Intent to migrate Badging API to WebApps WG

[marcoscaceres]

Intent to Migrate: Badging API

Hi Folks working on this... with the Web Apps WG now up and running, we are ready to adopt this specification into the WG for formal standardization along the w3c rec track. 🎉

Before doing so, I could use a bit of help just filling out the template below... I've got things started already, but those with knowledge of the spec please jump in.

Working group decision to adopt

In W3C WebApps Charter

Proposal

https://github.com/WICG/badging/

Summary

An API allowing web applications to set an application-wide badge, shown in an operating-system-specific place associated with the application (such as the shelf or home screen), for the purpose of notifying the user when the state of the application has changed (e.g., when new messages have arrived), without showing a more heavyweight notification.

Motivation and Use Cases

Covered in explainer.

Compatibility Risk

Limited. Badging serves as progressive enhancement.

Ongoing technical constraints

What technical constraints will be added to user agents implementing this feature?

None.

Will this feature be supported in all environments (desktop, mobile, tablets, TV, eBooks, automotive, etc.)?

A detailed discussion of possible OS that could support this feature is discussed in the Explainer.

However, not all OS support badging.

Link to implementation experience and demos

If your proposal has implementation experience or demos, please provide links, including common patterns in deployed libraries. Otherwise, indicate if there are none.

https://crbug.com/719176

Data

What data do you have available that indicates that this enhancement will affect many users of the Web. Quantify the fraction of websites that are currently using something similar to this feature. Or, if a new feature, characterize the reason that you expect this to be far reaching.

This would be a new feature for Web Applications. However, is convention across popular mobile and desktop OSs - particularly on iOS, MacOS, and some Linux distributions. It is conceivable that OS-integrated web applications could make use of these OS-provided badging capabilities.

Security and Privacy

A web application could (ab)use the badging API to attempt to display badge numbers, in order to trick user to unnecessarily open the application. By launching the application, the user could unintentionally expose private information.

Bug: w3c/badging#25

Accessibility

Outline the implications of your proposal relative to access by everyone regardless of disability. Otherwise, indicate if there are none.

None, as this is often left to the OS (which is hopefully accessible). However, if the browser is in the control of presenting the badge, it should be possible to define some accessibility guidelines.

Bug: w3c/badging#24

Internationalization

Outline the implications of your proposal when used with different languages, scripts, and cultures. Otherwise, indicate if there are none.

The API allows setting unsigned long long types. Presumedly, these would then be formatted appropriately based on the user's locale settings.

w3c/badging#23

[fallaciousreasoning]

Thanks for putting this together! (and sorry about the long reply, I wasn't an owner of the repo, so I haven't been getting any notifications).

Link to implementation experience and demos

We've been using this as a test/demo site: https://badging-api.glitch.me

Security and Privacy

Added a PR for this w3c/badging#32. Added privacy and security review for tag in w3c/badging#29 (the TAG review is here)

Accessibility

How much detail do we need here? I haven't done anything like this before. Is there an example?

Internationalization

See w3c/badging#33.

[marcoscaceres]

With Mozilla now having expressed public interest In prototyping this specification, we have sufficient implementer support to move this to the WebApps WG. I'll send out a CFC on the WebApps side to make sure there are no objections from the membership (I don't expect any... it's in WebApps charter that we would take this API).

Again, great work @mgiuca and @fallaciousreasoning for driving this work so effectively.

CC @WICG/chairs + @hober and @othermaciej as a head up.

[marcoscaceres]

@sideshowbarker could you please transfer:
https://github.com/WICG/badging/

To the W3C org for us?

[sideshowbarker]

OK, now moved to https://github.com/w3c/badging/

[marcoscaceres]

Hashtag party emoji! Thanks Mike!

[marcoscaceres]

Set up redirect... https://github.com/WICG/wicg.github.io closing.