This charter is written in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Process Document.
About this Charter
This is an extension to the previous SVG charter. The major difference is the adoption of the W3C Patent Policy over the W3C Current Patent Practice. The SVG Working Group remains, as it was originally created, a Royalty Free Working Group. This charter also incorporates modifications arising from the AC Review.
Mission and Scope
The working group will be chartered to continue to develop the SVG 1.x format, producing a modular XML tagset usable in mixed-XML namespace documents. SVG is a graphics format that has been implemented in viewers and authoring tools and has been adopted by the content authoring community as a replacement for many current uses of raster graphics. SVG 1.1, a W3C Recommendation, is suitable for desktop and palmtop systems. SVG Mobile Profiles: SVG Basic and SVG Tiny are suitable for mobile and other resource limited devices.
At the same time, several requirements were identified in the SVG 1.1 timeframe that could not be fully realized in the SVG 1.1 specification. The principal requests are:
- greater integration with other W3C specifications
- XForms (to allow SVG skins on form controls, and mixed SVG/XForms content)
- CSS and XSL (to allow styling of graphics)
- to ensure that SVG graphics can be placed inline in multi-namespace XML documents - see the Compound Document Formats Group charter
- SVG as an interactive
rendering library for dynamic XML documents
- enhancement to the core SVG 1.1 language that would enable the development of components (or extensions)
- client-side on the fly creation of interactive SVG for display of arbitrary XML, including XML fragments retrieved from the server
- improved printing
- multi-page documents that can be streamed to the printer
- improved support for device color and color management workflows
- utility DOM interfaces to allow SVG integration with XForms and Web Services, for example dynamic update of graphical presentation in reponse to information delivered over a network, or submission of XForm results over a network.
Each enhancement to the core language, along with each solution for integration with other specifications, must be appropriate for all SVG usage scenarios. In particular, SVG will consider the applicability to both desktop and resource-limited devices, such as mobile devices and printers.
The work on SVG will mean that the graphics in Web documents will have a smaller file size, load faster, be more interactive, and be displayable on a wider range of device resolutions from small mobile devices through office computer monitors to high resolution printers. This will be a significant advance in Web functionality. Interoperability, both in multiple browsers across multiple platforms and while being read and written by multiple authoring tools, is a prime focus. See the activity statement for the overall goals and rationale of this activity area.
Work Items
Technical Items
- SVG 1.2 Full specification[0]
- SVG 1.2 Tiny specification[1]
- SVG 1.2 Print specification[2]
- sXBL specification [3]
- Testing and completion of DOM 3 Events and DOM 3 XPath specifications [4]
Notes:
0. SVG 1.x covers 1.1, 1.2, and (if needed) 1.3. Functionality that does not pass the 1.2 CR stage may be deleted, or moved to a separate Rec-track version 1.3 of SVG, to ensure timely delivery of SVG 1.2 Tiny to the market. Please see the SVG 1.x/2.0 Requirements document for the scope of SVG 1.x. Work on SVG 2.0 is out of scope for this Working Group.
1. Please see the SVG Tiny Version 1.2 Requirements for the scope of this work.
2. Please see the SVG Printing Requirements for the scope of this work.
3. Earlier in the SVG 1.2 timeframe, sXBL (SVG XML Binding Language) was called RCC (Rendering Custom Content) and formed part of the SVG 1.2 specification; it is now being developed in the Binding Taskforce of the SVG Working group as a separate specification which is more generic and evolvable. Please see the SVG 1.x Requirements document for the scope of this work.
4. The DOM WG terminated before completion of two of its deliverables, which were parked as Notes rather than being moved to CR. Since the SVG 1.2 specification has normative dependencies on these two specifications, the DOM WG asked the SVG WG to complete work on these; following discussion in the Hypertext Coordination Group, the SVG WG has agreed to continue this work, which is also needed by other Working Groups such as MMI, XForms and HTML. Please see the Document Object Model (DOM) Requirements for the original scope of this work. The scope in the SVG WG is limited to completion of the DOM 3 Events and DOM 3 XPath specifications.
Tracking and Maintenance Items
- Develop further test suite materials, for SVG 1.1, 1.2 Full and 1.2 Tiny, and for any SVG 1.3, to aid developers in achieving SVG conformance
- Monitoring of implementations for conformance, interoperability and quality. Publication of Implementation Reports.
- Collect errata and periodically publish new editions of the SVG specifications incorporating errata
- The SVG WG may produce SVG Authoring Guidelines and SVG Accessibility Guidelines as time, expertise, and other resources permit.
Success criteria
- Production of stable documents collectively addressing each of the Work Items, at W3C Recommendation status.
- Availability of multiple, independent, interoperable implementations of SVG, and authoring tools for SVG, including implementations on mobile devices and implementations on printers.
- Adoption of SVG by content authors and developers.
Duration
This group will operate for two years, through 30 September 2006.
Deliverables
The group will create Working Drafts, Test Suites, and Implementation Reports addressing the technical, tracking and maintenance items mentioned above, and track implementations leading towards the release of further SVG specifications and the establishment of a deployed base of SVG conformant software. The test suites will be distributed under the W3C Document license (for the actual tests) and the W3C Software license (for the test harnesses).
The status of Working Drafts in production at a given time are listed on the WG page.
The group will produce W3C Recommendations, drawn from stable Working Drafts.
Minutes of teleconferences and face-to-face meetings are also available from the WG page
Patent Policy
This Working Group operates under the W3C Patent Policy (5 February 2004 Version). To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented, according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis.
Release policy
As documents stabilize, they will be released as W3C Working Drafts. In conformance with the heartbeat requirement of the Process document, no document may stay on the list of documents actively under consideration by the group for more than three months without being released to the public as an intermediate draft. Documents may be released sooner if consensus is achieved. If the three month deadline is reached, the current draft will be released (and not a draft from three months earlier). If, before this time, anyone in the group feels the current draft will not be not suitable for public release as an intermediate draft, their options are:
- move that the document be stricken from the list of work items. (decision to be rendered by the Chair in collaboration with the group)
- draft a revision of the document, before the deadline, which the group agrees is suitable for interim public release
Relationship to other forums
Groups within W3C:
- Hypertext Coordination Group
- The SVG WG coordinates its work with other Working Groups primarily through participation in the Hypertext Coordination Group.
- XML Coordination Group
- The SVG WG does not address changes to XML syntax. SVG is written in XML, with the addition of XML namespaces.
- Document Object Model (DOM) IG
- SVG content will be accessible from the XML Document Object Model.
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
- The work of the SVG WG coordinates with the WAI project to ensure accessibility of SVG.
- XForms
- Coordination with the XForms Working Group ensures that SVG will be usable as a rich presentation layer for XForms, allowing integration of form controls in SVG graphics.
- SYMM
- Coordination with the SYMM WG builds on the joint work done to create SMIL Animation, to allow integration of SVG and SMIL 2.0
- CSS Working Group
- The work of the SVG WG is coordinated with this group to ensure that SVG and mixed SVG/other namespace documents can be styled.
- XSL Working Group
- The work of the SVG WG is coordinated with this group to ensure that SVG and mixed SVG/other namespace documents can be styled, and that mixtures of SVG and XSL-FO namespace can be generated by XSL-T stylesheets.
- Device Independence Activity
- The work of the SVG WG is coordinated with this activity, in particular the Device Independence Working Group to ensure that SVG can be used on a broader range of devices.
- Internationalization Working Group
- The I18N WG will review the SVG specification to ensure it is adequately Internationalized.
- Compound Document Formats Working Group
- The recent W3C workshop on Web Applications and Compound Documents resulted in a new Working Group. The SVG WG will liaise closely with the Compound Document Formats Working Group
Forums outside W3C:
- 3GPP
- The SVG Working Group will coordinate with ongoing work within 3GPP in order to best facilitate adoption of SVG Mobile.
- OMA
- The SVG Working Group will coordinate with ongoing work within OMA in order to best facilitate adoption of SVG Mobile.
- Print on Demand Initiative
- The SVG Working Group will coordinate with PODi in order to best facilitate the compatibility of SVG Print as a content format for PODI print formats.
- The PNG Development Group
- The SVG Working Group will coordinate with the PDG, since SVG requires PNG display for conformance.
- Web3D
- SVG is intentionally designed for 2D graphics only. 3D graphics are out of scope for this Working Group; for an XML representstion of 3D graphics, see X3D, a Final Draft International Standard. W3C and and the W3C Graphics Activity currently have an informal liaison that will be used to coordinate work if the need arises.
Milestones
One or more public Working Drafts, plus associated Test Suites and Implementation Reports, will be produced covering each of the Work Items, to the schedule shown on the SVG Roadmap.
Meetings
Up to six face-to-face meetings a year will be arranged. Meeting details are made available on the W3C Member Calendar and from the WG page
Operation
The Chair of the group will be Chris Lilley (W3C). The Team Contact will be Dean Jackson (W3C). The W3C team will contribute 100% of one full time equivalent for this Working Group.
Communication Mechanisms
The archived member-only mailing list w3c-svg-wg@w3.org is the primary means of discussion within the group. Postings to this list are Member confidential, as is the Working Group page and the charter.
The archived mailing list www-svg@w3.org is used for public discussion of Scalable Vector Graphics, and WG participants are encouraged to subscribe. There is a public page on SVG, maintained by the Chair.
Phone
Biweekly 90-minute phone conferences will be held. Minutes will be taken in rotation by WG participants and mailed to the WG list within 24 hours.
Voting Mechanisms
Please see the Process for Voting
Confidentiality
The proceedings of this group are Member-only.