Browser Native Mechanisms

Technologies commonly supported natively by most web browsers that are suitable for static web pages, and long-term digital preservation. The focus is on mechanisms that browsers can render directly without runtime processing or scripting. It intentionally excludes technologies such as JavaScript applications, XSLT transformations, WebAssembly, plugins, and similar runtime mechanisms.

Category Technology / Format Purpose
Document structure HTML Primary web document format, supports structure, links, media, and styling
Text Plain text (TXT) Minimal format, universally supported, best for raw content or code archives
Data exchange JSON Structured data serialization, machine-readable, increasingly supported in web APIs
Presentation / Printable PDF Page-accurate document format for printing, archiving, and offline reading
Presentation CSS Styling and layout of HTML content
Vector graphics SVG Resolution-independent vector images
Raster images PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, AVIF Embedded bitmap images
Audio MP3, AAC, Ogg Browser-native audio playback
Video MP4, WebM Browser-native video playback

Image Formats
Format Status Notes
PNG Recommended Lossless format widely supported
JPEG Recommended Common photographic format
GIF Supported Legacy format
WebP Modern Efficient compression
AVIF Modern High compression efficiency

Avoided Technologies