The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

What is the W3C?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) both develops and promotes standard technologies for the Web. On the W3C Web site, you will find information about Web technologies such as the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the Extensible Markup Language (XML), the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) (see the full list of W3C Activities), W3C's mission, and how W3C operates.

Who is W3C?

W3C is an international consortium with approximately 400 Member organizations and a full-time staff of more than 70 people; information about joining W3C is available on the Web site. W3C Members send engineers to work in W3C Working Groups, together with W3C technical staff (called the "Team"), to produce technical specifications for Web technologies. W3C is led by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web. You can listen to a multimedia introduction to W3C by Tim Berners-Lee (in English, with English and Japanese subtitles; SMIL 2.0 player required).

W3C makes a strong commitment to interaction and accountability with the public. This is built into the W3C Process, which includes the rules by which W3C puts its stamp of approval on completed work. W3C invites the Web community to participate in W3C on public mailing lists, to interact with W3C Team at upcoming W3C appearances and events, and to attend (annually) the W3C track at the World Wide Web Conference.

Why W3C is important for Web Accessibility

W3C maintains the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which maintain the actual technical standards for web accessibility. Using this detailed guide, web developers can create fully accessible sites. There are several tools available for checking both the validity of HTML markup as well checks against the standards themselves for completed work.