W3C

Icons and Their Meaning

THIS PAGE IS HISTORICAL ONLY. Please refer to the W3C Logo and Icon Usage page for information about W3C logos.

Icon Design | Referencing Icons | Absolute Icons | Relative Icons | Warnings etc. | Alumni | Member Icons

Oct 95: Infuriated by finding documents containing obsolete icons, I have moved them into "unused" in the hope that the MOMspider will catch them and the miscreants will be plagued by messages. - Tim

Conventions when Designing Icons

(This is mostly to try and prevent Henrik from making any more stupid icons)

Currently, to add consistency to our house style, icons are all made from the 9 simple colors of the W3C logo (not just any RGB but those RGB colors). Icons are simple drawings, filled rather than line. We will stick to this style unless we have a general style rethink.

Conventions when Referencing Icons

No borders
Icons should not have borders. This means you have explicitly (in HTML) set border=none as an attribute to IMG. Get rid of those blue squares!
Set the ALT tag!
Don't forget this!
Use Content Negotiation
Don't add the ".gif" or ".png" suffix so that the server can pick

Absolute Icons

WARNING These icons are under the copyright of the W3C. They can be used by others, but only if they are used in referring to the appropriate part of the W3C web site.

NOTE: Remember the ALT tags as included below. For unlucky GUI clients where the ALT tags are not shown, I have included them in as normal text.

W3C
This is the current W3C icon, ALT="W3C"
Member site
This is the current W3C Member site icon, ALT="Member site"
WWW
The World Wide Web. Now used to refer to historical subjects and areas of interest about the WWW itself, not the W3C or its activities. ALT="WWW"
MAIL
Mailing lists and addresses related to WWW, ALT="Mail"
Activities
Activity areas and directions of the W3C, alt="Activities"
libwww
Reference Library, ALT="libwww"
LMB
Line Mode Browser, ALT="LineMode"
ComLine
Command Line Tool, ALT="ComLine"
Robot
Mini Robot, ALT="Robot"
PICS
PICS, ALT="PICS"
HTML
The HTML language: specifications, etc. ALT="HTML"
Technical Reports
W3C Technical Reports and Draft Specifications ALT="Technical Reports"
Press
Press, ALT="Press"
HTTP
HTTP Information, ALT="HTTP"
HTTP-NG
HTTP Information, ALT="HTTP-NG"

Relative Icons

These can be used anywhere to point to related information of a specific type. They are all (c)MIT/W3C

Historical
Information marked as historical; out-of-date, but still kept in case of interest or archival purposes, ALT="Historical" Always include the following:
Note: This information is out-of-date, but is kept for historical and archival reasons.
BUGS
Bug list, wish list, ALT="Bugs"
INSTALL
Installation Guide, ALT="Installation Guide"
MANUAL
Manuals and documentation, ALT="Manual"
USING
User's Guide, ALT="User's Guide"
DESIGN
Design and Architecture, ALT="Design"
OS
Platforms supported by our software, ALT="OS"
News
News, ALT="News"
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions, ALT="FAQ"
Replies
Comments or replies, ALT="Replies"
QUICKGUIDE
Get started instructions and quick guide, ALT="Quick Guide"
Programming Style
Programming Style Guide, ALT="Programming Style"
TALK
A talk or talks on the subject, lists of slides possibly with audio etc. ALT="Talk"
PLAN
Top page for each W3T Task Force ALT="Plan"

Warning and Information Icons

These icons are publically available throughout the web, and we use them in similar manner.

NOTE
For cautions etc, ALT="NOTE"
WARNING
Warning etc, ALT="WARNING"
???
Question mark, ALT="???"
!!!
Exclamation mark, ALT="!!!"
NEW
What's new, ALT="NEW"
SMILEY
I'm happy, ALT="SMILEY"

Alumni

W3C
The W3C, ALT="W3C". This is an old icon. WWW/Consortium/ is no longer a major page, and is going away as much as possible.
MiniServ
Mini Server, ALT="MiniServ"
SPECS
Specifications and development areas ALT="Specifications"
Clients
Clients.html ALT="Clients"
WIP
Don't use this one - take a sec and finish the page instead. For pages under construction, ALT="WIP"


Links to other icon collections


KMM, 02 Nov 95
Tim & Henrik, March 28 1995, & 30-Mar-95 BFG
@(#) $Id: Overview.html,v 1.6 1998/06/01 18:20:42 fillault Exp $