Clearly, the goals listed in the previous section are ambitious, to say the least. Yet the W3C has been very successful in meeting the challenges of these goals, and they have a strong foundation to continue to meet the challenges these goals will present in the future.

In addressing these goals, the W3C bases much of its activity on the work of specific working, interest, and coordination groups. These groups consist of representatives from member organizations, the W3C Team, and outside experts. To help develop the work of these groups to the highest efficiency and potential, the activities of the W3C are divided into four major domains.

1)            Architecture Domain. This domain develops the underlying technologies and infrastructure of the Web.

2)            Information Domain. This domain focuses on the interoperability and accessibility goals and works with all facets of the tools of interaction (such as formats and languages) to help deliver this promise of interoperability and accessibility.

3)            Technology and Society Domain. With the development of specialty areas of cyber-law and other professional categories that focus on the impact and influence of the Web on various areas of business and society, there exists a strong need to develop standards revolving around social, legal, and public policy issues and concerns that are affected by (and that, in turn, affect) the Web. This domain seeks to address these issues to ensure the technical developments of the Web remain in harmony with administrative and procedural requirements across local, state, federal, and global bureaucratic arenas.

4)            Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Just as the name implies, this domain works to ensure that the benefits of the Web remain accessible to all people, regardless of mental or physical disabilities. From research and development to education and outreach, the WAI domain seeks to guarantee that the Web remains a viable and accessible communication tool for everyone.

All of the W3C’s activities, goals, and mission statements are available in much greater detail at http://www.w3c.org/consortium.

With all of this organization, individual working teams, groups, and domains, what has the W3C accomplished since its inception? In a word: much! The W3C has published more than 40 recommendations across all facets of the Web, from functionality perspectives to technology protocols and requirements. In the process, it has upheld its primary goal to build on the existing success and foundation of today’s technology to help lead the way to the most exciting, functional, viable, and efficient Web of tomorrow.

Communicating and Participating with the W3C
Although you don’t need to be involved with the W3C to work with HTML, it should be clear from the discussion thus far that it’s advantageous to participate in the ongoing development of the Web (including HTML) that the W3C facilitates.