Web Standards Project

<h2 id="organization">Organization</h2>
<p>The Web Standards Project began as a <a href="/facts/Grassroots/GMw7sKCr">grassroots</a> coalition "fighting for standards in our [web] browsers" founded by George Olsen, <a href="/facts/Glenn_Davis_(web_design)/eG8AhC48">Glenn Davis</a>, and <a href="/facts/Jeffrey_Zeldman/qQ41khwo">Jeffrey Zeldman</a> in August 1998.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> By 2001, the group had achieved its primary goal of persuading <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a>, <a href="/facts/Netscape/JGWlEUI7">Netscape</a>, <a href="/facts/Opera_(web_browser)/2NYCcTj1">Opera</a>, and other browser makers to accurately and completely support <a href="/facts/HTML/sSc3fT78">HTML</a> 4.01/XHTML 1.0, <a href="/facts/CSS/tA90XBQo">CSS</a>1, and <a href="/facts/ECMAScript/M7nDHsB5">ECMAScript</a>. Had browser makers not been persuaded to do so, the Web would likely have fractured into pockets of incompatible content, with various websites available only to people who possessed the right browser. In addition to streamlining web development and significantly lowering its cost, support for common web standards enabled the development of the semantic web. By marking up content in semantic (X)HTML, front-end developers make a site's content more available to search engines, more accessible to people with disabilities, and more available to the world beyond the desktop (e.g. mobile).
</p><p>The project re-launched in June 2002 with new members, a redesigned website, new site features, and a redefined mission focused on developer education and standards compliance in authoring tools as well as browsers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
</p><p>Project leaders were:
</p>
<ul><li>George Olsen (1998—1999)</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Jeffrey_Zeldman/qQ41khwo">Jeffrey Zeldman</a> (1999—2002)</li>
<li>Steven Champeon (2002—2004)</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Molly_Holzschlag/nSvrvsEr">Molly Holzschlag</a> (2004—2006)</li>
<li>Kimberly Blessing and Drew McLellan (2006—2008)</li>
<li>Derek Featherstone, Aaron Gustafson, and Glenda Sims (2008—2013)</li></ul>
<p>There were members that were invited to work on ad hoc initiatives, the <a href="https://www.webstandards.org/buzz/">Buzz Blog</a> and other content areas of the site.
</p><p>The group announced its dissolution on March 1, 2013.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<h3>Task forces</h3>
<p>The Web Standards Project hosted projects focused on bringing relevant organizations closer to standards-compliance, dubbed Task Forces.
</p>
Adobe Task Force
Focused on improving web standards compliance in products from <a href="/facts/Adobe_Systems/Bj1d5XvJ">Adobe Systems</a>. Was named the <a href="/facts/Adobe_Dreamweaver/MzP28RQ4">Dreamweaver</a> Task Force until 2008-03-10.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
Education Task Force
Worked with institutions of higher <a href="/facts/Education/WIwsQKF9">education</a> to promote instruction of Web standards and standards-compliant public sites.
Microsoft Task Force
Worked with the <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer/uL8a4Y5l">Internet Explorer</a> and Web platform tools team.
Accessibility Task Force
Worked with organizations, vendors and others to promote Web accessibility.
International Liaison Group
A member was "an active advocate for Web standards and best practices either in their <a href="/facts/Country/hormuwdR">country</a> of origin or domicile."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
The Street Team
Organized community events to promote web standards.
DOM Scripting Task Force
Focused on interoperable <a href="/facts/Client-side_scripting/psjqGKBx">client-side scripting</a>, through explaining and promoting the <a href="/facts/Document_Object_Model/GglE6jGx">DOM</a> standards from W3C and the <a href="/facts/ECMAScript/M7nDHsB5">ECMAScript</a> Standard, and concepts like <a href="/facts/Progressive_enhancement/d54qcFcj">progressive enhancement</a>, <a href="/facts/Graceful_degradation/rasrYlJk">graceful degradation</a>, <a href="/facts/Web_accessibility/JsA6wN2l">accessibility</a>, standards-driven <a href="/facts/JavaScript/XhhIIEsl">JavaScript</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> These best practice approaches have been called "DOM scripting" to differentiate them from earlier perceived bad uses of "<a href="/facts/Dynamic_HTML/XrmcmIv5">Dynamic HTML</a>". The task force became inactive before the group disbanded.
<h2 id="activities">Activities</h2>
<ul><li>The <a href="/facts/Acid1/V4YBgpWb">Acid1</a> test allows browsers and other rendering engines to test compliance with HTML 4 and CSS 1 specifications.</li>
<li>The <a href="/facts/Acid2/EMogz4qA">Acid2</a> test allows browsers and other rendering engines to test compliance with <a href="/facts/CSS/tA90XBQo">CSS</a> 1 and 2 specifications.</li>
<li>The <a href="/facts/Acid3/zX0JtLt6">Acid3</a> test allows browsers and other rendering engines to test compliance with CSS 2.1, <a href="/facts/Document_Object_Model/GglE6jGx">DOM</a>, and <a href="/facts/EcmaScript/M7nDHsB5">EcmaScript</a> specifications.</li>
<li>The <a href="/facts/Web_Compatibility_Test_for_Mobile_Browsers/X4WnSeMI">Web Compatibility Test for Mobile Browsers</a> allows mobile browsers and other rendering engines to test for web page rendering issues.</li></ul>
<h3>Browse Happy</h3>
<p>Browse Happy is a <a href="/facts/Website/SAsjJnca">website</a> urging users to upgrade their <a href="/facts/Web_browsers/2pfyymLs">web browsers</a>. The site was initially created by the Web Standards Project in August 2004 to convince users to switch to a web browser other than <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a>'s <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer/uL8a4Y5l">Internet Explorer</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>  It focused on <a href="/facts/Computer_security/7E5dIy7G">security</a> issues in Internet Explorer and suggested four alternatives:  <a href="/facts/Mozilla_Firefox/xez2zv8H">Mozilla Firefox</a>, <a href="/facts/Opera_(web_browser)/2NYCcTj1">Opera</a>, <a href="/facts/Safari_(web_browser)/9R8v7tNl">Safari</a> and <a href="/facts/Google_Chrome/4INfWq37">Google Chrome</a>.  The core of the site was a collection of testimonials by people who had switched from Internet Explorer to alternative web browsers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>
</p><p>In June 2005, the Web Standards Project decided that an anti-Internet Explorer campaign did not fit with their mission, and they handed the site over to <a href="/facts/Matt_Mullenweg/A1xCn36o">Matt Mullenweg</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> The site is now[<i>specify</i>] maintained by <a href="/facts/WordPress.com/B3w9MbWC">WordPress.com</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> with collaboration from <a href="/facts/HTML5_Boilerplate/qjGtFw7w">HTML5 Boilerplate</a> team members.
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/A_List_Apart/mNkTub9a">A List Apart</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/WebPlatform/EUhALFVg">WebPlatform</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/CSS_Zen_Garden/FuX6rNNu">CSS Zen Garden</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.webstandards.org">Official website</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.webstandards.org/action/edutf/">The Web Standards Project Education Task Force</a></li>
<li><a href="http://archive.webstandards.org/mission.html">Archive: The Web Standards Project's baseline standards proposal</a></li>
<li><a href="http://archive.webstandards.org/">Archive: The Web Standards Project's historical "goodbye" page</a></li>
<li><a href="https://browsehappy.com/">Browse Happy</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"WaSP: Fighting for Standards (WaSP mission statement)". Web Standards Project. 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-10. <a href="http://www.webstandards.org/about/mission/" target="_blank">http://www.webstandards.org/about/mission/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Sliwa, Carol (1998-08-17). "Browser standards targeted". Computerworld. Vol. 32, no. 33. p. 76. ISSN 0010-4841. <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Pruitt, Scarlet (2002-06-12). "Web Standards Project aims to educate developers". InfoWorld. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Gustafson, Aaron (2013-03-01). "Our Work Here is Done". The Web Standards Project. Retrieved 2019-04-09. <a href="https://www.webstandards.org/2013/03/01/our-work-here-is-done/index.html" target="_blank">https://www.webstandards.org/2013/03/01/our-work-here-is-done/index.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Announcing the Adobe Task Force - The Web Standards Project <a href="http://www.webstandards.org/2008/03/10/announcing-the-adobe-task-force/" target="_blank">http://www.webstandards.org/2008/03/10/announcing-the-adobe-task-force/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"ILG Members - The Web Standards Project". webstandards.org. <a href="http://www.webstandards.org/action/ilg/members/" target="_blank">http://www.webstandards.org/action/ilg/members/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>"Manifesto - The Web Standards Project". webstandards.org. <a href="http://www.webstandards.org/action/dstf/manifesto/" target="_blank">http://www.webstandards.org/action/dstf/manifesto/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Festa, Paul (2004-08-24). "Browser campaign slams IE". CNET News. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2019-03-22. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081007013215/http://news.cnet.com/Browser-campaign-slams-IE/2100-1032_3-5322759.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20081007013215/http://news.cnet.com/Browser-campaign-slams-IE/2100-1032_3-5322759.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>heise - "Glücklich browsen" ohne Internet Explorer - Staff Writer - 25.08.2004 [1] <a href="http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Gluecklich-browsen-ohne-Internet-Explorer--/meldung/50360" target="_blank">http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Gluecklich-browsen-ohne-Internet-Explorer--/meldung/50360</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>BrowseHappy Now Part of WordPress as WaSP Refocuses Mission - Molly E. Holzschlag - [2] Archived 2005-08-22 at the Wayback Machine <a href="http://www.webstandards.org/press/releases/archive/2005/06/01/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.webstandards.org/press/releases/archive/2005/06/01/index.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>"Browse Happy". GitHub. 7 September 2021. <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/browsehappy" target="_blank">https://github.com/WordPress/browsehappy</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Web Standards Project open-in-new

Web Standards Project