Web Standards Project Calls on Public to Pressure Microsoft to Fully Support Web Standards in Their Browser
Released: November 2000 | Author: George Olsen on behalf of The Web Standards Project
The Web Standards Project (WSP) today asked the public to join its efforts in calling on Microsoft to fully support key Web standards in its next release of Internet Explorer.
“The dispute between AOL and Microsoft over instant messaging shows how incompatible standards hurt the public,” said WSP Project Leader George Olsen. “For browsers, there ARE common standards but Microsoft appears to be noncommittal about finishing off implementing them in Internet Explorer, saying there isn’t public demand for them.”
“Unfortunately, implementing most of these standards but not finishing key areas is like building a car but forgetting to install the steering wheel,” Olsen said. “Technically, it’s almost done, but it’s not usable.”
WSP is encouraging Web site owners, builders and visitors to
voice their support for standards implementation by writing to
WSP’s Steering Committee kicked off this public lobbying campaign by sending the following statement to Microsoft:
An Open Letter to Microsoft: It’s Time to Get It Right
As a member of the Web Standards Project and a working developer building Web sites, I am writing to ask that Microsoft take the next logical step in its support for W3C standards, and deliver full (100%) support for Cascading Style Sheets Level-1, HTML 4.0, DOM 1.0 and XML 1.0 in the next version of Internet Explorer.
Full support of these standards will enable developers and designers to finally embrace this technology, which Microsoft helped create, and which Microsoft was the first to begin supporting. In its dispute with AOL over instant messaging, Microsoft has made compelling arguments about the value of commonly supported standards and I believe those arguments apply just as strongly to browsers as well.
Less than full support in Internet Explorer would be a bad marketing decision when its largest competitor delivers the goods. Microsoft’s support for these standards has been far superior to Netscape’s, but that will change when Netscape releases Navigator 5.0, which appears headed toward fulfilling its promise of 100% support for these standards, according to independent reports.
For the good of your browser and the advancement of the Web as a great medium for communications, commerce, and art, I urge you to go the distance and make full support for these standards a priority for your Internet Explorer development team.
If you cannot commit to that time frame, I’d like to know when Microsoft DOES plan to deliver full support for these standards. If the answer is “never,” I’d like to know that, too, so I can let my clients and site visitors know that standards-compliant sites may not work properly on Internet Explorer.
Sincerely,
The Web Standards Project Steering Committee
George Olsen, Project Leader
Jeff Zeldman, Site Design
Tim Bray
Steve Champeon
Rachel Cox
B.K. DeLong
Martin Diekhoff
Chris Kaminski
Dan Shafer
Dori Smith
Jeffrey Veen
Today WSP also presented Microsoft with a Web standards petition signed by more than 1,000 Web developers from Fortune 500 companies and major educational and government institutions. (See related press release: “Web Standards Project calls on Microsoft to fully support Web standards in their next version of their Internet Explorer browser.”)
About the Web Standards Project
WSP
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.