SVG: What's Missing on the Web

You can be forgiven for never having heard of SVG, or scalable vector graphics, even though they've been in development since 1999 and in release since 2001. In short, SVG is an open standard XML file format that graphical and web developers can use to describe graphical constructs like lines, polygons, circles and other shapes, along with their characteristics. Since it is fully extensible, future SVG standards will include more powerful video capabilities. SVG received broad support throughout the web development community, but for reasons that can only be guessed at, Microsoft never included the capability to display these files in its market-dominating Internet Explorer browser, putting web developers in the difficult bind of whether to bother utilizing a format that the vast majority of web users wouldn't be able to view without a special plugin.

Why SVG?

SVG is a superior file format for displaying graphics on the web for several reasons. First and foremost, it's an open standard that can be utilized by any party without restrictions of any kind. In addition, SVG files are generally smaller than JPEG files or other similar formats. This makes SVG a particularly efficient format for use by mobile devices, such as the iPhone, which have the capability of displaying SVG files without a third-party add-in. The SVG standard is also backward compatible, meaning if a future version of the standard is released that an SVG rendering application doesn't support, it will simply render what it can and ignore the rest. Marketers will be able to take advantage of SVG's format to more easily index images and optimize them for search engine placement. Vendors of assistive technologies such as screen-readers may be able to utilize SVG to give their users a better understanding of the screen and its layout.

The Microsoft Effect

With all those positives, you may be wondering why Microsoft seems so reticent regarding integrating SVG capability into Internet Explorer. The general consensus, accurate or not, seems to be that Microsoft was hoping that its Silverlight technology would ultimately supersede SVG. Although Silverlight has come a long way in multimedia applications, for simple vector graphics, developers would still prefer something simple but extensible like SVG. In fact, a member of Microsoft's team has now been accepted to the W3C's SVG working group. He is now a member in good standing, and developers are hoping this bodes well for SVG in IE 9. The company has had no comment on the matter, neither now nor over the past nine years as SVG was passed over for inclusion in their flagship browser again and again.

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