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# Introduction to W3C * * * ## What is W3C? * W3C stands for the _World Wide Web Consortium_ * W3C was founded in _October 1994_ * W3C was created by _Tim Berners-Lee_ * W3C is a _membership organization_ * W3C's mission is _to standardize the web_ * W3C creates and maintains _WWW standards_ * W3C standards are known as _W3C Recommendations (W3C specifications)_ * * * ## How was W3C created? The World Wide Web originated as a project at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), where Tim Berners-Lee developed its initial prototype. Tim Berners-Lee—the inventor of the World Wide Web—is currently the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium. W3C was established in 1994 to facilitate collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and CERN, with support from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the European Commission. * * * ## Standardizing the Web W3C is committed to ensuring that all users can access and use the web, regardless of their cultural or educational background, abilities, financial resources, or physical disabilities. W3C also collaborates with other standardization organizations, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum, and the Unicode Consortium. W3C was founded at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) and is jointly operated by ERCIM (European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics) in France and Keio University in Japan, with branch offices worldwide. * * * ## W3C Members Because the Web is so important—both in terms of its global impact and the investments involved—its future should not be controlled by any single organization. Therefore, W3C operates as a membership organization: Some well-known members include: * IBM * Microsoft * America Online * Apple * Adobe * Macromedia * Sun Microsystems (http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Member/List "World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Members") include software developers, content providers, corporate users, telecommunications companies, research institutions, laboratories, standardization bodies, and government entities. * * * ## W3C Recommendations W3C's most important work is developing Web specifications (called Recommendations), which define Web communication protocols (such as HTML and XHTML) and other foundational components. Each W3C Recommendation is developed by a working group composed of members and invited experts. These groups, funded by companies and other organizations, produce working drafts and eventually a Proposed Recommendation. Generally, for formal approval, Recommendations are submitted to W3C members and the Director. In the next section, we will explain the specification approval process.