Device Independence
Access to a Unified Web from Any Device in Any Context by
Anyone
This Activity has now closed, and this page will not be updated
any further. The work items have been transferred to the Ubiquitous Web Applications Actvity.
What is Device Independence? | Working
Group | Publications | Mailing List | Dependencies |
WG Charter |
Activity Statement | How to Join | Past News | CC/PP Archive
What's New?
Our Publications
Recommendations
- Composite
Capability/Preference Profiles (CC/PP): Structure and Vocabularies
1.0
- A CC/PP profile is a description of device capabilities and user
preferences. This document describes the structure of a CC/PP profile
and shows how vocabularies for these capabilities are used. The
CC/PP Test Suite and Implementation
report are also available
Last Call Working Drafts
- Content Selection for Device
Independence (DISelect) 1.0
- This document defines a markup for selecting between versions of
content.
- Delivery
Context: Interfaces (DCI) (formerly: Dynamic Properties Framework
(DPF))
- This document defines platform and language neutral interfaces that
provide Web applications with access to a hierarchy of dynamic
properties representing device capabilities, configurations, user
preferences and environmental conditions.
Glossary
- Glossary of Terms
for Device Independence
- This document provides a glossary of terms used in discussions of
device independence.
Notes
- Authoring
Techniques for Device Independence
- This note provides a summary of several techniques and best practices
that Web site authors and solution providers may employ when creating
and delivering content to a diverse set of access mechanisms.
- Device
Independence Principles
- This note discusses the general principles associated with device
independence.
- Authoring Challenges
for Device Independence
- This note discusses the challenges associated with authoring
materials that can be accessed by a wide range of device with very
different capabilities. It includes a set of high level requirements
for systems that support device independence.
Working Drafts
- Core Presentation
Characteristics: Requirements and Use Cases
- This working draft describes the requirements for core presentation
characteristics and covers a number of use cases.
- Device Independent Authoring
Language (DIAL)
- This working draft describes a markup language for the filtering and
presentation of Web page content available across different delivery
contexts
- Composite Capability/Preference
Profiles (CC/PP): Structure and Vocabularies 2.0 (CC/PP 2.0)
- This working draft updates the CC/PP 1.0 Recommendation by making it
in line with the latest revision of RDF, and ensures its interoperability with OMA's UAProf2.
What is Device Independence?
A few years ago, virtually the only way to access the Web was through a
personal computer or workstation. True, there were variations between the
facilities offered by various browsers, some being
capable of use on text-based terminals. However, almost invariably, Web
access, for individuals without specific accessibility needs, involved using
a machine with a reasonably large, color display with full graphic
capabilities. While this is still primarily true, since the middle of 2000,
the number of different kinds of device that can access
the Web has grown from a small number with essentially the same core
capabilities to many hundreds with a wide variety of different capabilities.
At the time of writing, mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital
assistants, interactive television systems, voice response systems, kiosks
and even certain domestic appliances can all access the Web.
The range of capabilities for input and output and the range of markup
languages and networks supported greatly complicate the task of authoring web
sites and applications that can be accessed by users whatever device they
choose to use. Device Independence encompasses the techniques required to
make such support an affordable reality. In particular the activity focuses
on
- methods by which the characteristics of the device are made available
for use in the processing associated with device independence
- methods to assist authors in creating sites and applications that can
support device independence in ways that allow it to be widely
employed
Without this initiative, there is an increasing danger that parts of the
Web will become unavailable to users unless they employ a particular type of
device.
For more information see the Introduction to
Device Independence.
For more information on relationship between DI, Multimodal Interaction
and WAI see the article on Device
Independence, Accessibility and Multimodal Interaction
Key Goals of Device Independence
The mission of the Device Independence Activity is to avoid fragmentation
of the Web into spaces that are accessible only from subsets of devices. In
particular the Device Independence Working Group will
- collect requirements for Web access via various kinds of presentation
device
- review related specifications within and outside of W3C
- provide use cases and requirements to related activities within W3C
- describe techniques which allow authors to improve management of device
dependencies
- in some specific areas not covered by other groups, to propose
recommendations that will lead to enhanced device independence
Device Independence Public Mailing List
The Device Independence activity has a public mailing list at
www-di@w3.org. In addition, an archive of the list is
available.
Subscribing and Unsubscribing
To subscribe to this list, Send an email to mailto:www-di-request@w3.org with the
word subscribe in the email subject header. To unsubscribe,
send an email to the same address with the word unsubscribe
in the email subject header. For additional help, consult the W3C's public email list pages.
Using the List
Once you have subscribed, you can post comments about device independence
or about any of our documents to this list.
Let us know what you think.
Other Lists
Mobile Access to the Web
There is is an archived public mailing list for technical discussion about
mobile access at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-mobile/.
Although the Mobile Access
Interest Group has now closed, this mailing list continues to be
available as a discussion forum.
TV and the Web - Archive Only
There is an archive of the public mailing list that used to be used for
technical discussion about TV and the Web at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-tv/. This mailing
list was used by the TV & the Web
Interest Group. The group and the mailing list is now closed. The archive
remains available for reference.
Device Independence Working Group
The Device Independence Working Group
(member only link)
is open to W3C members and invited experts. The working group meets weekly by
phone. Face to face meetings are held three to four times per year.
Joining the Device Independence Working Group
If your organization is already a member of W3C, ask your W3C Advisory
Committee Representative to email the Working Group chair and staff contact
to confirm that your organization is prepared to commit the time and expense
involved in participating in the group. You will be expected to attend all
Working Group meetings and to respond in a timely fashion to email
requests.
Further details about joining
DIWG are available on the Working
Group (member only
link) page.
More information about the W3C
is available as is information about joining W3C.
Relationships with Other Work
- The Mobile Web Initiative
- The DI Activity has a close relationship with the MWI. While the MWI
is focused on outreach programs to promote the Mobile Web, the DI
Working Group designs core technologies for enabling Web access on any
enabled device, including mobile. The MWI uncovers requirements in the
specific area of mobile devices, which the DIWG integrates in the
design of its specifications.
- XHTML
- Any proposals for new markup associated with device independence must
be compatible with XHTML 2
- XForms
- Any proposals for new markup associated with device independence must
be compatible with XForms
- Multimodal Interaction
- Proposals associated with delivery context must take into account the
needs or multimodal interaction.
- Hypertext Coordination Group (member only
link)
- The Hypertext Coordination Group has the responsibility for ensuring
that reviews between Working Groups are planned and carried out so as
to meet requirements for deliverables and deadlines. The Hypertext
Coordination Group includes representatives for the XML Coordination
Group and for the Web Accessibility Initiative, as well as the Working
Groups in the Document Formats Domain and Interaction Domain.
- Web
Accessibility Initiative
- The Device Independence Working Group cooperates with the Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to ensure that enhancements associated
with Device Independence meet W3C accessibility goals. DIWG also works
with WAI to help ensure that, where appropriate, new mechanisms
introduced for device independence can also be used to support
accessibility.
- CC/PP
Working Group
- In March 2003 the CC/PP working group closed. Work on CC/PP was taken
over by the Device Independence Working Group. The work of the CC/PP Working
Group is available.
Dave Raggett, W3C Activity Lead for DIWG; Stéphane Boyera, W3C Team Contact for DIWG
Rhys Lewis, Chair DIWG
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Last revised by $Author: dsr $ on $Date: 2007/03/30 18:45:55 $