Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee is the inventor of the World Wide Web and is the director of the World Wide Web Consortium which is a global organization to oversee development of new technologies and standards that keep the Web functional and open to everyone. So far, the W3C has published more than 50 specifications for Web technologies, including Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and Extensible Markup Language (XML). Developers rely on these specifications to create Web-based or Web-enabled products that are fully compatible with one another.The W3C is also focusing on a number of emerging technologies that will change the way the Web works.
- The semantic Web will use deductive tools that give search agents artificial “reasoning” abilities, which will make it even easier for users to find information.
- The talking Web will allow people to navigate the Web using voice commands by enabling voice input and audio output.
- The multimodal Web will accept input from every type of source including keyboards, mice, voice, and even gestures such as eye movements.
Glencoe's Introduction to Web Design Using Dreamweaver © 2007
Did You Know?
People in the developed world spend less time reading books and more time interacting with visual media—television, podcasts, and video games—than ever before. According to the National Assessment of Education, the proportion of 17-year-olds who read for enjoyment “almost every day” fell from 31% to 22% between 1984 and 2004. Meanwhile, television watching continues to rise about 3% a year, and almost 87% o of kids aged 8 to 17 now have a video-game player in their home. What do these evolving trends mean for the future?
In 2005, approximately 11% of incoming college freshmen in the United States required a remedial reading course, and 14% required remedial writing. The need for remedial reading is the leading predictor that a student will drop out of college. Remediation costs the United States $3.7 billion a year, including a $2.3 billion loss to the economy due to diminished earning power of students who do not have a degree.
Source:
The Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006.
www.all4ed.org
