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The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) is a community of people interested in evolving HTML and related technologies. The WHATWG was founded by individuals from Apple, the Mozilla Foundation and Opera Software in 2004.^[1] Since then, the editor of the WHATWG specifications, Ian Hickson, has moved to Google. Chris Wilson of Microsoft was invited but did not join, citing the lack of a patent policy to ensure all specifications can be implemented on a royalty-free basis.^[2]

The WHATWG has a small, invitation-only steering committee called "Members", which has the power to impeach the editor of the specifications. Anyone can participate as a Contributor by joining the WHATWG mailing list.

History[link]

The WHATWG was formed in response to the slow development of web standards monitored by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and its decision to abandon HTML in favor of XML-based technologies. The WHATWG mailing list was announced on 4 June 2004,^[3] two days after the initiatives of a joint Opera–Mozilla position paper^[4] had been voted down by the W3C members at the W3C Workshop on Web Applications and Compound Documents.^[5]

On 10 April 2007, the Mozilla Foundation, Apple, and Opera Software proposed^[6] that the new HTML working group of the W3C adopt the WHATWG’s HTML5 as the starting point of its work and name its future deliverable "HTML5". On 9 May 2007, the new HTML working group resolved to do that.^[7]

Specifications[link]

The WHATWG has been actively working on several documents.

• HTML formerly known as HTML5^[8] (formerly titled Web Applications 1.0) is the fifth major version of the HTML specification and has been adopted by the W3C as the starting point of the work of the new HTML working group. On 19 January 2011, Ian Hickson announced^[9] that the standard would now be called HTML instead of HTML5. The specification for HTML will be a living document that will have continuous changes as necessary.
• Web Workers^[10] defines an API that enables ECMAScript to use multi-core CPUs more effectively.
• Microdata Vocabularies^[11] defines vocabularies for use with the HTML5 Microdata feature.
• Web Forms 2.0^[12] is an update to HTML forms. The spec will no longer be developed standalone, as the features have been folded into HTML5.
• Web applications 1.0^[13] contains HTML5, Web Workers, and several other specifications, some of which are only published standalone at the W3C.

Additionally, there is a very early draft called Web Controls 1.0,^[14] which is not actively being developed.

See also[link]

• HTML5
• Comparison of layout engines (HTML5)

References[link]

External links[link]

• WHATWG home page