WSP URGES NETSCAPE TO INCLUDE STANDARDS-FRIENDLY LAYOUT ENGINE INTO NAVIGATOR 5.0 The Web Standards Project, an international coalition of leading Web developers and Web experts, today launched a public campaign to encourage Netscape to make sure its next version of Navigator includes software that would reportedly make the browser 100 percent compliant with two major Web standards. WSP is gathering signatures from Web developers and the Web-using public, via its site , urging Netscape to include its NGLayout engine, which is currently under development, in Navigator 5.0. The layout engine takes HTML and other code describing a Web page's appearance and converts it into what the user actually sees. Currently, layout engines in both Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer fail to fully support standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and other standards bodies. The resulting incompatibilities among various browsers add at least 25 percent to the cost of building sites and threaten to fragment the Web. "With NGLayout, Netscape has the opportunity to take the lead in resolving many of the problems that have plagued Web development. We'd like to see that happen sooner rather than later," said George Olsen, WSP Project Leader, and Design Director/Web Architect at 2-Lane Media in Los Angeles. Netscape officials have pledged NGLayout will fully support the standards for Document Object Model (DOM) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) level 1 and also support features of the CSS level 2 standard. WSP has been urging browser makers to fully support these core standards - as well as others, such as XML - developed by the W3C and other standards bodies. CSS gives control over the appearance of many pages at once, from the typography to the behavior of links, as well as precise control over page layout. DOM lets developers use scripting languages, such as ECMAScript (née JavaScript), to manipulate text, images and other parts of Web pages; for instance, dynamically changing their appearance over time, or moving them around inside the browser window. However, Netscape officials have said that current plans won't include NGLayout in Navigator 5.0, scheduled for release later this year. "It's unfortunate, because the promise of a layout engine that complies with these key Web standards opens up exciting possibilities for developers being able to make more dynamic and compelling content without having to build multiple versions of a site," Olsen said. The "I Want My NGLayout!" campaign is intended to let Netscape know that Web developers and the Web-using public believe full support for these standards by browsers is crucial for the evolution of the Web. "We're hoping to build a groundswell of support, enough to make Netscape sit up and listen," said Jeffrey Zeldman, WSP Site Designer and New York-based Web designer . Zeldman pointed out that Netscape has lagged behind in implementing standards, so it would be in their competitive interest to get NGLayout into Navigator 5.0. "Unfortunately, in the heat of competition, companies can lose sight of where their true interests lie," he said. "But if enough developers and users support this effort, then Netscape may realize they could regain the lead by doing the right thing." WSP Steering Committee member Dan Shafer has also publicly called on Netscape to include NGLayout. "Netscape must not ship a 5.0 browser without NGLayout," Shafer said in the Sept. 17 issue of his e-mail newsletter, "Dan Shafer: For What It's Worth. "My advice to Netscape: pull out all the stops. Put your entire engineering resource--or at least as much of it as can make a reasonable contribution--behind finishing and integrating NGLayout. Nothing else you can do will have the long-term impact on your company and its success." - 30 - George Olsen mailto:golsen@2lm.com Design Director/Web Architect http://www.2lm.com 2-Lane Media tel: 310/473-3706 x2225