Table of contents: Architecture Domain | Interaction Domain | Technology and Society Domain | Ubiquitous Web Domain | Web Accessibility Initiative | About W3C Activities |
W3C conducts work in the following areas. Each is called a W3C Activity. Expand Activity names below to learn more. The W3C Group Participation page explains how to join a W3C group.
From the introduction of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
10 groups in this Activity (part of the Ubiquitous Web Domain):
From the introduction of the Graphics Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
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.
3 groups in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the HTML Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
3 groups in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the Internationalization Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
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 and articles. I18n produces specifications such as the Character Model for the World Wide Web, Web Services Internationalization Usage Scenarios, and Ruby Annotation Markup. 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."
3 groups in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the Math Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
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 MathML1.0 Recommendation appeared on 7 April 1998. Four subsequent revisions followed, culminating with the MathML2.0, 2nd Edition on 21 October 2003. MathML2, 2nd Edition is fully synchronized with Unicode4.0. It is also integrated with XHTML and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), and interoperates well with other W3C technologies such as XSL (the Extensible Stylesheet Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and XML Schema.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the Mobile Web Initiative Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
While becoming increasingly popular, mobile Web access today still suffers from interoperability and usability problems. W3C’s Mobile Web Initiative (W3C MWI) addresses these issues through a concerted effort of key players in the mobile production chain, including authoring tool vendors, content providers, handset manufacturers, browser vendors and mobile operators.
Mobile Web access has many advantages. Unlike the fixed Web, the mobile Web will go where you go. No longer will you have to remember to do something on the Web when you get back to your computer. You can do it immediately, within the context that made you want to use the Web in the first place.
With mobile devices, the Web can reach a much wider audience, and at all times in all situations. It has the opportunity to reach into places where wires cannot go, to places previously unthinkable (e.g., providing medical information to mountain rescue scenes) and to accompany everyone as easily as they carry the time in their wristwatches.
Moreover, today, many more people have access to mobile devices than access to a desktop computer. This is likely to be very significant in developing countries, where Web-capable mobile devices may play a similar role for deploying widespread Web access as the mobile phone has played for providing "plain old telephone service".
Currently, the W3C MWI is focusing on developing best practices for "mobileOK" Web sites and mobile Web applications, test suites for improving interoperability of mobile Web software, outreach activities, and the usage of the mobile Web for social development. It also hosts workshops that look into new areas of work that relate to the Mobile Web.
3 groups in this Activity (part of the Ubiquitous Web Domain):
From the introduction of the Multimodal Interaction Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
The Multimodal Interaction Activity seeks to extend the Web to allow users to dynamically select the most appropriate mode of interaction for their current needs including any disabilities in order to enable Web application developers to provide an effective user interface for whichever modes the user selects. With multimodal Web applications, users can provide input via speech, handwriting and keystrokes, with output presented via displays, pre-recorded and synthetic speech, audio, and tactile mechanisms such as mobile phone vibrators and Braille strips.
The goal of the Multimodal Interaction Activity is to clearly define how to author concrete multimodal Web applications, for example, coupling a local XHTML user agent with a remote VoiceXML user agent. The Multimodal Interaction Working Group is important as a central point of coordination within W3C for multimodal activities, and the group collaborates with other related Working Groups, e.g. Voice Browser, Compound Document Formats and Ubiquitous Web Applications.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Ubiquitous Web Domain):
From the introduction of the Patent Policy Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
The Patent Policy Activity's goal is to enable W3C to implement and successfully operate the W3C Patent Policy. The policy was put into place in February 2004, and the work of developing and implementing it is complete. It is important that the W3C community have an organized way to monitor application of the policy as well as remain informed about relevant developments in the legal and standards environment.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Technology and Society Domain):
From the introduction of the Privacy Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
For the past 9 years, the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) was the very center of the W3C Privacy Activity. The P3P Specification Working Group has now completed its work on P3P 1.1 by delivering a Last Call Working Draft. Following the change in the privacy landscape following the 9/11 events, the group found there is insufficient momentum for implementations at this point in time. Although the group believes that P3P 1.1 is ready for implementation, it decided not to enter Candidate Recommendation, published the current specification as a Working Group Note, and have thus completed their last deliverable. The P3P Specification Working Group was closed on 21 November 2006.
The P3P Specification Working Group delivered multiple important milestones for the Web. The most important documents are listed here:
- The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.1 (P3P1.1) Specification (2006)
- The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 (P3P1.0) Recommendation (2002)
- A P3P Preference Exchange Language 1.0 (APPEL1.0) (2002)
- P3P Guiding Principles (1998)
- P3P using Semantic Web ( unofficial 2004-version) (2002-version)
It is important to note that the P3P Specification Working Group always looked further ahead. This is demonstrated by the three Workshops organized after the P3P 1.0 Recommendation:
- The 2002 Workshop on the Future of P3P (immediate improvements)
- The 2003 W3C Workshop on the long term Future of P3P and Enterprise Privacy Languages
- The 2006 Workshop on Languages for Privacy Policy Negotiation and Semantics-Driven Enforcement
From the workshops one can already flair the evolution. P3P was developed in a context of the Web facing a human end-user using the Web to browse information. Nowadays, the world has become more complicated. Information offers and services facing the user are often assembled ad-hoc in the backend using web services of different providers in a social network made of contracts and now being mirrored into our ICT network infrastructure. In the early P3P days, companies wrestled with the policy to show to their consumers. They looked at their current practices and things where changed and streamlined to accommodate the privacy challenge inside enterprises.
In order to be able to handle the increased complexity inherent to the management of privacy inside enterprises, those challenges where discussed and proposals where made. Enterprises are confronted with a wide range of privacy expectations from promises (policies) they made to the user, from regulators and competitors. In order to respond to all those challenges, enterprises adapted their IT infrastructure to also handle privacy. As long as this remains within one company, this is not an issue. But our economy is based on massive exchange and use of personal data. This means the internal handling of privacy metadata has to be interoperable if it comes to a data transfer over enterprise borders.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Technology and Society Domain):
From the introduction of the Rich Web Client Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
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.
2 groups in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the Security Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
The work in the W3C Security Activity currently comprises two Working Groups, the Web Security Context Working Group and the XML Security Working Group.
The Web Security Context Working Group focuses on the challenges that arise when users encounter currently deployed security technology, such as TLS: While this technology achieves its goals on a technical level, attackers' strategies shift towards bypassing the security technology instead of breaking it. When users do not understand the security context in which they operate, then it becomes easy to deceive and defraud them. This Working Group is currently planning to see its main deliverable, the User Interface Guidelines, through to Recommendation, but will not engage in additional recommenation track work beyond this deliverable. The Working Group is currently operating at reduced Team effort (compared to the initial effort reserved to this Working Group). Initial (and informal) conversations are under way about forming an Interest Group that would provide a forum for the group's participants, and could also serve as a point of contact for specification review.
The XML Security Working Group started up in summer 2008, and has decided to publish an interim set of 1.1 specifications as it works towards producing a more radical change to XML Signature. The XML Signature 1.1 and XML Encryption 1.1 specifications clarify and enhance the previous specifications without introducing breaking changes, although they do introduce new algorithms. The recent published set of documents also include Algorithm Cross-Reference, Properties and Best Practices documents to enable adoption, Derived Keys to recognize a needed use case, and Use Cases and Transform Simplification documents to obtain early feedback to guide the development of 2.0. specifications.
2 groups in this Activity (part of the Technology and Society Domain):
From the introduction of the Semantic Web Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
The goal of the Semantic Web initiative is as broad as that of the Web: to create a universal medium for the exchange of data. It is envisaged to smoothly interconnect personal information management, enterprise application integration, and the global sharing of commercial, scientific and cultural data. Facilities to put machine-understandable data on the Web are quickly becoming a high priority for many organizations, individuals and communities.
The Web can reach its full potential only if it becomes a place where data can be shared and processed by automated tools as well as by people. For the Web to scale, tomorrow's programs must be able to share and process data even when these programs have been designed totally independently. The Semantic Web Activity is an initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) designed to provide a leadership role in defining this Web. The Activity develops open specifications for those technologies that are ready for large scale deployment, and identifies, through open source advanced development, the infrastructure components that will be necessary to scale in the Web in the future.
The principal technologies of the Semantic Web fit into a set of layered specifications. The current components are the Resource Description Framework (RDF) Core Model, the RDF Schema language and the Web Ontology language (OWL). Building on these core components is a standardized query language, SPARQL (pronounced "sparkle"), for RDF enabling the 'joining' of decentralized collections of RDF data. The GRDDL and RDFa Recommendations aim at creating bridges between the RDF model and various XML formats, like XHTML. The POWDER Working group develops technologies to find resource descriptions for specific resources on the Web; descriptions which can be ‘joined’ to other RDF data. Finally, SKOS is a model and an RDF vocabulary for expressing the basic structure and content of concept schemes such as thesauri, classification schemes, subject heading lists, taxonomies, 'folksonomies', other types of controlled vocabulary, and also concept schemes embedded in glossaries and terminologies.
8 groups in this Activity (part of the Technology and Society Domain):
From the introduction of the Style Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
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.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the Synchronized Multimedia Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
The Synchronized Multimedia Activity designed the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL, pronounced "smile") for choreographing multimedia presentations where audio, video, text and graphics are combined in real time. SMIL is a W3C Recommendation that enables authors to specify and control the precise time a sentence is spoken and make it coincide with the display of a given image.
The Synchronized Multimedia (SYMM) Working Group completed SMIL 1.0, SMIL 2.0 and SMIL 2.1 and is currently working on a new version (SMIL 3.0) which adds the following new features through new modules:
- SMIL 3.0 smilText provides a new media type for use in SMIL presentations.
- SMIL 3.0 State provides a mechanism for the author to create more complex control flow than what SMIL provides through the timing and content control modules, without using a scripting language.
- SMIL 3.0 DOM describes the SMIL 3.0 DOM support. SMIL is an XML-based language and conforms to the (XML) DOM Core [DOM1], [DOM2]. A language profile may include DOM support.
- SMIL 3.0 External Timing defines an XML timing language that makes SMIL 3.0 element and attribute timing control available to a wide range of other XML languages. Because of its similarity with external style and positioning descriptions in the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) language, this functionality has been termed SMIL Timesheets. It can be seen as a temporal counterpart of CSS. Whereas CSS defines the spatial layout of the document and formatting of the elements, SMIL Timesheets specify which elements are active at a certain moment and what their temporal scope is within a document.
The Timed Text Working Group is now moved to The Video on The Web Activity.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
The Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity was launched on 30 March 2007 with the vision of enabling value-added services and business models for ubiquitous networked devices, based upon W3C's strengths in declarative representations. The Activity includes the Geolocation Working Group and the Ubiquitous Web Applications Working Group.
- The Geolocation Working Group is defining a secure and privacy-sensitive interface for using client-side location information in location-aware Web applications. A geolocation API for accessing device location is under development, and in addition, the Working Group may explore exposing location information via markup or HTTP headers. The Working Group is tasked with identifying and addressing requirements for security and privacy protection.
- The Ubiquitous Web Applications Working Group focuses on mechanisms to reduce the cost for developing and delivering applications to a wide range of devices, including the means to adapt to user preferences and environmental conditions. A key part of this work is the Delivery Context Ontology. Other work is addressing the role of Web technologies for distributed applications of consumer electronic devices (the Web of things).
2 groups in this Activity (part of the Ubiquitous Web Domain):
From the introduction of the Video in the Web Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
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.
3 groups in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the Voice Browser Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
The telephone was invented in the 1870s and continues to be a very important means for people to communicate with each other. The Web by comparison is very recent, but is rapidly becoming a competing communications channel. The convergence of telecommunications and the Web is now bringing the benefits of Web technology to the telephone, enabling Web developers to create applications that can be accessed via any telephone, and allowing people to interact with these applications via speech and telephone keypads. The W3C Speech Interface Framework is a suite of markup specifications aimed at realizing this goal. It covers voice dialogs (VoiceXML), speech synthesis (SSML), speech recognition (SRGS, SISR), pronunciation lexicon (PLS), call control (CCXML, SCXML) and other requirements for interactive voice response applications, including use by people with hearing or speaking impairments.
The Working Group concentrates on languages for capturing and producing speech and managing the dialog between user and computer, while a related Group, the Multimodal Interaction Working Group, concentrates on additional input modes including keyboard and mouse, ink and pen, etc.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Ubiquitous Web Domain):
From the introduction of the WAI International Program Office Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
Given the vital role that the Web plays throughout society, it is essential to ensure that the Web is accessible to people with disabilities. Access to the Web can affect people with visual, auditory, physical, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. The solutions developed for Web accessibility also benefit non-disabled people. The Web Content Accessibility Initiative (WAI) International Program Office helps create a forum where representatives of industry, the disability community, research, and government work together to identify accessibility requirements and develop solutions under W3C Process.
WAI's International Program Office Activity includes the following groups. The Education and Outreach Working Group develops a variety of materials to promote awareness and implementation of accessibility solutions for the Web. The Research and Development Interest Group explores accessibility considerations in advanced Web technologies. The WAI Interest Group maintains a large and active public discussion forum on Web accessibility; provides a forum for exchange of information on Web accessibility; and reviews deliverables produced by other WAI groups. The WAI Coordination Group coordinates work among groups in the WAI International Program Office Activity and the WAI Technical Activity.
4 groups in this Activity (part of the Web Accessibility Initiative):
From the introduction of the WAI Technical Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
5 groups in this Activity (part of the Web Accessibility Initiative):
From the introduction of the Web Services Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
Web services provide a standard means of interoperating between different software applications, running on a variety of platforms and/or frameworks. Web services are characterized by their great interoperability and extensibility, as well as their machine-processable descriptions thanks to the use of XML. They can be combined in a loosely coupled way in order to achieve complex operations. Programs providing simple services can interact with each other in order to deliver sophisticated added-value services.
The W3C Web Services Activity is designing the infrastructure, defining the architecture and creating the core technologies for Web services. The SOAP 1.2 XML-based messaging framework became a W3C Recommendation in June 2003 and the SOAP Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM) in January 2005.
Here is a comprehensive list of Recommendations pertaining to the W3C Web Services Activity:
- XML Protocol Working Group:
- SOAP Version 1.2 Part 0: Primer (Second Edition)
- SOAP Version 1.2 Part 1: Messaging Framework (Second Edition)
- SOAP Version 1.2 Part 2: Adjuncts (Second Edition)
- SOAP Version 1.2 Specification Assertions and Test Collection (Second Edition)
- XML-binary Optimized Packaging
- SOAP Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism
- Resource Representation SOAP Header Block
- Web Services Description Working Group:
- Web Services Description Language (WSDL) Version 2.0 Part 0: Primer
- Web Services Description Language (WSDL) Version 2.0 Part 1: Core Language
- Web Services Description Language (WSDL) Version 2.0 Part 2: Adjuncts
- Web Services Addressing Working Group:
- Web Services Addressing 1.0 - Core
- Web Services Addressing 1.0 - SOAP Binding
- Web Services Addressing 1.0 - Metadata
- Semantic Annotations for WSDL Working Group:
- Semantic Annotations for WSDL and XML Schema
- Web Services Policy Working Group:
- Web Services Policy 1.5 - Framework
- Web Services Policy 1.5 - Attachment
7 groups in this Activity (part of the Technology and Society Domain):
From the introduction of the XForms Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
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.
1 group in this Activity (part of the Interaction Domain):
From the introduction of the eGovernment Activity Statement (see also the Activity home):
eGovernment refers to the use of the Web or other information technologies by governing bodies to interact with their citizenry, between departments and divisions, and between governments themselves.
The eGovernment Interest Group is chartered to explore how to improve access to government through better use of the Web and achieve better government transparency using open Web standards at any government level (local, state, national and multi-national).
1 group in this Activity (part of the Technology and Society Domain):
W3C Activities are generally organized into groups: Working Groups (for technical developments), Interest Groups (for more general work), and Coordination Groups (for communication among related groups). These groups, made up of participants from Member organizations, the Team, and Invited Experts, produce the bulk of W3C's results: technical reports, including Web standards, open source software, and services (e.g., validation services). These groups also ensure coordination with other standards bodies and technical communities. The Process Document describes the creation and modification of an Activity.
There are currently 23 Activities managing 73 groups. In addition to those shown above:
Each Activity is under the guidance of an Activity Lead, who is a member of the W3C Team; Activity Lead photos are shown above. Contact information for Domain Leads is also available.
The W3C Team presents a status report about each W3C Activity at each Advisory Committee meeting, held twice a year. Activity statements (excerpted above) are updated prior to each Advisory Committee meeting, as is the above list of Activities.
If you are not already a W3C Member organization and wish to participate in new or ongoing W3C Working or Interest Groups, please read how to join W3C. Employees of Member organizations may participate in these groups, as may individuals invited to participate by the Chair of the group.
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