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Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Acid3: Putting Browser Makers on Notice, Again

Developers at the Web Standards Project (WaSP) announced the release of
Acid3, the latest in a line of tests designed to expose flaws in the
implementation of mature Web standards in Web browsers. By making sure
their software adheres to the test, the creators of these products can
be more confident that their software will display and function with
Web pages correctly both now and with Web pages of the future. The Acid3
Test is designed to test specifications for Web 2.0, and exposes potential
flaws in implementations of the public ECMAScript 262 and W3C Document
Object Model 2 standards. Collectively known as DOM Scripting, it is
these technologies that enable advanced page interactivity and power
many advanced web applications such as web-based email and online office
applications. As a series of 100 mini-tests, Acid3 has already been
found to expose flaws in all tested browsers, including Internet Explorer,
Firefox, Opera, and Safari. WaSP hopes that Acid3 will prove useful to
browser makers during the development of future versions of their products.
WaSP has a history of such initiatives. In 1997, emeritus member Todd
Fahrner, together with a group of crack Web developers dubbed the 'CSS
Samurai,' created an 'Acid Test' that highlighted shortcomings in browser
support for CSS. The Acid Test was instrumental in moving the industry
much closer to the goal of consistent rendering of Web pages in different
browsers. This was followed by Acid2 in 2005, designed to expose flaws
in the implementation of mature Web standards such as HTML, CSS, and PNG.
Acid3 builds on and extends this legacy to web applications in 2008.
Founded in 1998, The Web Standards Project (WaSP) fights for standards
that reduce the cost and complexity of development while increasing the
accessibility and long-term viability of any site published on the Web.
We work with browser companies, authoring tool makers, and our peers
to deliver the true power of standards to this medium.

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