AWS Open Source Blog
Amazon Joins the W3C
Amazon is excited to announce that we have joined the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Since 1994, the W3C has been defining open standards for the Web such as CSS, SVG, and XML. These, and many others, have driven interoperability across vendor platforms and led to the rapid evolution of the Web to become more interactive and globally accessible.
The W3C fosters collaboration via Working Groups, Community Groups, and Interest Groups, each focused on specific areas of technology. Amazon has taken leadership roles in the following groups:
Immersive Web Working Group & Immersive Web Community Group
The Immersive Web Working Group is chartered to deliver the WebXR Device API, a web API for utilizing Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) hardware. Through this API, web developers can add AR and VR content to their websites that is viewable without an application needing to be installed. Separate from the Immersive Web Working Group, the Immersive Web Community Group continues its mission to incubate new AR and VR web technologies that are not yet ready for standardization. Amazon is represented in these groups by Nell Waliczek, a Principal Engineer on Amazon Sumerian – a fast and easy way to build VR, AR, and 3D experiences on the web. Nell is a WebXR Spec Editor and has been a key driver in moving the API towards standardization.
Internationalization Working Group
The Internationalization (I18N) Working Group has a mission to enable the Web to support universal access by users across regions, languages, and cultures. The working group is chaired by Amazon’s Senior Principal Engineer and internationalization expert Addison Phillips. The Indic language task force within this group, is chaired by Alolita Sharma, a Principal Technologist and internationalization expert at Amazon. You can follow the activities of the internationalization working group online and on Twitter @webi18n.
Looking Forward
We look forward to collaborating with other W3C members on building the future of the Web. In addition to the groups listed above, in the coming months we will be attending several W3C Workshops such as Strong Authentication and Identity and Web Standardization for Graph Data.
We will also be at the W3C’s annual Technical Plenary and Advisory Comittee (TPAC) meeting in Lyon, France October 22nd – 26th. If you’re there, too, come find us and say hi!