The web is going mobile whether we want to admit it or not. Facebook might not classify the iPad as truly “mobile” just yet, but as more and more tablets come to market, they might be forced into changing their opinion pretty quickly.
I take my iPhone and iPad on the go with me, and use both interchangeably. iOS users aren’t the only ones who have noticed that the world is going mobile though. The W3C has also noticed, and they’re now working on a standard document for touch-based web apps. For now, touch-based applications are synonymous with mobile applications, but moving forward, we might start seeing this segment of web apps find their way to the desktop. But that hasn’t stopped the W3C from putting together a draft for touch-based web apps.
According to the abstract:
The Touch Interface specification defines a set of low-level events that represent one or more points of contact with a touch-sensitive surface, and changes of those points with respect to the surface and any DOM elements displayed upon it (e.g. for touch screens) or associated with it (e.g. for drawing tablets without displays).
The W3C draft, edited by Doug Schepers, focuses on things like pressure controls and gestures, using Webkit and Safari as a backdrop for the document. I just want to be painfully clear, this is a draft, and it is very far away from becoming finalized.
But the good news is that we might start seeing some standards in place for these touch-based web apps in the future.
You can read the draft on the W3C website.
Article Via Electronista
Header Photo Credit: W3C Blog
