In 2014, W3C turns 20. In net years that’s one thing like 200.
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We final redesigned the W3C homepage and different high pages in 2008 to offer extra content material, clearer navigation, and different conventions of web site design. However lots has modified in 5 years, and we wish to revamp the positioning in time for our twentieth birthday.
For starters, extra industries, similar to tv, automotive, digital publishing, digital signage, and gaming, have embraced the online. We’d like extra content material tuned to these industries. Along with these new audiences, participation in W3C has grown by a number of thousand because the launch of Group Teams in 2011, and with it the demand for an improved consumer expertise.
The system panorama has additionally developed. In 2008, we in-built assist for varied display screen sizes and gadgets. (Dominique Hazael-Massieux wrote up his findings for ALA on easy methods to attain essentially the most desktops and cell gadgets with CSS media queries.) 5 years later, we have to take into account many extra kind elements and consumer interfaces for ebooks, tv, automotive, and digital signage.
In 2012, we launched webplatform.org as the brand new dwelling for developer and designer sources. A complete class of content material will stay there reasonably than on w3.org. We have to revisit our present materials and make sure the websites are complementary. Luckily, requirements have developed to facilitate our extra formidable targets. We will now reap the benefits of HTML5, new CSS properties, assist for SVG, and lots of different rising requirements. There are new instruments as effectively. In 2008 we constructed a content material administration system from scratch to make use of and assist requirements. I’m keen to search out one other resolution.
To rejuvenate the W3C web site for its outdated and new associates, I’m main a activity pressure to create a roadmap for an improved web site. For the subsequent 5 months, we’ll have a look at our property and interview our varied audiences to prioritize their wants and suggest methods to satisfy them. In July, we’ll current a complete plan to W3C administration and, if accredited, launch the redesign.
Our web site serves a number of million pages, so we’ll focus on priorities. Past the highest pages, we’ll focus on working group subsites, industry-specific touchdown pages, mailing record archives, the Member inside web site, and extra. I count on we’ll additionally examine the W3C technical report type. In 2008, we created a brand new template, however didn’t use it. Since then, there have been experiments within the CSS Working Group, however extra work must be performed.
We’ll additionally revisit a few of the balances we struck on the time, similar to navigation by content material for each technical and non-technical audiences, and supporting various authoring environments whereas sustaining design consistency. We’ll focus on what social options would greatest assist our requirements actions, that are essentially collaborative. We’ll have a look at infrastructure choices and give you a finances and timeline for implementing the venture. In parallel, a associated activity pressure will give attention to visible id for the W3C model, which can inform this web site activity pressure’s work. The aim is to launch in 2014.
I invite A Record Aside readers (and net builders and designers typically) to recommend your priorities for a brand new w3.org to [email protected].
If you want to volunteer for this section of the venture—to put in writing the plan to revamp w3.org—please contact me. We’ll profit from various abilities: venture administration, info structure and design, content material technique, tooling, and extra.
I look ahead to constructing a greater w3.org that serves you effectively for years to come back.