- From: B.K. DeLong <bkdelong@naw.org>
- Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 17:24:49 -0400
- To: www-smil@w3.org
Hi all- I've posted on and off about things like Web Accessibility and Web standards. Now, Web developers and users have a chance to tell Netscape what they really think should be include in version 5.0 of the browser. The Web Standards Project, an international coalition of leading Web developers and Web experts, today launched a public campaign to encourage Netscape to make sure its next version of Navigator includes software that would reportedly make the browser 100 percent compliant with two major Web standards. WSP is gathering signatures from Web developers and the Web-using public, via its site <http://www.webstandards.org>, urging Netscape to include its NGLayout engine, which is currently under development, in Navigator 5.0. The layout engine takes HTML and other code describing a Web page's appearance and converts it into what the user actually sees. Currently, layout engines in both Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer fail to fully support standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and other standards bodies. The resulting incompatibilities among various browsers add at least 25 percent to the cost of building sites and threaten to fragment the Web. Netscape officials have pledged NGLayout will fully support the standards for Document Object Model (DOM) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) level 1 and also support features of the CSS level 2 standard. WSP has been urging browser makers to fully support these core standards - as well as others, such as XML - developed by the W3C and other standards bodies. CSS gives control over the appearance of many pages at once, from the typography to the behavior of links, as well as precise control over page layout. DOM lets developers use scripting languages, such as ECMAScript (née JavaScript), to manipulate text, images and other parts of Web pages; for instance, dynamically changing their appearance over time, or moving them around inside the browser window. However, Netscape officials have said that current plans won't include NGLayout in Navigator 5.0, scheduled for release later this year. The "I Want My NGLayout!" campaign is intended to let Netscape know that Web developers and the Web-using public believe full support for these standards by browsers is crucial for the evolution of the Web. If you're interested as a Web developer, please check out the WSP Web site and fill out the form letting Netscape know. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions. -- B.K. DeLong 360 Huntington Ave. Director Suite 140SC-305 New England Chapter Boston, MA 02115 World Organization (617) 247-3753 of Webmasters http://www.world-webmasters.org bkdelong@naw.org
Received on Tuesday, 22 September 1998 17:25:04 UTC