Building the Web We Want

On the Microsoft Edge team, we’re committed to an open web and helping to drive innovation forward, which is why we’ve kicked off a new initiative in collaboration with Google, Mozilla, Samsung Internet, Igalia and — most importantly — the web community, called The Web We Want.

The Web We Want is an open initiative for web developers and designers (or anyone who builds things for the web) to tell browser vendors what we should focus on building or fixing. The overarching question we’re asking is this: If you had a magic wand and could change anything about the web platform, what would it be? What are problems you’ve encountered with the web that you need to hack around or what tools need to be improved or built to help you do your job better? What’s something you think you should be able to do natively but can’t? These are just a few questions to get you thinking about submissions to the initiative.

Some of the submissions we’ve had so far span from specific feature requests to broader problems with the web platform:

• I want browsers to fix automatically fixable accessibility problems automatically
• I want better HTML forms
• I want to be able to save/load debugger state
• I want performant width and height CSS transitions
• I want accessibility tools front and center

This is just a snapshot of the feedback we’re getting. The whole list is available for you to browse.

Why should I submit to the Web We Want?

This is an opportunity to make your voice heard and help us determine where the future of the web platform is headed. Once you’ve submitted your problem or feature, we’ll determine if your want is something that browser vendors can tackle directly or if it’s something that needs more scoping and is suited for Web Standards discussions.

This is an opportunity for all of us to take a step back and reassess where the future of the web is heading and figure out where the gaps are that make building for the web difficult today.

How can I participate?

There are a few different ways you can participate and there are a few different components to the Web We Want. First, think about what you think browser vendors should go fix and submit your ideas at webwewant.fyi. And that could be all that you want to do, which is great! We want any and all feedback about the platform and we have folks from different browsers constantly watching what’s being submitted. 

There’s a second, optional aspect to the Web We Want, which is a great way to get involved in the web community and dip your toes in the public speaking pool. We’ve been running the Web We Want as a community-focused panel session at conferences around the world. 

If you submit and are attending one of the events we’ll be at, your submission could be picked to be presented in a 3-5 minute lightning pitch to a panel of judges during the session, like an episode of Shark Tank but for tech. The live sessions we run are a way to get feedback and opinions from industry experts like Rachel Andrew, Jen Simmons, Miriam Suzanne, and Marcy Sutton.

Even if you’re not attending one of the events in person, you can still participate! We want to be mindful that not everyone can attend conferences so if you your submission is selected and you indicate you’re not attending an event,you’ll have an opportunity to record your lightning talk ahead of time and we’ll include it in the live session. 

The live session culminates with the judges deliberating and deciding on the most pressing “want” pitched during the session. We also have a community voting aspect that allows the event audience to rank what they think is the most pressing thing for browser vendors (or standards bodies) to work on. Even if you’re not attending an event, you can still vote for your favorite “wants” on the website as well as by sharing them on social media. 

So far we’ve run sessions at An Event Apart DC, Smashing Conf, and View Source, and the community participation and panel discussion of wants has been fantastic. If you run a meetup or a conference and are interested in facilitating this session, reach out to Stephanie Stimac or Aaron Gustafson. 

The Web We Want

We’re at a point in the web platform where browser vendors and standards bodies are eager to know what it is web developers and designers need in the platform. We need to know where to invest resources. Hop over to the Web We Want and let us know what you think the web platform needs so that we can shape the future of the web together.