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13th May 2005 - Today, at the WWW2005 Conference, the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the launch
of the Mobile Web Initiative (MWI) - an endeavor to
make Web access from a mobile device as simple, easy,
and convenient as Web access from a desktop device.
"Mobile access to the Web has been a second class
experience for far too long," explained Tim Berners-Lee,
W3C Director. "MWI recognizes the mobile device
as a first class participant, and will produce materials
to help developers make the mobile Web experience worthwhile.
"
Potential of Mobile Devices on the Web Not Yet Realized
Many of today's mobile devices already feature Web browsers
and the demand for mobile devices continues to grow.
Despite these trends, browsing the Web from a mobile
device -- for example, to find product information,
consult timetables, check email, transfer money -- has
not become as convenient as expected. Users often find
that their favorite Web sites are not accessible or
not as easy to use on their mobile phone as on their
desktop computer. Content providers have difficulties
building Web sites that work well on all types and configurations
of mobile phones offering Web access.
W3C has launched the Mobile Web Initiative to make
browsing the Web from mobile devices a reality.
W3C Takes Action to Accelerate and Improve Mobile
Web Experience
Mobile Web Initiative participants will initially focus
on two areas: best practices and mobile device descriptions.
The Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group is chartered
to develop authoring guidelines, checklists and best
practices to help content providers to develop Web content
that works well on mobile devices. The Device Description
Working Group is chartered to address the development
of improved device description solutions, that is, a
database of descriptions that can be used by content
authors to adapt their content to a particular device.
W3C is already active in the mobile Web space, developing
Web standards for multimodal interaction and device-independent
design, as well as profiles for mobile devices; related
standards include XHTML, SVG Mobile Profiles, and the
SMIL Basic Profile. MWI work will complement these current
efforts.
Sponsors, Participants Include Industry Leaders
in Mobile and Web Technologies
W3C Members France Telecom, HP, MobileAware, Segala
M Test, Vodafone, and Volantis have stepped forward
as Founding Sponsors of the Mobile Web Initiative. MWI
Founding Sponsors enjoy unique benefits, including a
seat on the MWI Steering Committee, the group that will
set the direction of the MWI and propose new work. All
W3C Members are eligible to become MWI Founding Sponsors
until 1 July 2005.
Efforts to Be Coordinated with Relevant Organizations
The MWI is chartered to establish cooperative ties with
related groups, including the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)
and 3GPP. These ties will help ensure that the needs
of users are well-defined and that the efforts of the
MWI and these related groups are complementary.
About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]
The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential
by developing common protocols that promote its evolution
and ensure its interoperability. It is an international
industry consortium jointly run by the MIT Computer
Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics
and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France and
Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the Consortium
include: a repository of information about the World
Wide Web for developers and users, and various prototype
and sample applications to demonstrate use of new technology.
More than 350 organizations are Members of W3C. To learn
more, see http://www.w3.org/
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