The increased popularity of the WebKit rendering engine on mobile browsers, brings dangers with it. That sets the CSS Working Group of the W3C. More and more mobile websites only work in browsers with the WebKit Engine.
The warning is in a call of co-chairman Daniel Glazman’s CSS Working Group. He warns for the danger of the dominance of WebKit: there is the same situation as before with Internet Explorer on the desktopbrowsermarkt.
When Internet Explorer 6 is still the most popular web browser, many of the websites that are only in that one browser worked, writes Glazman. That was because Internet Explorer, the html and css standards more often ignored than followed. That is over now, but: “Internet Explorer 6 is gone, but the problem is back,” writes Glazman.
According to the css-foreman, there are more and more mobile websites that are only in a browser with WebKit to work. That is because both the default Android and iOS browser WebKit as a rendering engine to use. Users of a different browser, such as a mobile Firefox version or the Internet Explorer on Windows Phone, stop according to Glazman more and more notifications that a website is ‘not suitable’ for their browser.
WebKit, which Apple developed under an open source license is made available, offers site builders a number of specific css settings on mobile websites come in handy, such as gradients, rounded corners, and animations. By that through css instead of through images or javascript, it saves bandwidth. The special WebKit css options can be used with the ‘-webkit-*’-prefix.
Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera offer a similar, browser-specific css options, but that are according to Glazman on mobile sites rarely used: the vast majority of users has WebKit, so ignore webmakers other browsers. That is contrary to the open web, he says.
All webbrowsermakers have the W3C to let you know the WebKit css options to take over. “Let me clearly say: this is not a hypothetical case, and I describe here is not something that can happen. All browsermakers have let us know that it will happen, and rather sooner than later.” The browsermakers say ‘no other choice’.
If all browsermakers the css options of WebKit to take over, there is for web developers, the reason to the official css guideline to follow. “This brings the murder to us standards process”, warns Glazman. He calls on web developers to also take into account users of other browsers. The support of other browsers cost, according to him, relatively little work.
Better still is according to Glazman for all browser-specific css options in the css standard process. “We, and thus we represent the web industry, the architecture of the web is not unsafe and unreliable to be”, he argues. That is likely to happen if the development of the web depends on a single rendering engine.
A majority of the CSS Working Group shares the concerns of Glazman. The browsermakers sit in the CSS Working Group, as well as Adobe, HP, and a representative of the W3C itself. However, it is unclear which parties the concern to share.