Peripheral APIs Workstream Proposal

[tantek]

This is a Workstream Proposal following https://whatwg.org/workstream-policy#workstream-proposals for a new Workstream for standards for Peripheral APIs.

Answers to Workstream Proposal numbered points in workstream-policy:

1. Proposed Workstream name:

• Provided in PR

2. Statement of purpose, including problem to be solved, proposed solution, status of the proposed solution, and how it is consistent with the WHATWG Principles and appropriate for a Workstream.

• A variety of de facto approaches to connecting peripheral devices to web applications have recently been implemented or are in the process of being implemented. This proposal would provide a central workstream for these standards, which share common considerations, and would support enhanced user experience by providing reference standards for web connections to peripherals which major browser makers would implement.

3. Specific Scope of work (included and excluded).

• Web APIs for implementing local peripheral connectivity standards in web browsers, including but not limited to Serial, USB, HID, Bluetooth, and NFC.

4. Proposed deliverables.

• A standard per API defining that API’s interfaces and usage.

5. Draft of the proposed Living Standard plus (optionally) a list of other proposed deliverables.

• Draft(s) below.

6. A list of similar or related work being undertaken or proposed elsewhere and its relationship to the proposed Workstream.

• Incubated specifications for the work being undertaken are available at:
  • https://wicg.github.io/serial/
  • https://wicg.github.io/webusb/
  • https://wicg.github.io/webhid/
  • https://webbluetoothcg.github.io/web-bluetooth/
  • https://w3c-cg.github.io/web-nfc/

7. Anticipated Workstream Participants.

• The editor will be the participant

8. Description or list of those likely to implement or otherwise have an interest in the work.

• Chromium and Gecko are interested, should be sufficient

9. Expectations regarding long-term maintenance of the Living Standard.

• Editor volunteering should be effectively fulfilled.

[reillyeon]

Thanks for putting this together. Just a few nitpicks on naming and scope to make this clearer.

[reillyeon]

This proposal looks good to me however I don't have the necessary repo permissions to approve it formally through the GitHub UI.

[leotlee]

Thanks for this proposal. The scope here covers hardware connectivity APIs that are increasingly important across a wide range of devices and form factors.

For a workstream of this scope, broad multi-stakeholder engagement from hardware platforms and peripheral ecosystems are essential. W3C has this type of engagement, such as in the Devices and Sensors (DAS) group. Specifically, Samsung and Intel bring deep expertise that would significantly strengthen both the design and the interoperability story. Therefore, we'd like to see this work as part of W3C DAS, Intel and Samsung directly participate in this proposed WHATWG workstream, or an MOU between this proposed WHATWG workstream and W3C DAS before approving from our side.