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.
A thired working draft of the Mobile Web Application Best Practices, the next generation of guidelines developed by the group, was released end of April, featuring a much more complete version of the document, and the group is now working toward a Last Call for that document
Work on addressing comments raised during the Last Call of The Content Transformation Guidelines is making progress, and the group is planning on releasing a second Last Call of the document with significant changes.
The MWI Test Suites Working Group is chartered to help create a strong foundation for the mobile Web through the development of a set of test suites targeted at mobile Web browsers. The Working Group was re-chartered early January 2009 until end of December 2009. It has been focusing its efforts around the development of test cases for the W3C widgets specifications, in collaboration with the Web Applications Working Group, the development of a blog to advertise its work on the Web Compatibility Test, and the creation of guidelines for writing device independent tests.
The Mobile Web for Social Development, which looks at how the Web on mobile devices can serve as a platform for social development in developing countries, has seen its charter extended until end of September 2009, while it is continuing to develop its framework document and its roadmap, with the support of the Digital World Forum European project. It also organized a workshop in Mozambique in April 2009.
The W3C Staff ran a second free session of its on-line training course based on the Mobile Web Best Practices in October 2008 (supported by the EU project MobiWeb 2.0). A set of new fee-based sessions of a more comprehensive version of that course have been announced.
The Mobile Web Initiative organized in December 2008 a workshop on securing access to device APIs from the Web environment, that lead to discussions around the chartering of a Device APIs and Policy Working Group.
It also organized a workshop on the future of Social Networking mid-January 2009, which triggered the creation of the Social Web Incubator Group..
W3C established the Mobile Web Initiative through the MWI sponsorship program and with the financial support of the following Sponsors:
Starting January 1st 2008, MWI is receiving support by the EU commission as part of the MobiWeb 2.0 IST project, which supports work on outreach, training, quality assurance and tools support.
The Digital World Forum European project supports part of the work in the establishment of the Mobile Web For Social Development Interest Group. This project explores how to take advantage of the new paradigm of low-cost technologies in broadband infrastructure and devices to bridge the digital divide and connect the unconnected.
The Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group expects to spend most of the time remaining in its charter (expiring in June 2009) to work on the Mobile Web Applications Best Practices and the Content Transformation Guidelines.
The MWI Test Suite Working Group plans to continue its cooperation with OMA and the CSS Working Group, its work on widgets testing and on the device independent test guidelines. The group's charter is expiring in December 2009.
The Interest Group on Mobile Web for Social Development plans on finishing the work on its framework and roadmap documents, and populating a Wiki for its community.
| Group | Chair | Team Contact | Charter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group (participants) | Daniel Appelquist, Jo Rabin | Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, François Daoust | Chartered until 30 June 2009 |
| Mobile Web Initiative Test Suites Working Group (participants) | Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, Wilhelm Joys Andersen | Dominique Hazaël-Massieux | Chartered until 31 December 2009 |
| Mobile Web For Social Development (MW4D) Interest Group (participants) | Ken Banks, Stéphane Boyera | Stéphane Boyera | Chartered until 30 September 2009 |
This Activity Statement was prepared for the October 2008 W3C Advisory Committee Meeting (Members only) per section 5 of the W3C Process Document. Generated from group data.
Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, Mobile Web Initiative Activity Lead
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