WebVowl Editor: Device-independent visual ontology modeling

The growing attention of ontologies in the industrial and the Semantic Web domain raises the need for approaches that are easy to use, immediately available, and independent of a particular device category and interaction context. In order to foster direct involvement of different user groups in ontology modeling, the complexity and learning processes of ontology engineering tools need to be reduced. We present WebVOWL Editor, an open source software that is 1) largely device independent, 2) uses visual modeling, and 3) provides modeling guidance. The device-independence is achieved by considering different modes of operation, including mouse and touch interactions. The visual modeling provides an intuitive interaction mode for creating and editing ontologies. Guidance during the ontology modeling and editing process reduces common pitfalls and ensures that valid ontologies are created. From discussions with domain experts, we identified a subset of OWL constructs that are considered most relevant in ontology modeling and are supported by the current implementation of the software.