What is W3C and why is it important? This question requires a detailed response. The internet is an exciting place and the storeroom for information. Manifolds of data are stored on the internet.
One of the advantages the internet has brought to humanity is the easy access to information. Information or knowledge isn’t constrained to a selected few. You can sit in your home and access information and entertainment or even communicate with people via the internet.
In this post, the primary focus is W3C. What does it mean, and what makes it necessary to warrant discussion? Read to learn more!
What Is The Meaning of W3C?
The term W3C means “World Wide Web Consortium.” The W3C is an international organization recognized worldwide. The organization’s focus is to improve the web.
The W3C is among the most critical organizations behind the World Wide Web. It comprises hundreds of member organizations from diverse IT-related industries.
The W3C is responsible for setting standards the WWW (World Wide Web) follows. The aim is to facilitate cooperation among the various stakeholders.
Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of WWW and father of the internet, established the W3C in 1994. The organization enables interested parties from diverse IT sectors to work together to address issues and make the web accessible to users.
In the words of CEO Jeffrey Jaffe, the W3C’s objective is to make it possible for the web to attain its full potential. The organization has members from diverse sectors, so it doesn’t lack experts.
Having experts in various fields, including IT, in the W3C organization makes the body highly effective.
So, the organization’s key participants that set the standard for the web include experts in website development commercial, governmental, and educational entities.
How The W3C Started – A Brief History
How did the W3C start? The World Wide Web Consortium was founded at the prestigious MIT Laboratory for Computer Science with the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the European Commission, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (Inria) became W3C’s host in 1995. Then, Japan’s Keio University took over in 1996.
W3C is a prominent organization with a clear structure. The organization’s role in the growth and preservation of the web was also massive. Thus, there was a need for offices to be created to help things move forward faster.
In 1997, W3C started creating regional offices in different parts of the world. In addition to expanding its offices, the W3C expanded its standard. CSS and HTML became part of the standard in 1996.
The organization didn’t stop there. In 1998, XML also became an approved standard. Then, in 2003, the host changed. This time, ERCIM became the W3C European host. It was no longer Inria.
By 2009, the organization began to experience steady progress. They had 18 more world offices, helping to create worldwide standards across countries. These include countries like Brazil, Germany, Australia, China, Sweden and India.
Again, 2020 was another critical year for the W3C. The W3C Office Programs became the W3C Chapters Program.
What happened in 2003, 2004 and beyond?
Here is a quick breakdown of what happened in these periods.
- In 2003, the W3C accepted SOAP’s 1.2 version. It became the standard.
- In 2004, the W3C recommendation for SRGS VXML was finally accepted.
- In 2009, the W3C added two more offices: Ireland and the UK.
- In 2011, the W3C accepted WebRTC as the standard.
- In 2012, W3C got more locations in Russia. Additionally, they organized a community comprising major publishers and web players to create MediaWiki. The primary goal of MediaWiki was to document open web standards.
- In 2013, Beihang University became the Chinese host of the prestigious institution W3C.
- In 2016, a standard for web payments overview was successfully published.
- In 2018, SVG was added as a standard.
- In 2022, Picture-in-Picture became a standard.
Understanding How The W3C Operates
In this section, we will provide details of how the W3C works. Firstly, remember that this prestigious organization boasts a membership that is composed of participants in the information technology sector. The organization has always been successful in its own right.
Access to extensive data is one reason this organization has been making a massive impact. However, this comes with its limitations. For instance, there can be overwhelming information coupled with a void in knowledge.
The World Wide Web is a data ecosystem and will always be. It feeds content into the web, and people can access it via browsers. However, the web has to follow specific standards to function effectively.
The W3C Standards You Should Know
Firstly, W3C standards describe several recommended programming languages to generally accepted principles in both open architectures and web services.
Here are some excellent examples of web design and application standards.
- CSS
- HTML
- Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
- Document Object Model (DOM)
- Extensible HTML (XHTML)
- Extensible Markup Language (XML)
- Resource Description Framework (RDF)
- Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
- Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
- Voice XML (VXML)
- JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data (JSON-LD)
- Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS)
- SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL)
- Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC)
- Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML)
- Gleaning Resource Descriptions from Dialects of Languages (GRDDL)
- Web Service Description Language (WSDL)
The W3C’s primary focus is developing and promoting standards that ensure the web’s long-term growth. The body comprises prominent member organizations, such as companies, research institutions, and governments.
These organizations combine their resources, expertise, and time to develop web standards and advance the W3C.
Here are critical aspects that the W3C is working hard to develop standards.
- Web Accessibility
- HTML ( Hypertext Markup Language)
- JavaScript
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
- Web Security
The W3C wants to ensure the web is more accessible for users to access and protect users’ privacy. For instance, the organization works hard to maintain standards for JavaScript, a programming language used to create interactive web pages. The organization also wants to ensure people with disabilities can easily access the web.
What Makes The W3C Standards Crucial?
What’s the reason or reasons the W3C is so crucial to the survival and operation of the web? Firstly, the standards they set make the W3C invaluable to maintaining the steady function and growth of the net.
The W3C ensures the web is accessible and fair to everyone. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re accessing the web from. Again, when you develop a web app and adhere to the standards, it will work just like others that are W3C compliant. Additionally, everyone can have access to the application.
The W3C serves as a quality control organization. They serve as quality filters between end-users and developers. The tools available for development and creative processes are authentic and have been vetted by experts. Thus, developers can work with the various tools with confidence that they are doing the right thing.
The confidence of users accessing and using the applications will also be higher, given that they were developed with quality tools.
The primary purpose for the existence of the W3C is to ensure the smooth operation of the web. The organization ensures the web is free and open for innovation and communication. The body also promotes the web’s long-term growth.
The W3C ensures the development and maintenance of standards for crucial technologies utilized on the web. These include CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. The organization helps to ensure the web is secured and protects users’ privacy.
The resources and tools the W3C provides make the smooth operation of the web possible. Managing a complex process like the web would have been super challenging without these tools.
The organization’s conferences, workshops, and events are among the most significant and impactful in the information technology industry. These events allow the organization to bring experts worldwide together to share ideas about the web.
So, in addition to developing the web, the W3C has been vital in its evolution and will continue to remain so.
Conclusion
What is W3C and why is it important? The W3C implies “World Wide Web Consortium.” It is an international organization recognized worldwide. The main focus of the W3C is to develop and improve the web.
The organization ensures the tools developers need to create innovative apps to advance the web are available. They also protect users’ privacy and serve as quality filters for developers.
The W3C boasts members from different parts of the world. It is the most critical organization as far as the web or internet is concerned.
