Feb 19, 2024
Behind the Scenes of Internet Standards Organizations

Internet Standards Organizations

Internet standards are the backbone of the world wide web. Without them, systems built on one set of rules would have difficulty communicating with those built on another.

The IETF is a bottom-up organization that relies on working groups to identify operational problems and propose solutions. The groups are organized into areas, and each is overseen by an area director. The IETF also receives architectural coordination from the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).

IETF

IETF is a bottom-up organization that creates Internet standards through collaboration and open processes. Its 130+ Working Groups (WGs) are chartered and work in eight different topic areas. Most WG work takes place online on public mailing lists and at IETF meetings. IETF participants are committed to collaborative, respectful discussion and do not view their opinions as inherently superior or inferior to those of others. In fact, the unofficial motto of IETF is “rough consensus and running code.”

The IETF’s technical coordination and oversight is provided by the Internet Engineering Steering Group, which is a committee of experts and professionals elected from among IETF participants. The IESG oversees the IETF’s eight topic areas, and provides top-level guidance to Working Groups in each area. It also comments on and approves all RFCs before they are published.

The IETF publishes its Internet standards in the form of RFCs, which describe how to implement specific features of the Internet. IETF standards are implemented in production networks and often evolve as implementation experience grows.

W3C

The W3C develops standards for the Web, ensuring that developers have tools that work across platforms. Its standards allow websites to be accessible by people with disabilities, and improve security and privacy. The organization also encourages innovation by promoting open Web technology. Its revenues are primarily from membership fees and grants.

Upon completion of its work, the W3C may publish a specification as a “Recommendation.” This means that it has been reviewed and tested by the community, and that software that implements the specification should function as expected. It is considered stable and ready for wide use.

A Working Group’s goal is to study a technical or policy issue and produce specifications or prototype software that will become W3C Recommendations. The group may include Coordination Groups and Interest Groups, and it must adhere to the W3C Working Group Process, including the consensus policy. Participation in a Working Group is by invitation only. The invitation is based on the Advisory Committee’s review of an Activity Proposal, which includes a proposal to dedicate Team and Member resources.

ECMA

ECMA is an international standardization body for information communication technology and consumer electronics. It develops publicly available standards and technical reports. Its publications are free of charge and may be used without restriction. Moreover, the organization works in co-operation with national and international organizations to promote their use. Its membership is open to any legal entity that produces, markets or develops computer systems.

Currently, the TC39 is working on ES7+, which will be published in 2016. The features will be rolled out over time, so that most browsers will eventually support them. These new versions of ECMA Script are often referred to by their year, for example, ES2016 or ES2017.

ECMA’s technical committees hold physical, hybrid, or virtual meetings depending on their needs. They are generally held outside of ECMA’s headquarters at the invitation of a TC member who hosts the meeting at their facility. They try to be efficient and economical while focusing on the quality of their work.

NSRC

The NSRC started out as a volunteer effort to support networking in southern Africa. It helped organize, teach about and help deploy a multi-country network using varying technologies, from FidoNet over dialup lines to UUCP over low cost 9600 baud links with old PCs running publicly available PC-based SLIP routing software, to low-cost IP technology based on dedicated, multi-point-to-point connections to the public Internet.

The NSRC also arranges workshops, seminars and technical training courses for people interested in networking. Its members have presented at international conferences, such as ICANN, ISOC INET and PacNOG.

The NSRC also helps developing countries build Internet infrastructure and engineering expertise. It works directly with indigenous network operator groups, collaborating with universities and government agencies to provide networking information, engineering assistance and equipment. The NSRC also supports students by offering scholarships for their participation in international networking conferences and other events. This scholarship is a great opportunity for the aspiring engineers.

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Dec 9, 2023
Improving Web Accessibility and Standards for Better User Experience.

Web Page Standards and Accessibility

Web standards make sites work pretty across a wide range of devices and browsers. They also help to ensure that your site is accessible for all visitors including those with disabilities.

Standards also shorten development and maintenance time, making it easier for a new developer to pick up where another one left off. This can save a lot of money over the long run.

HTML

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) describes how text, images and other content is displayed on web pages. It works alongside technologies such as CSS and JavaScript to create websites.

The main purpose of HTML is to structure information on web pages and make it easy for people to navigate and find what they need. It also provides the basis for hyperlinks, which allow visitors to go directly to a different page or website.

HTML uses a series of tags to identify how the page’s content should be interpreted and rendered by browsers. Each tag consists of an opening tag, a character or other element and a closing tag. Some tags describe entire sections of a web page, while others format individual parts of a page. For example, p> tags define paragraphs and the text that lives within them. They also tell the browser to place spaces between paragraphs for readability. h1> tags represent the most significant headings on a webpage, while h2> through h6> tags designate subheadings.

CSS

CSS is used to add layout and visual effects to web pages that are written in a markup language, like HTML. It is a very important language because it separates the document’s format from its content, making it more flexible and accessible. The styles are defined with key values and the values are cascaded so that a style is applied to all of the elements that use it.

Using CSS is much better than adding font and color information to every tag in the HTML code. If you have 50 p> tags on your site, it would be a pain to change all of the colors on each page by hand! Having the style information in a separate file means you can easily update it across your entire website.

Also, separating the formatting from the content makes it easier for people who use assistive technology to access webpages. For example, if someone finds a red italic heading hard to read, they can apply their own style sheet that will override the default browser styling.

XML

Many computer applications use XML to store data. XML is similar to HTML, but it has more flexibility. Its flexibility enables it to transport data between different applications, web sites, and databases. XML also allows users to customize the way data is presented without changing the underlying data.

XML is an important technology in website development because of the growing amount of data that is being produced and shared online. It is important to understand how it works so that you can take advantage of its benefits.

Unlike HTML, XML separates data from presentation. For example, if you want to display data on your website, the information must be stored in a separate XML file. This separation of data and presentation is necessary because it makes it easier to update the website when the data changes. XML is also essential for business applications such as electronic data interchange (EDI). It allows companies to exchange information electronically with other businesses.

Accessibility

Accessibility is about making websites and their content as easy to perceive, understand, navigate, and use for everyone. This includes users with a range of disabilities, including cognitive and motor impairments, sensory impairments, such as blindness and deafness, and physical impairments, such as limited mobility.

Accessible websites allow users to control a computer with the keyboard alone, and they make content more available to assistive technologies such as screen readers. They also include alternative text for images, which is useful for those with visual impairments and helps search engines find the content on the page.

While most businesses do not have to meet accessibility standards, they should consider their impact on a broad spectrum of users and the potential legal repercussions of failing to meet them. In addition, many companies want to show their commitment to inclusivity and demonstrate that they care about the people who visit their sites. This is a great way to increase brand loyalty and advocacy.

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Nov 14, 2023
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