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Making the web work — for everyone. W3C brings together global stakeholders to develop open standards that enable a World Wide Web that connects and empowers humanity.
Who we are
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international public-interest non-profit organization where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop web standards. Founded by Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and led by President & CEO
Seth Dobbs
and a
Board of Directors
, the Web Consortium's
mission
is to make the web work — for everyone.
W3C's history
Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium in 1994 to ensure the long-term growth of the web. He remains W3C's Emeritus Director and Honorary Member of the Board of Directors.
From the start the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has been an international multi-stakeholder community where
member organizations
, a full-time
staff
, and the public work together to develop open
web standards
Read the W3C history
W3C Community
W3C's global standards constitute the toolkit for web solutions that scale, enabling innovators to solve hard problems, providing the proper foundations to meet requirements for accessibility, internationalization, privacy, and security on the web.
Standards that meet the varied needs of society are created not by one company but through the work of the Web Consortium community:
Members
: More than 330
Members
from around the world lead the development and implementation of standards.
Staff
: W3C is a public-interest non-profit organization whose revenues come primarily from Membership dues. These and some grants support a
staff
of about 50 people who are direct employees or employees of
W3C Partners
Developers
: Over 14,700 developers worldwide participate in the standards development.
Learn how W3C is led
Some of our unique advantages
Open standards that make a difference
Our community has developed several hundreds of open standards that have enabled the creation of two billion websites, the emergence of flourishing business ecosystems, and made the Web accessible to more people, inclusive, and secure.
Royalty-free to boost adoption
W3C standards may be used by anyone at no cost: if they were not free, developers would ignore them.
Built-in inclusivity
W3C technologies and guidelines make it possible for people with disabilities to access the web. The web supports communication in many of the world's languages and writing systems.
Securing the web
W3C standards improve web security through the development of authentication technologies that can replace weak passwords and reduce phishing and other sophisticated cyberattacks.
"The web is humanity connected by technology."
W3C standard development process
The proven standards development process upheld at the Web Consortium promotes fairness and enables progress.
Our standards work is accomplished in the open, under the
W3C Process Document
and royalty-free
W3C Patent Policy
, with input from the broader community. Decisions are taken by consensus. Technical direction and standards (W3C Recommendations) require review by W3C Members – large and small. The Advisory Board guides the community-driven enhancement of the Process Document. The Technical Architecture Group is our highest authority on technical matters.
International participation
W3C conducts its work primarily in English. Organizations located all over the world and involved in many different fields join W3C as Members to participate in a vendor-neutral forum for the creation of web standards.
W3C Members
and a dedicated
full-time staff of experts
have earned W3C international recognition for contributions to the web. W3C's global efforts include:
Liaisons
with national, regional and international organizations around the globe. These contacts help W3C maintain a culture of global participation in the development of the World Wide Web. W3C coordinates particularly closely with other organizations that are developing standards for the web or internet in order to enable clear progress.
The
W3C Chapters Program
, which promotes adoption of W3C Recommendations among developers, application builders, and standards setters, and encourage inclusions of stakeholder organizations in the creation of future standards by joining W3C.
Translations
of
web standards
and other materials from dedicated volunteers in the W3C community. W3C also has a
policy for authorized translations
of W3C materials. Authorized W3C Translations can be used for official purposes in languages other than English.
Talks
around the world in a variety of languages on web standards by people closely involved in the creation of the standards.
W3C's Internationalization activity
helps ensure that the web is available to people.
Recognition
In orchestrating these activities, the Web Consortium has earned a reputation for fairness, quality, and efficiency.
Though not well-known by the general public, the Web Consortium has earned recognition for its global impact: the Boston Globe
ranked W3C the most important achievement
associated with MIT (the first W3C historical Host).
The Web Consortium's impact even extends beyond this planet: NASA regularly uses W3C standards in Mars and space exploration missions.
The organization has
won three Emmy Awards
: in 2016 for its work to make online videos more accessible with captions and subtitles, in 2019 for standardization of a Full TV Experience on the web, and again in 2022 for standardizing
font technology for custom downloadable fonts and typography for web and TV devices.
Organizational structure
In administrative terms
W3C has become its own legal entity
in January 2023, moving to a
public-interest non-profit organization
after 28 years with an atypical organizational structure where legal and fiduciary roles were assumed by four host institutions across the planet. Read more about the
W3C history
In process terms, the
W3C Process Document
Member Agreement
Patent Policy
, and a few others documents establish the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in the making of W3C standards.
The Process governs the standards-setting aspect of W3C. The
Bylaws
govern the operation of the corporation that supports the standards process and W3C’s other efforts to pursue its
mission
Funding model
W3C sources of revenue include:
W3C Member dues
Sponsorships
Donations
You may also be interested in
Careers
Jobs and fellowships at W3C.
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Web Standards
This page introduces web standards at a high-level.
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Why join W3C
Discover the value of joining the Web Consortium.
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Business Ecosystems
Learn about the various business ecosystems that the web transforms and how W3C meets particular industry needs.
Ecosystems