held in Paris Recipient of 1997 Duddell Actively involved in several Member of SFC’s steering
including the Electronic Networking Center,
in May 1996 Medal of the Institute of projects including committee
Publishing (EP) Series of Heidelberg, France
Holds two patents and has Physics development of multimedia Conferences
authored more than 40 Recipient of 1996 ACM platform, campus networks, Other Activities
Actively involved in the
papers in journals and Kobayashi Award etc.
design and development of Editor of SMIL 1.0 W3C
conferences
Recipient of 1996 IEEE various systems, including Recommendation
Computer Society Wallace Grif, Thot, and Amaya Chair of W3C Workshop
McDowell Award “Television and the Web”
Co-recipient of 1996 Chair of W3C Workshop
Computers and Communication “Push Technology”
(C&C) Award
Chair of W3C Workshop
Co-recipient of 1995 ACM “Real-Time Multimedia and
04 Software Systems Award the Web”
Daniel J. Weitzner Judy Brewer Dan Connolly Ralph R. Swick Daniel Dardailler Josef Dietl Janet Daly
W3C Technology and Society Web Accessibility Initiative XML Activity Lead W3C Technology and Society Web Accessibility Initiative Head of Member Relations Head of Public Relations
Domain Leader Domain Leader and WAI Joined W3C March 1995 Domain Technical Director Technical Activity Lead Joined W3C June 1997 Joined W3C February 1999
Joined W3C September 1998 International Program Joined W3C January 1997 Joined W3C July 1996
Office Director Responsibilities Responsibilities Responsibilities
Responsibilities Responsibilities
Joined W3C September 1997 Leads the XML Activity Responsibilities Develops Member Relation Leads Public Relations efforts,
Coordinates all activities WAI Project Manager efforts with focus on including press relations and
Responsibilities Technical oversight of all
within the Technology and Education activities within the W3C Site Manager at INRIA, participation and contribution message development
Society Domain Coordinates all activities within Technology and Society Sophia-Antipolis, France Contact for W3C Offices
B.S. in Computer Science,
the Web Accessibility Initiative Domain, assisting Daniel Education
Liaison with governments and University of Texas, Austin, Education
Directs Web Accessibility Texas, USA Weitzner. Education B.A. in English, University of
private sector on Internet
Initiative International Ph.D. in Computer Sciences, Diploma (M.S.) in Physics, Massachusetts, Amherst, MA,
policy matters.
Program Office Education University of Nice, France USA
Related Positions Technical University of
Education B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Computer Sciences, Munich, Germany Graduate Studies: Harvard
Education 1994–1995: Software
Mathematics, Carnegie University of Grenoble, France University, Cambridge, MA,
B.A. in Philosophy, Management Certificate, Engineer, Hal Software
Systems Mellon University, Pittsburgh, B.S. in Math Physics, Related Positions USA; University of
Swarthmore College, Boston University Corporate
Swarthmore, PA, USA Pennsylvania, USA University of Marseille, France 1995–1997: Domain Leader, Massachusetts, Boston, MA
Education Center, Boston, 1993–1994: Software
MA, USA Engineer, Dazel (formerly CompuServe Germany
J.D. Buffalo Law School, Related Positions Related Positions
Atrium) Related Positions
Buffalo, NY, USA Graduate Certificate, Technical 1994–1996: Software
1994–1996: Technical Other Activities 1997–1998: Communications
Writing, Northeastern 1990–1993: Software Architect, X-Window Consortium
Related Positions Director, X Consortium, Inc. Co-founder of FITUG, a Director, Newmarket Network
University, Boston, MA Development Engineer,
1980–1994: Principal 1990–1994: Principal German cyberrights
Co-founder and Deputy Convex 1996–1997: Production
M.A. in Teaching ESL, Software Engineer, Digital Engineer, The Open Software organization
Director, Center for Democracy Manager, Tripod Inc.
University of Massachusetts, Equipment Corp. Foundation
and Technology Boston Other Activities Actively involved in various 1990–1996: Information
1986–1990: Research Fellow, consulting activities
Deputy Policy Director, Editor of HTML 2.0 Officer, Project Athena, MIT
B.A. Independent Concentration Other Activities Bull Research Center
Electronic Frontier Foundation in Applied Linguistics, Princeton specification
W3C Metadata Activity Lead Other Activities Other Activities
Chair, Platform for Internet University, Princeton, NJ, USA Editor of World Wide Web
Content Selection (PICS) Public Journal Vol. 2 - XML: Co-editor of the RDF Model Coordinator of WAI-TIDE Guest Lecturer on educational
Related Positions Principles,Tools, and and Syntax Specification European Commission Project uses of Internet-based
Policy Committee
1990–1997: Project Director, Techniques Lecturer and teacher of technologies, and information
Massachusetts Assistive computer science at design for the Web
Technology Partnership engineering schools and
Other Activities universities internationally for
more than ten years
Advisory committee and
board activities include: the Author of several papers in
US Access Board's Electronic journals and conferences
and Information Technology
Access Advisory Committee;
National Council on Disability's
TechWatch; Board of Directors
of the Association of Access
Engineering Specialists; Board
of Directors of the Adaptive
Environments Center
executive management
 a global partnership
W3C is an international industry-supported consortium, jointly hosted by three institutions: the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology’s Laboratory for Computer Science—MIT LCS (Americas); the National Institute for
Research in Computer Science and Control—INRIA (Europe); and Keio University (Asia). All three hosts work
together to provide vendor-neutral leadership in the evolution of the Web, including designing, developing,
“The Consortium
and promoting common technical standards.
thrives on diversity,
especially its
international MIT LABORATORY FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE (LCS)
nature. W3C Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a major U.S. research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Offices Its Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS), now in its fourth decade, conducts a broad research program in
information science, from the development of information infrastructures such as the World Wide Web to
provide local understanding the theories that underlie computer science. The LCS is dedicated to the invention, develop-
points of contact ment, and understanding of information technologies expected to drive substantial technical and socio-eco-
for W3C members nomic change.
and also can
provide a focus for
discussion of THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND CONTROL (INRIA)
issues of The National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) is a French public-sector scientif-
specifically ic institute. INRIA is made up of five Research Units located at Rocquencourt (near Paris), Rennes, Sophia
regional interest.” Antipolis, Nancy, and Grenoble. INRIA’s main assignments include transferring research results to industry and
conducting both fundamental and applied research. Areas of current research include information processing,
advanced high-speed networking, structured documents, and scientific computation.
Tim Berners-Lee
Director

KEIO UNIVERSITY
Keio University, one of Japan’s oldest private universities and foremost computer science research centers, has
five major campuses around Tokyo. In 1990, the University opened Shonan Fujisawa Campus and two new
faculties, including the Faculty of Environmental Information. At that time, Keio began to focus on next-gen-
eration education, research on fundamental information technology, and global solutions in the advanced
information society. Shonan Fujisawa Campus, as well as Keio’s other campuses, promotes joint research proj-
ects in cooperation with industry, government, and international organizations. Keio is currently one of the
world’s leading research centers for network and digital media technology.
W3C OFFICES W3C OFFICES: CONTACT INFORMATION
To enhance the communication between W3C and the Germany Taiwan
Web community, W3C has opened W3C Offices covering W3C Office at GMD W3C Office at NCTU
specific geographical areas. W3C Offices are the first point Institut für Medienkommunikation National Chiao Tung University
of contact between the Consortium and its Membership, Schloss Birlinghoven Computer Center
as well as the general public in their corresponding Sankt Augustin 53754 1001 Ta-Hsueh Road
region. These are just some of the activities in which W3C Germany Hsinchu
Offices may be involved: Tel: +49 2241 14 2910 TAIWAN, R.O.C.
Fax: +49 2241 14 2071 Tel: +886 3 573 1900
- providing support to locally-organized events Email: [email protected] Fax: +886 3 571 4031
- organizing translations for W3C documents
Greece The Netherlands
- establishing and managing a mirror site W3C Office at FORTH W3C Office at CWI
- acting as a forum for the members in their region Foundation for Research and Technology—Hellas Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica
- feeding back local input to W3C P.O. Box 1385 Kruislaan 413
711 10 Heraklion 1098 SJ Amsterdam
- producing promotional material
Crete The Netherlands
- supporting W3C communications and press releases Greece Tel: +31 20 592 4171
Tel: +30 81 391601 Fax: +31 20 592 4199
Fax: +30 81 391674 Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
United Kingdom
Hong Kong W3C Office at RAL
W3C Office at HKUST Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Chilton
Department of Computer Science Didcot
Clear Water Bay Oxfordshire OX11 0QX
Kowloon United Kingdom
Hong Kong Tel: +44 1235 446822
Tel: +852 2358 7010 Fax: +44 1235 445385
Fax: +852 2358 2679 Email: [email protected]

Sweden
W3C Office at SICS
Swedish Institute of Computer Science
164 29 Kista
Sweden
Tel: +46 8 752 1504
Fax: +46 8 751 7230
Email: [email protected]

07
 architecture

“Our goal is
extending the
Web’s building
blocks so that in
the next FOUNDATIONS FOR XML
THE FUTURE OF THE WEB Extensible Markup Language—known as XML—provides a simple approach to representing
millennium, even
The Architecture Domain aims to build and structured text and information. The extent of its acceptance manifests itself through the steady
more users,
extend the Web architecture to support the con- increase in applications both on and off the Web expressed using XML syntax. These efforts are
applications, and tinuing growth of the Web. This Domain is work- emerging across cultures, languages, and professional disciplines, ranging from the health care
devices can ing is in three key areas: (1) improving HTTP for industry to electronic commerce.
leverage the a faster and more efficient Web; (2) developing
the Web architecture to support mobile phones, W3C develops and defines XML, having issued the XML 1.0 Recommendation in 1998. XML now
power of the
televisions and other devices and (3), the devel- underpins markup languages and applications developed by W3C.
Web.” opment of XML as a format for exchanging struc-
tured data.
Philipp Hoschka HTML MathML SVG SMIL
Architecture
Domain Leader THE W3C ARCHITECTURE TEAM PICS P3P

Platform for Internet

Philipp Hoschka is the Architecture Domain

Privacy Preferences
Content Selection
Mathematical expressions
Leader and also leads the Synchronized

Scalable vector graphics

Multimedia Activity. The team further includes

applications
Platform for

Other RDF
Dan Connolly (XML Activity Lead), Jim Gettys Document markup
(visiting engineer from Compaq), Johan Hjelm

Multimedia
(visiting engineer from Ericsson), Youichirou
Koga (visiting engineer from NEC), Yves Lafon
RDF
(Jigsaw Activity Lead), Benoît Mahé (Jigsaw
engineer), Henrik Frystyk Nielsen (HTTP and
XML
HTTP-NG Activity Lead), Hidetaka Ohto (visiting
engineer from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co),
C.M. Sperberg-McQueen (working with the XML
Activity), and Daniel Veillard (XML Activity). XML now underpins a number of W3C languages and applications.
The Resource Description Framework — RDF — is also taking on an increasingly important role.
HYPERTEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL (HTTP) HTTP-NG: THE NEXT GENERATION OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
As Web traffic has come to dominate the In the early days, nobody could have anticipated JIGSAW
Internet, remedying the weaknesses of the HTTP the sheer volume and variety of data which trav- Jigsaw is W3C's Java-based Web server. With a
protocol has become of crucial importance. W3C el across the Web. It comes as no surprise, then, modular architecture and HTTP/1.1 compliance,
has successfully worked with the Internet to discover that the HTTP protocol, extended and the Jigsaw server is a premier platform for W3C
Engineering Task Force (IETF) to refine and modified to cope with the increasing demands and the Internet community to try out new
improve the protocol, this work has now led to placed upon it, may require more comprehen- ideas. The server uses an object-oriented
the HTTP/1.1 standard. HTTP/1.1 brings a num- sive review. The purpose of the HTTP-NG project approach to store files and to process incoming
ber of key benefits. For example, browsers need is to develop a new generation of the HTTP pro- requests, making it easily extensible and effi-
fewer connections to the server to download tocol better suited to the needs of the future. cient. Used on a daily basis at W3C to manage
documents, and more efficient caching of Web Flexible enough to support existing uses of the our cooperative working environment via the
content means that pages are faster to access. Web, and geared to the increasing number of W3C site, Jigsaw has also been used as a PICS
These benefits lead to faster Web access at distributed applications using the network, label bureau, and as a test-bed for an experi-
reduced load on a network. HTTP-NG will be based on the sound engineer- mental IP multicast-based cache-sharing proto-
ing practices of simplicity, modularity, and layer- col.
More recent work concerns a flexible extension ing. W3C has already completed an initial fea-
mechanism to HTTP/1.1, enabling programmers sibility study with encouraging results from test LIBWWW
to add their own features to the protocol where implementations. The group is now progressing W3C's libwww is a cross-platform Web software
a given application demands extra functionality. to the next stage of the project, finally develop- library written in C. It supports the most com-
W3C has produced two sample HTTP/1.1 imple- ing the new HTTP architecture into a set of mon Web protocols, and is well suited for build-
mentations - Jigsaw and Libwww- and demon- robust and well-proven Internet specifications. ing a wide variety of applications such as Web
strated that HTTP/1.1 truly speeds up the access clients, servers and robots. Recent work on lib-
of Web information. www has produced a record-breaking high-per-
TELEVISION AND THE WEB formance implementation of HTTP/1.1, using
persistent connections, pipelining, smart output
As TV migrates from analog to digital technolo-
WEB CHARACTERIZATION gy, there are many opportunities for integrating buffering, and persistent caching.
Many experts predict that the volume of Web the Web and television. Web content will be
traffic on our communication networks will soon used to augment television broadcasts, for
surpass the volume of voice telephone traffic. example with special offers, program guides and
This creates new challenges for network design- reviews, background information on sports
ers. While telephone traffic has been analyzed teams, and so on. Televisions will be able to dis-
for the last 100 years, we are only starting to play Web pages on news, weather and financial
understand Web traffic. To foster research in information, transmitted with television chan-
Web performance measurement and evaluation, nels but not tied to any particular program.
the Web Characterization Activity has brought People expect television to work reliably, leading
together a group of some of the most renowned to a great emphasis on correct implementation
researchers in performance measurement to of web standards in this area. W3C is helping to
develop the tools and measurement methods develop Web standards together with television
needed to manage tomorrow's Web traffic. standards organizations.

09
 user inter face

ENABLING A RICH VARIETY (Style Sheet Activity), Arnaud Le Hors (DOM Style sheets and other tools tailor HTML documents to the
needs of different devices accessing Web information.
“Web information OF INFORMATION TO BE Activity Lead), Håkon Lie (Style Sheets Activity
DISTRIBUTED ON THE WEB Lead), Chris Lilley (Graphics Activity Lead),
will grow Shin’ichi Matsui (Mobile Access Activity, visiting Document markup
The User Interface Domain seeks to improve all
immensely in engineer from Matsushita Electric Industrial),
user/computer communications on the Web.
variety, and be Dave Raggett (HTML Activity Lead, visiting engi-
With XML fast gaining acceptance, work on
neer from Hewlett Packard), and Irène Vatton
used by a much HTML (for publishing documents), on MathML Transformed by means of
(Amaya Activity Lead). a style sheet, script or program
greater diversity (for publishing math), on SMIL (for multimedia
presentations), and on SVG (for publishing dia-
of people than Transformation can be done on
grams and vector-based graphics), now uses the primary server, on the proxy server or at the client
today. What is HTML
XML as a common underlying format. The
imperative is that Document Object Model (DOM) meanwhile, Hypertext Markup Language—known as HTML Television Cellular Voice-based Desktop
screen phone device computer
simplicity and ensures that, "behind the scenes", markup is —is the lingua franca for publishing on the
structured around a clean model enabling pro- World Wide Web. Following the success of
interoperability
grams and scripts to manipulate information effi- W3C's HTML 4.0, the Consortium is designing
continue to be of ciently via a uniform interface. W3C's work on the next generation of the markup language. STYLE SHEETS
prime importance.” style sheets will lead to tools for "re-purposing" The new HTML is re-cast in XML, and is being
Style sheets offer precise control over the pres-
documents for different devices: authors can designed so that HTML can be used in combina-
entation of Web pages. Not only can Web
write the material once and then re-purpose it tion with other XML applications. For example, a
Vincent Quint designers specify the visual effects they want,
for rendering on mobile phones, televisions, document might be written in HTML, but include
User Interface but also aural style sheets give control over
palm top computers and other devices as a mathematical formula written in MathML or
Domain Leader voice, pitch and other aspects of how the text
required. Internationalization continues as an tags from a specialized XML application.
will sound when rendered into speech. W3C
important part of our contribution to ensure that Important also is the ability to sub-set HTML for
continues to work with its Members, evolving
people across cultures and languages can com- simpler clients. End-users and authors alike will
the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language to
municate across the Web, making it truly world benefit from work on describing the capabilities
provide even richer stylistic control, while
wide. and user preferences for particular devices, for
emphasizing the importance of the thorough
instance, display characteristics and information
implementation of CSS on browsers. For more
on the kinds of graphics formats supported, the
complex publishing tasks, such as automatically
THE W3C USER INTERFACE TEAM level of HTML and style sheets support, and so
producing a table of contents, and for converting
on. The next generation of HTML will also see
Lead by Vincent Quint, the team includes Takuya documents written in XML into HTML for publi-
style sheets and other tools used to tailor docu-
Asada (Mobile Access Activities), Bert Bos (Style cation, W3C is developing the Extensible Style
ments according to the needs of different class-
Sheets, Internationalization and XML Activities), Sheets Language (XSL), which builds upon expe-
es of browser. Transformation of markup can be
Martin Dürst (Internationalization Activity Lead) rience with CSS and DSSSL. A key goal is to
done on the primary server, on a proxy server or
Ramzi Guetari (Amaya Activity), Masayasu ensure that W3C Recommendations all use a
at the client.
Ishikawa (HTML and Mobile Access Activities), common underlying framework for style.
Jose Kahan (Amaya Activity), Philippe Le Hégaret
DOCUMENT OBJECT MODEL applications such as interactive electronic manuals with com- SYNCHRONIZED MULTIMEDIA
plex technical diagrams.
HTML allows authors to structure documents into headings, W3C has developed the Synchronized Multimedia Integration
paragraphs, hypertext links and other components. W3C’s Language (SMIL). SMIL enables content developers to write
Document Object Model (DOM) is a standard internal repre- complex multimedia presentations where audio, video, text
MOBILE ACCESS
sentation of the document structure and makes it easy for and graphics are combined. Written in XML, SMIL is a declar-
programmers to access components and delete, add or edit People are already demanding ubiquitous, device-independ- ative language which is as easy to author as HTML. With it,
their content, attributes and style. DOM offers a consistent ent access to the Web. Web information and services will authors can control the synchronization of media components,
programming interface for manipulating a document with pro- become increasingly accessible from cellular phones, pagers, in parallel or in sequence. For example, one can, specify that
gramming languages such as Java and ECMAScript. The DOM in-car computers, palm-top computers and other mobile a particular audio track should be played in accompaniment
Level 1 Specification is now a W3C Recommendation, and devices. W3C's Mobile Access Activity is interested in ensuring with particular images and Web pages. W3C published the
work continues on support for manipulating style properties that the protocols and data formats of the Web provide an SMIL 1.0 Recommendation in June 1998. Since then, the
and events. effective fit for mobile devices. Such work is necessary to Activity has received new input from W3C Members and has
ensure that mobile devices reach their full potential in the con- started work on a successor.
In addition to its application to HTML and Web pages, the text of the global Internet. The Web provides an increasingly
DOM has been designed also with XML in mind: XML’s inher- important means for companies, organizations and individu- MATH
ent extensibility makes the DOM even more valuable to XML als to "meet" for business, news and entertainment. W3C
Although HTML has a large repertoire of tags, it does have
designers. The standard DOM interface enables them to write wishes to facilitate the important role that mobile devices
tags for mathematical expressions. W3C has been working
software (similar to plug-ins) for processing customized tag- have to play in a world increasingly using Internet-based
with a number of companies with experience in editing and
sets in a language- and platform-independent way. A stan- global communications.
processing math on computers, as well as other specialist
dard API makes it easier to develop modules for XML pro-
organizations. This work has cumulated in a markup language
cessing that can be re-used in different applications. Of related interest are techniques for using voice interaction
called MathML, and W3C released MathML 1.0 as a
for accessing the Web. This includes using telephones or
Recommendation in April 1998. MathML provides two sets of
GRAPHICS when hands/eyes free operation is essential (in cars).
tags, one for the visual presentation of math and the other
Proposed W3C work on voice browsers includes enhance-
With a long-standing interest in graphics for the Web, W3C associated with the meaning "behind" equations. Specialized
ments to HTML and style sheets, and explicit ways to control
was invited to support the PNG graphics format, which tools provide the means for typing in and editing mathemati-
voice interaction using XML, as well as ways to transform
became a Recommendation in 1996. PNG has widespread cal expressions. W3C's Amaya browser supports MathML and
Web content to better suit the needs of using voice interaction
support on the latest generation of browsers, offering true has been used to demonstrate its capabilities.
to browse, follow links and fill-in forms.
color, real transparency and faster incremental display.
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
More recent work concerns Scalable Vector Graphics. Rather
INTERNATIONALIZATION AMAYA BROWSER/EDITOR
than sending pixel values down the wire, an alternative Amaya is W3C’s own testbed browser/editor. With the
approach is to send instructions for drawing lines (vectors) The Web facilitates communication around the world between
extremely fast-moving nature of Web technology, Amaya
and filling shapes, a technique used by many of the popular people speaking different languages. The goal of the
plays a central role at the Consortium. Easily extended to inte-
drawing packages. W3C is developing an open vector graph- Consortium’s work on Internationalization is to ensure that
grate new ideas into its design, Amaya provides developers
ics format written in XML, and designed to work across plat- W3C’s formats and protocols are usable worldwide in multi-
with many specialized features, including multiple views,
forms, output resolutions, color spaces, and a range of avail- ple languages and writing systems. W3C has successfully
where the internal structural model of the document can be
able bandwidths. Scalable Vector Graphics will mean that stressed the role of Unicode as the basis for identifying char-
displayed alongside the browser’s view of how it should be
Web documents will be smaller, faster, more interactive, and acters in documents—for example, in the HTML 4.0, XML,
presented on the screen. Amaya has been used to demon-
displayable on a wider range of device resolutions, from small CSS2 and DOM specifications. Work is continuing on provid-
strate how MathML works, and provides a math editor for the
mobile devices to office computer monitors and high-resolu- ing markup and style components for international needs. A
purpose. Amaya also implements HTTP1.1, HTML 4.0, and
tion printers—a significant advance in Web technology. character model for the Web is in development which takes
many features of CSS, and has been used as an experimental
into account requirements arising from the increasing interac-
platform with vector graphics.
Developed in close collaboration between W3C and the CGM tion of the various software components.
Open Consortium, the WebCGM Profile Recommendation
adds reliable and interoperable hyperlinking to graphics-rich 11
 technology and society

“We have the

opportunity, and
in some cases,
nearly a mandate,
to shape Web
technology that
will enhance
human interaction
in three arenas:
identity, money,
and property.”
ADDRESSING THE SOCIAL, LEGAL AND Relevant questions include: THE W3C
PUBLIC POLICY CHALLENGES RAISED BY How will Web-held information be organized so TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY TEAM
Daniel Weitzner THE GROWTH OF THE WEB that users can find exactly what they want, Headed by Daniel Weitzner, the Technology and
Technology W3C is responsible for helping to address the quickly? Society Team includes Ralph Swick (Metadata
and Society social, legal, and public policy challenges raised Activity Lead), Daniel LaLiberte (Open Source
Domain Leader How will people know that a document such as
by the growth of the Web. The Technology and a contract, price list, or other item comes from a Developer), Massimo Marchiori (P3P and
Society Domain began by addressing issues such reliable source? Metadata Activities), Thierry Michel (Electronic
as freedom of expression, protection of minors Commerce Activity Lead), Rolf Nelson (Privacy
from harmful content, and privacy. Work is now Can users be sure that a Web document sent Activity Lead), and Joseph Reagle (Digital
fast expanding to other areas. over the net has not been tampered with en Signatures and P3P Activity, Policy Analyst).
route?
As the Web becomes the platform for global How can people be certain that personal infor-
electronic commerce, and an increasingly impor- mation filled out on a form will be not be used
tant venue for politics, arts and culture, the tech- by other parties against their wishes?
nologies of digital signatures, metadata, pay-
ment over the Web and copyright management How will the rights of online authors and pub-
become of crucial importance. lishers be managed on the Web?
METADATA PRIVACY MICROPAYMENTS
The Web now holds a tremendous amount of Users want to know whether they should entrust Micropayments are very small payments made
information. If we want machines to help us personal information to a given Web site. How over the Web. The goal of W3C's work on
navigate this information—for instance, to find does the site manage personal information? Will Micropayments is to develop a framework for
a bookseller that has a copy of a book on a par- it disclose any of this information to others? the seamless integration of micropayments into
ticular subject, to find the cheapest airfare or the What will the user get in return? the Web architecture. One may envision that
hotels in a particular price range in a given links would display the cost, currency, descrip-
town—then we need some way of describing W3C’s Platform for Privacy Preferences Project tion of goods and other data associated with the
and cataloging the information, in a format that (P3P) allows users to be informed of a site’s item in question. When users clicked on them,
machines can usefully process and query. Work practices. Users may then negotiate for a differ- the browser would ask the user to pay via an
at W3C on metadata—that is, information ent privacy policy and come to an agreement electronic wallet for the item, possibly with dif-
about information—seeks to provide just that. with the site which will be the basis for any sub- ferent eletronic wallets for different payment sys-
The Consortium has completed work on the sequent release of information. W3C members, tems in use.
basic Resource Description Framework (RDF) including software developers, financial service
specifications, a knowledge representation/rela- providers, marketers, and privacy advocates, W3C is developing a common mark-up lan-
tional database language for items on the Web. have cooperated on the P3P specification. In guage for payment information, and an API to
These “resources” may be a Web page, a partic- addition, W3C’s privacy work is conducted in support such a system.
ular paragraph or image on a Web page, or an close consultation with governments around the
entire Web site. Future work may focus on query world. The W3C team devotes significant
languages and reasoning engines for metadata resources to explaining and marketing the tech-
across the Web. nology with view to stimulating regional adop-
tion in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and around
An early example of metadata is PICS—the the world.
Platform for Internet Content Selection. PICS is
W3C’s suite of specifications allowing people to
distribute information about Web content in a DIGITAL SIGNATURE INITIATIVE
simple, computer-readable form. PICS helps par- Digital signatures serve to identify the origin of a
ents and others to filter out undesirable material document and to ensure that the information
or direct children to sites that may be of special has not been tampered with en route. A single-
interest to them. bit change in giga-bytes of data can be detect-
ed. Digital signatures allow users to check that
downloaded information has come from a rep-
utable source, which is especially important for
documents implying commitments such as con-
tracts, price lists, manifests and press releases. In
view of recent developments in Web technolo-
gies, future work will address the digital signing
of XML and RDF as this is critical for a variety of
electronic commerce applications, including pay-
ment tools.

13
 We b a c c e s s i b i l i t y i n i t i a t i v e

“W3C realizes
the critical
importance of
the Web for
people with
disabilities, and
is committed to
increasing the
accessibility of
the Web.”

ENSURING THAT THE UNIVERSALITY OF Accessibility Initiative must encourage Web con- THE W3C
Judy Brewer THE WEB INCLUDES ACCESS BY PEOPLE tent developers, browser manufacturers, and WEB ACCESSIBILITY INITIATIVE TEAM
Web Accessibility WITH DISABILITIES authoring tool manufacturers to exploit the
As Director of the WAI International Program
Initiative Domain accessibility-friendly features built into newer
Leader The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) focuses on Office, Judy Brewer leads the growing WAI
W3C Recommendations.
making the Web accessible to the many millions team. Daniel Dardailler, working from W3C’s
of existing and potential Web users who have European host site at INRIA, France, manages
Browsing the Web from a range of devices,
disabilities. These disabilities range from blind- the WAI Technical Activity. Other team members
rather than just from traditional desktop com-
ness and low vision to hearing problems, motor working in the WAI Domain include Marja-Riitta
puters, is becoming increasingly commonplace.
limitations and cognitive impairments. Working Koivunen (visiting engineer from Helsinki
An added bonus of accessible Web content is
in coordination with industry leaders, disability Telephone Corporation), Ian Jacobs (Technical
that it easily transforms for use on mobile
organizations, research institutions and govern- Writer), Charles McCathieNevile (WAI Authoring
phones, in-car computers and other devices with
ments, the WAI adopts a multi-pronged Tool Guidelines WG), Masafumi Nakane (WAI
limited or no screen. WAI’s technology develop-
approach through technology guidelines, tools, Education and Outreach), and Masayasu
ments and guidelines also support this increas-
education, and research and development. Ishikawa (WAI liaison to the Mobile Access
ing need for device-independent access to the
Interest Group).
Web.
The Web has the potential to provide access to
information where previously there were barri-
ers. To fulfill this promise, however, the Web
WAI TECHNICAL ACTIVITY User Agent Accessibility Guidelines: These WAI INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE
include guidance for browser manufacturers and
The WAI Technical Activity encompasses three The WAI International Program Office (IPO) coor-
developers of other user software such as multi-
areas of work: Technology development, dinates the involvement of different parties with
media players and voice browsers. The guide-
Guidelines, and Tools. an interest in accessibility, including industry,
lines include how to make the software operable
disability organizations, research organizations,
without a pointing device; having both visual as
and government. The WAI IPO manages an
well as aural representations of controls such as
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT interest group for the discussion of overall WAI
menus, buttons, and short-cuts; and enabling
The Protocols and Formats Working Group activities; hosts the Education and Outreach
users to set the color and font size.
(PFWG) reviews all W3C specifications to identi- Working Group; participates in standardization
fy accessibility requirements, and jointly explore activities; promotes implementation of WAI
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines: These
solutions. WAI contributed to the design of guidelines; and tracks research and develop-
are guidelines for a broad range of authoring
HTML 4.0, CSS2, SMIL, and MathML, which ment which can affect future Web accessibility.
tools, including WYSIWIG HTML editors, save-
now contain a number of features that support as-HTML or XML converters, tools that dynami-
accessibility. Recent work has involved reviewing cally generate Web pages, image editors, and
the Document Object Model (DOM) specifica- EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
site management tools. These WAI guidelines
tion, and requirements for XML, Scalable Vector explain how to incorporate prompts, alerts, and Education and outreach to all sectors of the Web
Graphics (SVG), mobile computing, and a num- validation into such software to promote the community tie together the WAI’s developments
ber of other areas as the W3C’s scope continues production of Web content that is accessible to in technology, guidelines and tools.The WAI
to broaden. those with disabilities. The guidelines also Education and Outreach Working Group coordi-
explain how to make the user interface of the nates the development of curriculum modules,
tools accessible. demonstration packages, workshops, and relat-
GUIDELINES ed materials in order to increase awareness of
the need for and solutions to Web accessibility.
An important part of the work of the Web
Accessibility Initiative is the development of TOOLS
guidelines explaining how to make the Web In the tools area, WAI gathers, coordinates, and
more accessible. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
further develops tools that can help evaluate and
repair Web sites. The goal is to produce a toolkit The WAI IPO monitors research and develop-
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: These that can be offered to content providers and ment that could affect the future accessibility of
are for people writing and designing Web users who encounter barriers when using the the Web. This may include giving input into
pages. These include checkpoints and tech- Web. Work on this toolkit involves stand-alone technologies that hold the promise of enhancing
niques for making Web content accessible to tools, as well as modules that can be incorpo- the future accessibility of the Web, as well as
those with disabilities, including the need to rated into other Web authoring tools. It will technologies that could create new barriers on
include alternative text for images; how to enable the automated validation of accessibility, the Web, to ensure that developers are aware of
design tables that can be read properly by screen as well as more in-depth, semi-automated eval- the universal design (“design for all”) approach.
readers; and how to design forms so that they uation allowing for human judgment.
work well for people who cannot easily use a
mouse.

15
 membership
WHY YOUR ORGANIZATION SHOULD JOIN W3C
As a World Wide Web Consortium Member, your organization can participate in the collective voice of the global Web
community. Member organizations gain access to W3C’s technical expertise and can lead the evolution of innovative
Web technologies in a neutral forum. There are already more than 300 Members: hardware and software vendors, con-
tent providers, telecommunications companies, corporate users, citizen groups, and government and academic entities.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
- Participation in working groups, workshops, and symposia
- A voice in providing strategic direction to the Consortium
- A seat on W3C’s Advisory Committee (AC)
- Access to Members-only Web site, containing information on events,
technologies, software releases, working groups, forums, mailing lists, news, and announcements
- Members-only weekly News Service
- Direct access to other experts in the Web community

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER

Membership in the World Wide Web Consortium is open to any organization that completes a Full or Affiliate
Membership agreement. As described in W3C’s Prospectus, http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Prospectus. Affiliate status
is reserved for non-profit organizations and commercial firms with annual revenues under $50 million.

For more information about the World Wide Web Consortium and its Members, visit W3C’s home page at
http://www.w3.org/ or send email to [email protected].

Copyright © 1999 W3C | MIT INRIA Keio

All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use and software licensing rules apply.
16
 “The Web community is
made up of all those
who browse or put
information on the
Web, who use the Web
as their workplace,
who develop new
products and services
on the Web, who
provide Internet access,
and who have ideas
about how to improve
the Web. The
Consortium is the
neutral forum where
these parties meet to
agree on common
specifications. W3C

http://w w w.w3.org/ gains richness from the

meeting of all these
forces.”

Tim Berners-Lee
Director, W3C
 http://w w w.w3.org/

© 1999 W3C |MIT INRIA KEIO