Who decides how the web works
No single company owns the web, though a few have very loud voices. The HTML standard is maintained as a "living standard" by the WHATWG, a group founded by browser makers in 2004. The W3C, founded by Tim Berners-Lee in 1994, develops many other specifications, including CSS and accessibility guidelines. JavaScript is standardised by Ecma International's TC39 committee as ECMAScript, and the network protocols underneath, such as HTTP, come from the IETF. In practice, a feature becomes real when the three major browser engines ship it: Blink (Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave), Gecko (Firefox) and WebKit (Safari).
That last point is why this desk exists. A feature announced at a conference is a promise. A feature shipped in all three engines is a change you can rely on.
The changelog
2019
WHATWG and W3C agree on one HTML
A memorandum of understanding ended years of parallel HTML specifications. The WHATWG Living Standard became the single source, with the W3C endorsing snapshots.
2021
Compat 2021 kicks off cross-browser cleanup
Browser vendors agreed to fix the same set of inconsistencies together, starting with areas such as flexbox, grid and sticky positioning. It later became the annual Interop project.
2022
Interop 2022 and the passkey pledge
Interop expanded to more focus areas with a public scoreboard. Separately, Apple, Google and Microsoft committed to expanding passwordless sign-in built on FIDO standards.
2023
Container queries and :has() go cross-browser
Two long-requested CSS features reached all major engines. Container queries let components adapt to their own space; :has() lets styles react to what an element contains. Google also introduced the Baseline label to show which features are safe everywhere.
2024
Popover API lands, Manifest V3 rollout begins
Native popovers arrived across engines, reducing the JavaScript sites need for menus and tooltips. Chrome began phasing out Manifest V2 extensions, changing how ad blockers and privacy tools work.
2025
Manifest V2 retired for most Chrome users
Older-style extensions were disabled for the majority of Chrome installs. Some blockers shipped lighter Manifest V3 editions; Firefox kept supporting its own Manifest V2 extensions.
2026
Interop continues; you keep updating
The annual Interop cycle carries on. The practical advice is unchanged: keep your browser on automatic updates and features arrive without you lifting a finger.
Baseline, explained in one paragraph
Baseline is a label shown on MDN Web Docs and Can I Use that tells you whether a web feature works in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. "Newly available" means it just reached all of them. "Widely available" means it has been everywhere for about two and a half years, long enough that most people's devices have caught up. For readers, Baseline answers the question "why does this site look broken on my old tablet?" For site owners, it answers "can we finally delete that workaround?"
What this means for you
Most standards news is invisible by design, but it adds up. Native popovers and dialogs make menus behave more consistently with keyboards and screen readers. Container queries help layouts adapt properly on folding phones and split-screen tablets. Interop fixes mean fewer "works in Chrome only" banners. The extension changes are the one item with a direct to-do: open your browser's extensions page, confirm each one still works, and remove any that stopped updating.
If you use an older device that no longer receives browser updates, you will increasingly meet sites that misbehave. That is the web moving forward, not your device failing, and it is worth checking whether an alternative browser still supports your hardware.
Where the desk reads the source
For the curious, primary sources beat summaries. The desk follows the WHATWG HTML standard, W3C working drafts, MDN Web Docs, the Interop dashboard on wpt.fyi, and the official release notes for Chrome, Firefox and Safari Technology Preview.