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<title>W3C workshop - Shaping the Future of HTML</title>
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<p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img border="0" alt="W3C"
align="bottom" width="72" height="48"
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height="48" border="0" alt="HTML Icon"></a></p>

<h1 align="center">&quot;Shaping the Future of HTML&quot;</h1>

<h3 align="center">W3C workshop 4th/5th May 1998<br>
San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency, California.</h3>

<h3 align=center>Chairs:
<a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/">Dave Raggett</a> and
<a href="http://www.cwi.nl/~steven/">Steven Pemberton</a></h3>


<h3 align="center"><small><a href="#goals">Goals</a> |
<a href="#summary">Summary</a> |
<a href="agenda.html">Agenda</a> |
<a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Group/HTML-Future-minutes.html">Minutes</a> |
<a href="papers.html">Papers</a> |
<a href="#participants">Participants</a> |
<a href="presentations.html">Presentations</a></small></h3>

<p align=center><em>Note that the minutes are only available to W3C members</em>
<hr>

<h2><a name="goals">Workshop Goals</a></h2>

<p>Is HTML 4.0 the last HTML? Does XML mean the end of HTML? Has W3C
given up on HTML?</p>

<p>Rest assured, W3C's answer to all three questions is &quot;no&quot;.
HTML, together with style sheets and scripting, promises to be a vital
part of the Web for years to come as the ubiquitous format for global
hypertext. Millions of people have learned HTML and have documented
vast amounts of information with it, ensuring its future role.</p>

<p>What is that role? How will HTML co-exist with XML, RDF, SMIL,
and other languages? W3C has ideas but we want your input.
Participants had a chance to discuss their views directly with
the designers of HTML. The workshop helped W3C Members and Staff
evaluate issues and challenges to be met by future versions of
HTML.</p>

<p>The two-day workshop was held May 4th/5th at the Hyatt Regency in
Burlingame California, close to San Francisco Airport.  There were
68 participants, who between them represented a wide range of
organizations involved in either the use of HTML or the development
of tools for processing it. This included Web site designers,
application developers, tool vendors and end-user organizations.

<p>The workshop addressed the issues:

<ul>
 <li>Is there a need for a new version of HTML?
 <li>Should W3C form a new HTML working group?
</ul>

<h2><a name="summary">Workshop Summary</a></h2>

<p>In discussions, it was agreed that further extending HTML 4.0 would
be difficult, as would converting 4.0 to be an XML application. The
proposed way to break free of these restrictions is to make a fresh
start with the next generation of HTML based upon a suite of XML
tag-sets. The workshop expressed a need for a better match to database
and workflow applications, and for the widely disparate capabilities of
small/mobile devices. Modularizing HTML will provide the flexibility
needed for this.

<p>The tag-sets will be developed in cooperation with experts from each
area, with a clean rationale design for each tag-set and how these can be
combined. The new version of HTML will be informed by 4.0 but not bound
by it. There is no requirement for strict upwards compatibility,
although the migration path will be carefully considered. New features
and richer authoring environments will provide compelling reasons for
upgrading to the next generation of HTML.

<p>Browser and authoring tool support for existing versions of HTML will
be with us for a long time to come. The new approach will make it easier
to develop powerful new tools without the penalty of having to provide
full backwards compatibility with existing content. Style sheets and
scripts will make it practical to tune Web content to the profile of
each device, with the flexibility to apply this at authoring time, in
proxy servers or in the browser.

<p>The next step is for W3C to draft a briefing package for setting up
an activity to carry this forward. The previous HTML working group
having been closed when HTML 4.0 became a W3C Recommendation. Work on
the new version of HTML is expected to take 18 months or so.

<h2><a name="participants">Participating Organizations</a></h2>

<ul>
<li>Adobe Systems Inc.
<li>Aerosoft Systems
<li>Beduin Communications Corporation
<li>CCTA - Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (UK)
<li>CN Group (Veo Systems)
<li>CNET: The Computer Network
<li>CWI, Amsterdam
<li>Calico Technology
<li>Electricit&eacute; de France (EDF)
<li>Elsevier Science Ltd.
<li>Etak  Inc.
<li>Geoworks
<li>HTML Writers Guild, Inc.
<li>Hewlett Packard Company
<li>IBM Corporation
<li>Infoseek
<li>Intranet 2001  Inc.
<li>Lotus Development Corporation
<li>Macmillan Publishing
<li>Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic)
<li>Microsoft Corporation
<li>Microsoft/WebTV
<li>Mitsubishi Electric Co.
<li>Motorola Lexicus Division
<li>Netscape Communications
<li>Nokia Multimedia Network Terminals
<li>PointCast,  Inc.
<li>Silicon Graphics, Inc.
<li>Sun Microsystems Corporation
<li>Trinity College Dublin
<li>US National Center on Adult Literacy
<li>University of California, Department of EECS
<li>University of California, Irvine
<li>University of Massachusetts, Lowell
<li>Unwired Planet, Inc.
<li>Verifone, Inc. (Hewlett-Packard)
<li>W3C
<li>WinWriters
</ul>

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<p>Last modified: $Date: Friday 11 February 2005 - 13:46:10$Author: dsr $</p>
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