The Web Platform: use it, build it

Photo: Tools by Kathleen Leavitt Cragun CC BY-NC-ND

W3C

Standards for the Web
HTML5, CSS, JavaScript APIs, …
Open to all to join

Web Platform Evolutions

Progressive Web Apps
Web Payments
VR
WebRTC
Sensors
Local interactions
(but see also: WebAssembly, CSS Houdini, CSS Grid!, …)

PWA: 1st class mobile citizens

Home screen integration & UI Theme customization (Web App Manifest) ()
Programmatic offline behavior (Service Worker) ()
Push Notifications

Profit!!!

Web Payments API for streamlined checkouts Chrome Samsung Internet 5+ ( Edge (experimental) )

var request = new PaymentRequest(
  methodData, // required payment method data
  details,    // required information about transaction
  options     // optional parameter for things like shipping, etc.
);

Metaverse

now: WebVR () () () ()
soon? Web Pages progressively enhanced as VR experiences

Real-Time Communications

WebRTC brings real-time Audio Video Communication to the Web
+ P2P data

Sensing

Generic Sensor API: framework to build and deploy Sensor APIs for browsers
Applied to motion sensors (accelorement, gyroscope, magnetometer), proximity detection, ambient light
()

Local interactions

Web Bluetooth (()), WebNFC (()) allows to integrate with surrounding local devices
Complementary to Physical Web integration of URLs in the real-world (, ())
Later? geofencing, indoor location

The Web Needs You

Participate!

Bring use cases and requirements
Give feedback on specs as they develop
Improve specs
Help with adoption / implementation
Create new specs

Use case and requirements

Existing spec? contact W3C Working Group by email
No spec (or unsure if any)? WICG forum wicg.io

Example of proposal posted on WICG forum

Feedback on specs

Feedback groups are looking for:
- Bugs
- API Design
- Inconsistencies / missing features
File issues on github (all our specs are there: github.com/w3c

Improve specs

Pull Requests on specs are ♥
⚠️️ we need IPR guarantees for substantive contributions

Adoption & implementation

Specs are only useful if implemented
Advocate for implementation in browser bug trackers
Help with interoperability by providing test cases TestTheWebForward.org

Create specs

No group working on something you need?
Make it happen yourself!
- WICG: Web Platform Incubator Community Group
- W3C Community Groups
Key is: build a community first, not a spec

e.g. Responsive Images

Community of designers & developers had missed a way to manage responsive images, failed to convince existing Working Groups
Started a Community Group, built use cases and requirements, built a draft spec, iterated (and suffered)
Responsive Images now widely deployed

Get In Touch

dom@w3.org

@dontcallmeDOM

These slides: https://kwz.me/W0