1 9 9 8 , ▁The ▁Web ▁Stand ards ▁Project ▁campaign ed ▁for ▁standards ▁that ▁reduced ▁the ▁cost ▁and ▁complexity ▁of ▁development ▁while ▁increasing ▁the ▁access ibility ▁and ▁long - term ▁vi ability ▁of ▁any ▁document ▁published ▁on ▁the ▁Web . ▁Wa SP ▁worked ▁with ▁browser ▁companies , ▁author ing ▁tool ▁mak ers , ▁and ▁pe ers ▁to ▁encou rage ▁them ▁to ▁use ▁these ▁standards , ▁since ▁they ▁" are ▁carefully ▁designed ▁to ▁deliver ▁the ▁greatest ▁benefits ▁to ▁the ▁greatest ▁number ▁of ▁web ▁users ". ▁The ▁group ▁dis band ed ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 3 . ▁ ▁Organ ization ▁ ▁The ▁Web ▁Stand ards ▁Project ▁began ▁as ▁a ▁grass ro ots ▁coal ition ▁" f ight ing ▁for ▁standards ▁in ▁our ▁[ web ] ▁browsers " ▁founded ▁by ▁George ▁O ls en , ▁Gl enn ▁Davis , ▁and ▁Jeff rey ▁Z eld man ▁in ▁August ▁ 1 9 9 8 . ▁By ▁ 2 0 0 1 , ▁the ▁group ▁had ▁achieved ▁its ▁primary ▁goal ▁of ▁persu ading ▁Microsoft , ▁N ets cape , ▁Opera , ▁and ▁other ▁browser ▁mak ers ▁to ▁accur ately ▁and ▁completely ▁support ▁HTML ▁ 4 . 0 1 / X HTML ▁ 1 . 0 , ▁CSS 1 , ▁and ▁EC MA Script . ▁Had ▁browser ▁mak ers ▁not ▁been ▁persu aded ▁to ▁do ▁so , ▁the ▁Web ▁would ▁likely ▁have ▁f ract ured ▁into ▁po ckets ▁of ▁in compatible ▁content , ▁with ▁various ▁websites ▁available ▁only ▁to ▁people ▁who ▁possessed ▁the ▁right ▁browser . ▁In ▁addition