Based on OpenGL ES 2.0, WebGL is a cross-platform, royalty-free web standard for low-level 3D graphics Application Programming Interfaces and is exposed as Document Object Model through HTML5 Canvas. This universal standard for accelerated 3D graphics inside web browsers is aimed at moving applications closer to the web, an environment that is already capable of using complex CSS, JavaScript and XML code in order to mount full applications. The Khronos group published the initial format of the draft specifications for the standard that simplifies the use of modern 3D hardware.

Set to enable 3D to more closely interact with web pages, the standard is compatible with most modern browsers that are able to recognize HTML5. It has not yet been completed, nor ratified by the member group, which is made up of large-scale companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Google, Mozilla and NVIDIA.

However, the standard is already capable of not only reducing the gap between applications and the web, but it can also support applications that don't require constant connection to the Internet. By using the HTML5, content providers can more easily stream audio and video than they could in the past. The WebGL is set to deliver all of these possibilities without requiring the installation of any plugins.

Most modern browsers will need a pre-release build in order to run the new standard. The list includes Apple's Safari 4, Google's Chrome 3, Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and Opera 10. Developers also plan to eventually make the WebGL accessible to mobile browsers capable of HTML5 recognition. Although, currently, neither Android 2.0 nor Safari on iPhone can make use of the standard, rendering it should eventually become possible by using the OpenGL ES, since both it and the WebGL use semantically similar constructs.

Khronos expects WebGL support to become widely available during the first two quarters of 2010.