Web Actions: A New Building Block for the Web

Every once in a while, design and development practices emerge on the web that enable a leap forward in our understanding of its potential. Developers' asynchronous use of JavaScript (JS) led to AJAX and breakthrough interactive web applications. Designers' semantic use of class names led to microformats and widespread portability of contacts, events, and more.

In the past few years we've seen the rapid proliferation of web actions that allow the user to do something with the current page or site over on another site or application.

A web action is not a specific technology but uses a variety of technologies. Typical web actions consist of:

• a visible hyperlink, button, or other element as an affordance to take a specific action
• ideally, declarative markup to perform the action
• javascript (that uses AJAX techniques) to unobtrusively enhance said markup to provide an inline and more responsive interaction
• often an interstitial or simulated pop-up window for confirmation, choosing an option, or providing additional information
• the execution of an action at another site or in another application

This talk will discuss how sites can best code (and design) support for web actions, and best practices for web action service providers and anti-patterns to beware of and avoid.