W3C > W3C Home Page News Archive > 2001

Week Ending 28 December

W3C Releases 27 Technical Reports

23 December 2001: During two weeks in December, W3C Working Groups released a record 27 publications: 19 Working Drafts, 7 Notes, and a Recommendation. Find them all linked to the index of technical reports. W3C thanks our Webmaster Dominique Hazaël-Massieux for his superlative execution of this busy publication schedule. Publications will resume on 7 January 2002. As 2002 begins on the Gregorian calendar, please accept W3C's wishes to all of our visitors for a happy and successful new year. (Permalink)

Week Ending 21 December

Wombat Working Draft Published

21 December 2001: The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has released the first public Working Draft of Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines "Wombat". The guidelines are for developers who wish to design authoring tools that produce accessible Web content and who wish to create accessible authoring interfaces. Comments are welcome. Visit the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. (Permalink)

CSS TV Profile Working Draft Published

21 December 2001: As part of the W3C Style Activity, the CSS Working Group has released the first public Working Draft of CSS TV Profile 1.0. The draft is a subset of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Level 2 tailored to the needs and constraints of TV devices such as interactive television sets that display their output on a television screen. Comments are welcome. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

XQuery, XPath Working Drafts Published

20 December 2001: The W3C XML Query Working Group and the XSL Working Group have released several Working Drafts. XQuery is a computer language designed to return information to users or their agents, and is applicable to many types of XML data sources from documents to databases, search engines, and object repositories. Derived from XPath 1.0 and XQuery, XPath is a language used to address parts of an XML document. Read about the W3C XML and Style Activities. Today's publications include: (Permalink)

XSL Transformations (XSLT) 2.0 Working Draft Published

20 December 2001: As part of the W3C Style Activity, the XSL Working Group has released the first Working Draft of XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 2.0. XSLT is a stylesheet language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents. It is often used to produce HTML and XHTML and application-specific message formats. Visit the XSL home page. (Permalink)

Character Model Working Draft Published

20 December 2001: The W3C Internationalization Working Group has released an interim Working Draft of the Character Model for the World Wide Web 1.0 recording their progress. This document provides authors of specifications, software developers, and content developers a common reference for interoperable text manipulation. Please hold comments until the second Last Call. Read about W3C work on internationalization. (Permalink)

CC/PP Implementors Guides Published

20 December 2001: The Composite Capability/Preference Profiles (CC/PP) Working Group has released CC/PP Implementors Guides as a W3C Note, Harmonization with Existing Vocabularies and Content Transformation Heuristics, and a Working Draft of Privacy and Protocols for a future Note. CC/PP is a user-side hardware, software, and user preferences profile. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C Device Independence Activity. (Permalink)

Modularization of XHTML in XML Schema Published

19 December 2001: The W3C HTML Working Group has released a Working Draft of Modularization of XHTML in XML Schema. The draft provides a complete set of XML Schema modules for XHTML, and a framework for extending and modifying XHTML. Read about the W3C HTML Activity on the HTML home page. (Permalink)

Four SOAP 1.2 Working Drafts Published

18 December 2001: The XML Protocol Working Group has released four Working Drafts: SOAP Version 1.2 in three parts, Part 0: Primer, Part 1: Messaging Framework and Part 2: Adjuncts, as well as the first Working Draft of XML Protocol Usage Scenarios. Publicly developed, SOAP is a data transfer protocol designed for information exchange on the Web, using XML as its encapsulation language. Visit the XML Protocol home page. (Permalink)

WebCGM Second Release Becomes a W3C Recommendation

18 December 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium today published WebCGM 1.0 Second Release as a W3C Recommendation. The second release is not a new version; it brings WebCGM up to date with the first release errata. A joint effort of W3C and the CGM Open Consortium, WebCGM is an interoperable way to exchange dynamic Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) files over the Web. The WebCGM Profile adds hyperlinking to graphics-rich applications such as interactive electronic manuals for engineering and manufacturing. Read more about WebCGM. (Permalink)

Amaya 5.3 Released

18 December 2001: Amaya is W3C's Web browser and authoring tool. Version 5.3 supports annotations on annotations and discussion threads, handles multiple profiles, and includes new English documentation by WinWriters and other new features. Download Amaya binaries for Linux and Windows. Source code is available. If you are interested in annotations, visit the Annotea home page. (Permalink)

MIT Scheduled Power Outage 21-23 December

18 December 2001: On Friday, 21 December, power at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) will be turned off at approximately 9:00 p.m. EST (2:00Z 22 December) to complete retooling of the building's power configuration. All services will be suspended and the site will be accessible in a read-only state. Mail sent to W3C archives will be queued, and posted when the power is restored. Power is expected to return by 7:00 a.m. EST Sunday, 23 December (12:00Z 23 December). We apologize for the inconvenience. (Permalink)

RDF/XML Syntax Working Draft Published

18 December 2001: The RDF Core Working Group has released a Working Draft of RDF/XML Syntax Specification (Revised). The document updates the grammar in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) Model and Syntax Specification and is now based on the XML Infoset and RDF Model Theory. Read about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 14 December

XML 1.1 Working Draft Published

13 December 2001: The XML Core Working Group has published the first Working Draft of XML 1.1. Built from XML Blueberry Requirements, the draft addresses Unicode character set and line ending issues. Everything that is not forbidden is permitted in XML 1.1 names. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Forms Technical Architecture Group

11 December 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the creation of the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG). The TAG will document cross-technology Web architecture principles, and resolve architectural issues. The TAG will conduct its work on a public mailing list. Chair Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Cotton, Roy Fielding, David Orchard, Norman Walsh, and Stuart Williams join appointees Tim Bray, Dan Connolly, and Chris Lilley as the first TAG participants. Read the press release and visit the TAG home page. (Permalink)

Component Extension API Note Published

11 December 2001: Component Extension (CX) API requirements Version 1.0 has been published as a W3C Note. Produced by the HyperText Coordination Group, the Note describes requirements for browser plug-ins and an active component architecture for the Web for server and client software. Comments are welcome. (Permalink)

W3C Team Talks at XML 2001

10 December 2001: W3C Team members will speak at XML 2001 USA being held 9-14 December in Orlando, Florida.

C. M. Sperberg-McQueen is a member of the XML 2001 USA Planning Committee. Browse past W3C Team talks and presentations and upcoming W3C appearances and events. (Permalink)

XForms Working Draft Published

10 December 2001: The XForms Working Group has released a new Working Draft of XForms 1.0. More flexible than previous HTML and XHTML form technologies, the new generation of Web forms called XForms separates purpose, presentation, and data. Comments are welcome. Read about XForms. (Permalink)

DOM Level 2 HTML Last Call Published

10 December 2001: The sixth component of DOM Level 2, the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 HTML Specification has been published as a Last Call Working Draft. The draft is a set of interfaces used to manipulate the structure and contents of HTML and XHTML documents. Comments are invited through 7 January 2002. Read more about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Launches XML Key Management Activity

9 December 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the creation of the XML Key Management Activity. The Activity will develop an XML application that allows a client to obtain key information from a Web service. Based on the XML Key Management Specification (XKMS), the Activity is chartered to produce a companion Recommendation for the IETF/W3C XML Encryption and XML Digital Signature Activities. Read more in the XML Key Management Activity statement. (Permalink)

Week Ending 7 December

Tim Berners-Lee Keynote for W3C Day Available

6 December 2001: 160 participants and 24 members of the press attended W3C Day on 29 November at Keio University in Tokyo. The prerecorded introductory talk by W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee has both English and Japanese subtitles (SMIL 2.0 player required). (Permalink)

W3C Internationalization Workshop Announced

3 December 2001: Registration is open through 10 January for the W3C Internationalization Workshop to be held in Washington, DC, USA, on 1 February 2002, colocated with the 20th International Unicode Conference. With the goal of strengthening the W3C Internationalization Activity, to define the exact shape of this effort, and to allow for a wide variety of input, we are organizing a one-day workshop open to 45 participants. Position papers should be submitted by 10 January. (Permalink)

Week Ending 30 November

W3C Team Presentations in December

30 November 2001: On 3 December, Tim Berners-Lee speaks at the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. On 19 December, Wendy Chisholm will be the keynote speaker at the State of Washington Accessibility Symposium, USA. Several Team members present at XML 2001 USA in Orlando, Florida: on 11 December, Daniel Weitzner speaks on Patents and Web Standards; on 13 December, Chris Lilley gives a talk on Not Just SVG - Integrated XML Graphics, Dean Jackson gives a talk titled SVG Mobile - SVG on resource-limited devices, and Henry S. Thompson speaks on Schema Language Comparison; on 14 December, Henry Thompson presents Normal Form Conventions for XML Representations of Structured Data, Philippe Le Hégaret presents an Update from the W3C DOM Activity, and Hugo Haas presents an Update on the Work of the W3C XML Protocol Activity. (Permalink)

P3P Deployment Guide Updated

30 November 2001: The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 Deployment Guide has been updated. This guide for Web site operators explains how to write a machine-readable privacy policy, and gives step-by-step instructions for deploying your privacy policy on popular Web servers. Read the answers to frequently asked questions about P3P and more about the W3C Privacy Activity. (Permalink)

EuroWeb 2001 Conference now a Free Event

25 November 2001: Registration is still mandatory but now free of charge for EuroWeb 2001, the first of a new series of regional conferences endorsed by IW3C2. Supported by the W3C Italian Office, EuroWeb is to be held 18-20 December in Pisa, Italy. Representing the W3C Team, Ivan Herman presents A Tour around W3C XML Recommendations and Yasuyuki Hirakawa and Tatsuya Hagino present a paper. The conference focus is "The Web in Public Administration." Real time translation of sessions will be available. (Permalink)

Week Ending 23 November

Exclusive XML Canonicalization Last Call Published

20 November 2001: The joint IETF/W3C XML Signature Working Group has released the first public draft of Exclusive XML Canonicalization as a Last Call Working Draft. The specification provides a method to exclude ancestor context from the canonicalized form of a subset of an XML document. Comments are welcome through 11 December. Read about the XML Digital Signature Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Day in Japan, 29 November

19 November 2001: W3C Day will be held on 29 November at Keio University Mita Campus in Tokyo. Conducted in English and Japanese, and chaired by Hidetaka Ohto, W3C Fellow from Panasonic, the program includes: Marie-Claire Forgue, an overview of W3C work; Tatsuya Hagino, the Semantic Web; José Kahan, Annotea; Kazuhiro Kitagawa, mobile technology; Chris Lilley, SVG; and Nobuo Saito, XML and Web services. Please refer to the press release. (Permalink)

Week Ending 16 November

Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition Working Draft Published

16 November 2001: The Voice Browser Working Group has released the first public Working Draft of Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition. Part of the W3C Speech Interface Framework, the draft describes syntax and semantics for tags in speech recognition grammar that are used to build computer-processable representations of user utterances. Comments are welcome. Visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

Selectors Becomes a W3C Candidate Recommendation

15 November 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of Selectors to Candidate Recommendation. Selectors are patterns in the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language that match to elements in HTML and XML. This specification describes the CSS1 and CSS2 selectors and new selectors for CSS3. A test suite is available. Please send your comments by May 2002 and read more on the CSS home page. (Permalink)

RDF Test Cases Working Draft Published

15 November 2001: The RDF Core Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of RDF Test Cases. The draft describes a set of machine-processable test cases that correspond to the issues the Working Group is addressing. Comments are welcome. Read about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Welcomes Members at Advisory Committee Meeting

14 November 2001: W3C held its semiannual Advisory Committee Meeting on 6-7 November in Nice, France. W3C Member organizations participated in two days of presentations and discussions on the range of W3C Activities. If you would like to join W3C, visit the Membership page, and consider attending the next Advisory Committee Meeting to be held 5-7 May 2002, colocated with the Eleventh International World Wide Web Conference on 7-11 May in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. (Permalink)

Third Release: SVG 1.0 Test Suite

14 November 2001: The third public release of the W3C SVG Test Suite has been made to include errata, and to conform to the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Recommendation. The SVG implementation report is also updated. The SVG Working Group invites feedback on the tests, and also suggestions for new tests. Comments and suggestions should be sent to svg-testsuite-comments@w3.org. (Permalink)

Call for Papers: SVG Open Conference

14 November 2001: The SVG Open / Carto.net Developers Conference will be held in Zurich, Switzerland on 15-17 July 2002. Co-sponsored by W3C, SVG Open is a platform for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) developers to share ideas, examples and implementations. Presenters are asked to send a 400-800 word abstract prior to 15 January 2002. For more information, please read the call for papers, contact Ivan Herman or Chris Lilley of the W3C Team, and consult the conference Web site. (Permalink)

Week Ending 2 November

DOM Level 3 XPath Working Draft Published

31 October 2001: The DOM Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 XPath Specification. The draft provides simple functionalities to access a DOM tree using XPath 1.0. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Day at Keio Announced

31 October 2001: W3C is pleased to announce W3C Day at Keio (in Japanese) to be held on 29 November at Keio University Mita Campus in Tokyo, Japan. Team members from all three W3C host sites, INRIA, Keio, and MIT, will participate in the event. Marie-Claire Forgue, Tatsuya Hagino, José Kahan, Kazuhiro Kitagawa, Chris Lilley, and Nobuo Saito will give talks. (Permalink)

SVG 1.1 and Mobile SVG Profiles Working Drafts Published

30 October 2001: The SVG Working Group has released two first public Working Drafts. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Version 1.1 is a modularization of the SVG language used to build profiles. Mobile SVG Profiles: SVG Tiny and SVG Basic defines SVG Tiny for highly restricted mobile devices, and SVG Basic for higher level mobile devices. SVG delivers two-dimensional graphics in XML to the Web, providing accessible, dynamic, reusable, and extensible vector graphics, text, and images. Comments are welcome on both drafts. Read more on the SVG home page. (Permalink)

Amaya 5.2 Released

29 October 2001: Amaya is W3C's Web browser and authoring tool. Version 5.2 supports generic-xml documents in browser mode, the embed element for SVG and MathML, "Export CR/LF" from Windows, a DOS file format, the HTTP Content-Location header, and other new features. Download Amaya binaries for Linux and Windows. Source code is available. If you are interested in annotations, visit the Annotea home page. (Permalink)

W3C Team Presentations in November

29 October 2001: On 1 November, Martin J. Dürst presents The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): An Overview and Web Architecture: From URI to the Semantic Web at the 2001 Web-based Technology Standard Conference in Seoul, Korea. On 15 November, Tim Berners-Lee gives a talk titled Technology in the 21st Century at the Cambridge Forum in Cambridge, MA, USA. Also on 15 November, Bert Bos gives the closing keynote at the annual congress of the Dutch SGML/XML Users Group in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. On 15 and 16 November, Wendy Chisholm and Charles McCathieNevile speak at OZeWAI 2001 in Melbourne, Australia. On 20 November, Philipp Hoschka will give a keynote titled The Future of Streaming Media on the Web at Streaming Media Japan 2001 in Tokyo, Japan. On 21 November, Kazuhiro Kitagawa presents Device Independence and the Semantic Web (in Japanese) at Internet World Japan 2001 in Chiba, Japan. On 22 November, Ivan Herman presents W3C Architectural Recommendations at the XML Belux conference in Mechelen, Belgium. (Permalink)

EuroWeb 2001 Conference Registration Open

29 October 2001: Registration is open for EuroWeb 2001, the first of a new series of regional conferences endorsed by IW3C2. Supported by the W3C Italian Office, EuroWeb is to be held 18-20 December in Venice, Italy. Representing the W3C Team, Steven Pemberton, Rigo Wenning, and Massimo Marchiori give tutorials and Yasuyuki Hirakawa and Tatsuya Hagino present a paper. The conference focus is "The Web in Public Administration." (Permalink)

Week Ending 26 October

XML Events Last Call Working Draft Published

26 October 2001: The HTML Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of XML Events. The specification defines a module used to associate behaviors with document-level markup for XML languages, and supports the DOM Level 2 event model. Comments are welcome through 30 November. Visit the HTML home page. (Permalink)

DOM Level 2 and 3 Working Drafts Published

25 October 2001: The DOM Working Group has updated the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 HTML and the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Abstract Schemas and Load and Save Working Drafts. The DOM is a platform- and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of documents. Comments are invited. Read about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

XML Information Set Becomes a W3C Recommendation

24 October 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium today released the XML Information Set (Infoset) as a W3C Recommendation. Produced by the XML Core Working Group as part of the XML Activity, the specification has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor its adoption by industry. The Infoset defines a set of eleven types of information items in XML documents. Read the press release and visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

CSS Mobile Profile Becomes a W3C Candidate Recommendation

24 October 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of CSS Mobile Profile 1.0 to Candidate Recommendation. The specification defines a subset of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Level 2 tailored for mobile devices such as wireless phones. Comments are welcome through April 2002. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

VoiceXML 2.0 Promises Speech and Phone Services for the Web

23 October 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the first public Working Draft of the Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML) Version 2.0 and a Memorandum of Understanding issued jointly with the VoiceXML Forum. VoiceXML uses XML to bring synthesized speech, spoken and touch-tone input, digitized audio, recording, telephony, and computer-human conversations to the Web. Read the press release, testimonials, and visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 19 October

XML Encryption Last Call Working Drafts Published

18 October 2001: The XML Encryption Working Group has released three Last Call Working Drafts. XML Encryption Requirements provides XML syntax and processing requirements for encrypting digital content. XML Encryption Syntax and Processing specifies a process for encrypting data and representing the result in an EncryptedData element for cipher data. Decryption Transform for XML Signature enables the repeated encryption and signing of parts of XML documents. Comments are welcome through 9 November. Read about the W3C XML Encryption Activity. (Permalink)

XML Events Working Draft Published

17 October 2001: The HTML Working Group has released the fourth public Working Draft of XML Events. The specification was renamed from XHTML Events, with significant changes. It defines a module used to associate behaviors with document-level markup through DOM Level 2 event model support. Comments are welcome. Read more on the HTML home page. (Permalink)

Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Becomes a W3C Recommendation

16 October 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium today released the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) 1.0 as a W3C Recommendation. The specification has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor its adoption by industry. Designers use an XSL stylesheet to express how source content should be styled, laid out, and paginated onto a presentation medium such as a browser window, a pamphlet or a book. Read the press release and testimonials. (Permalink)

SOAP Version 1.2 Test Collection Published

15 October 2001: The XML Protocol Working Group is welcoming input on the SOAP Version 1.2 Test Collection. Demonstrating interoperability, the tests are intended to show that SOAP 1.2 meets its goal for conformance requirements, and that implementations exist for each of its features. Instructions are linked from the call for contributions. (Permalink)

W3C Announces Patent Policy Next Steps

13 October 2001: W3C has opened its patent policy process for continuing public dialog. Free software and open source authorities Eben Moglen and Bruce Perens are joining the Patent Policy Working Group (PPWG) as invited experts. The PPWG has launched a public home page. A second public Last Call for the W3C Patent Policy Framework is planned. W3C thanks all participants on the comments mailing list. Please refer to the next steps announcement from Danny Weitzner, PPWG Chair. (Permalink)

Week Ending 5 October

XHTML 1.0 Second Edition Working Draft Published

4 October 2001: The HTML Working Group has released XHTML 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language (Second Edition) as a Working Draft for public review. XHTML 1.0 is a reformulation of HTML in XML, giving the rigor of XML to Web pages. The second edition is not a new version; it brings the XHTML 1.0 Recommendation up to date with the first edition errata. Read more on the HTML home page. (Permalink)

SOAP 1.2 Working Drafts Published

2 October 2001: The XML Protocol Working Group has released the second Working Draft of SOAP Version 1.2 in two parts, Part 1: Messaging Framework and Part 2: Adjuncts. Publicly developed and based on SOAP/1.1 (Simple Object Access Protocol), SOAP is a data transfer protocol designed for information exchange on the Web, using XML as its encapsulation language. Visit the XML Protocol home page. (Permalink)

W3C Responds to the Public on Patent Policy Draft

2 October 2001: W3C has published a response to public comments received on the W3C Patent Policy Framework. Prepared by the Patent Policy Working Group, the draft proposes a patent policy for W3C Working Groups and Members. Thanks to requests from the Web community, the W3C Team has extended a public and Member review period through 11 October. Your comments are welcome. (Permalink)

W3C Team Presentations in October

1 October 2001: On 1 October, Henry Thompson gives a keynote at XML Days in Budapest, Hungary. On 4-5 October, Rigo Wenning participates in the JRC-Workshop on Privacy and Security in Brussels, Belgium. On 13 October, Ivan Herman presents Overview of W3C Technologies at Day of the Greek W3C Office in Thessaloniki, Greece. On 15-19, Philipp Hoschka presents Future Web Interface Technologies at SBMIDIA 2001 in Florianopolis, Brazil. On 16 October, Charles McCathieNevile speaks on the Semantic Web and use cases for the British Computer Society's Specialist Group. On 26 October, Charles presents Formación para las autores del Web at V Jornadas del SID@R in Mar del Plata, Argentina. On 29 October, Nobuo Saito presents Standardization Activities by W3C and Tatsuya Hagino gives a talk on the Current Situation and Perspective of Semantic Web and XML at the INTAP Semantic Web Conference in Tokyo, Japan. (Permalink)

Character Model Working Draft Published

30 September 2001: The W3C Internationalization Working Group has released a Working Draft of the Character Model for the World Wide Web 1.0 recording changes made since the first Last Call. This document provides authors of specifications, software developers, and content developers a common reference for interoperable text manipulation. Read about W3C's work on internationalization. (Permalink)

Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 Last Call Working Draft Published

30 September 2001: The P3P Specification Working Group has released The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 (P3P 1.0) Last Call Working Draft with an amendment (an embedded DATASCHEMA is now child of POLICIES rather than of POLICY). Comments are welcome through 15 October. P3P simplifies and automates the process of reading Web site privacy policies, promoting trust and confidence in the Web. Read the answers to frequently asked questions about P3P and more on the W3C Privacy Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 28 September

RDF Model Theory Working Draft Published

25 September 2001: The RDF Core Working Group has released the first public Working Draft of RDF Model Theory. The document provides a precise semantic theory for RDF and RDFS, and sharpens the notions of consequence and inference in RDF. Learn more on the RDF home page, and read about the W3C Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

XML Schema: Formal Description Working Draft Published

25 September 2001: The XML Schema Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of XML Schema: Formal Description. Based on the syntax in XML Schema Part 1: Structures, the formalization is a declarative system for describing and naming XML Schema information, specifying XML instance type information, and validating instances against schemas. Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

URIs, URLs, and URNs Note Published

24 September 2001: The W3C/IETF URI Planning Interest Group has published URIs, URLs, and URNs: Clarifications and Recommendations 1.0 as a W3C Note. The Note outlines the difference between classical and contemporary URI partitioning, explains the relationship between URIs, URLs, and URNs, describes how URI schemes and URN namespace ids are registered, and sets forth recommendations. Read about the W3C URI Activity. (Permalink)

Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 Last Call Working Draft Published

24 September 2001: The P3P Specification Working Group has released The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 (P3P 1.0) as a Last Call Working Draft. Comments are welcome through 15 October. P3P simplifies and automates the process of reading Web site privacy policies, promoting trust and confidence in the Web. Read the answers to frequently asked questions about P3P and more on the W3C Privacy Activity. (Permalink)

CSS3 module: Backgrounds Working Draft Published

24 September 2001: The CSS Working Group has released the first Working Draft of CSS3 module: Backgrounds. Part of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language Level 3, this module describes backgrounds such as background colors and background images that are used to render HTML and XML documents. Comments are welcome. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 21 September

XML Blueberry Requirements Working Draft Published

21 September 2001: The XML Core Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of XML Blueberry Requirements. The draft lists the design principles and requirements for a revision of XML 1.0 being developed to address Unicode character set and line ending issues. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

Device Independence Principles Published

19 September 2001: The Device Independence Working Group has released its first publication, a Working Draft of Device Independence Principles. The document describes the principles necessary to make the Web accessible by "anyone, anywhere, anytime, anyhow." Read about the W3C Device Independence Activity. (Permalink)

W3C HTML Validation Service Upgraded

18 September 2001: W3C is pleased to announce an upgrade to the W3C HTML Validation Service created and maintained by Gerald Oskoboiny of the W3C Systems Team. New features include XHTML 1.1 and XHTML Basic 1.0 support, experimental MathML 2.0 support, new functions on the results page, and an option to override character encoding. Feedback on the service is welcome (archive). Refer to What's New for the change history. (Permalink)

W3C Morocco Office Launches Arabic Home Page

18 September 2001: The home page of the W3C Morocco Office is now available as Unicode encoded Arabic. The Office is hosted by the Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs, in Rabat, Morocco. W3C Offices assist with promotion efforts in local languages, broaden W3C's geographical base, and encourage international participation in W3C Activities. (Permalink)

W3C Presents at Keio SFC Open Research Forum

17 September 2001: The Open Research Forum (in Japanese) is the yearly open house extending research and development at Keio University SFC (Shonan Fujisawa Campus) to interested companies and the general public. On 21 September, W3C holds a tutorial seminar (in Japanese) at ORF: Saeko Takeuchi chairs, Tatsuya Hagino gives an introduction to W3C and a talk on the Semantic Web, Masayasu Ishikawa introduces the XHTML Family, and Kazuhiro Kitagawa presents the Device Independence Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 14 September

User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Become a W3C Candidate Recommendation

13 September 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (UAAG) to Candidate Recommendation. This document provides guidelines for designing user agents that lower barriers to Web accessibility for people with visual, hearing, physical, and cognitive disabilities. Comments are invited through December. The companion Techniques Working Draft is also updated. Read the press release, the implementation report, and more about the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. (Permalink)

DOM Level 3 Core Working Draft Published

13 September 2001: The DOM Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification. The DOM is a platform- and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of documents. Comments are invited. Read about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

RDF Test Cases Working Draft Published

12 September 2001: The RDF Core Working Group has released the first public Working Draft of RDF Test Cases. The draft describes a set of machine-processable test cases that correspond to the issues the Working Group is addressing. Comments are welcome. Read about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

XPointer Becomes a W3C Candidate Recommendation

11 September 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of the XML Pointer Language (XPointer) Version 1.0 to Candidate Recommendation. XPointer can be used in URI references to address parts of an XML document such as elements, attributes, character content, and relative position. Comments are welcome through 4 March 2002. Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 7 September

Refactoring RDF/XML Syntax Working Draft Published

6 September 2001: The RDF Core Working Group has released the first public Working Draft of Refactoring RDF/XML Syntax. The document records the process of updating the grammar in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) Model and Syntax Specification, showing the changes step-by-step. Read about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

5 September 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium today released the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Specification as a W3C Recommendation. The specification has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor its adoption by industry. SVG delivers two-dimensional graphics in XML to the Web, providing accessible, dynamic, reusable, and extensible vector graphics, text, and images. Read about SVG implementations, and learn more in the press release and testimonials. (Permalink)

SMIL Animation Becomes a W3C Recommendation

5 September 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium has issued SMIL Animation as a W3C Recommendation. This subset of the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language 2.0 (SMIL, pronounced "smile") puts animation on a time line, allows composition of multiple animations, and describes animation elements for any XML-based host language. Read about the W3C Synchronized Multimedia Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Team to Present at XML Days Europe

4 September 2001: Eight W3C Team members will present at the XML Days conference series to be held from 17 September through 1 October 2001. Ivan Herman appears in Amsterdam. Daniel Dardailler appears in Brussels and in Copenhagen. Bert Bos appears in Munich. Karl Dubost appears in Zurich. Oreste Signore of the W3C Italian Office appears in Milan. Philippe Le Hégaret appears in Paris. Charles McCathieNevile appears in Oslo and Stockholm, Steven Pemberton appears in Helsinki, and Henry Thompson appears in Budapest. (Permalink)

W3C Team Presentations in September

3 September 2001: On 3 September, Charles McCathieNevile speaks on the Semantic Web and Web accessibility at Monash University, Clayton Campus. On 6 September, Ivan Herman presents 2D Web Graphics, State of the Art Presentation at the Eurographics 2001 conference in Manchester, UK, and Eric Miller gives a keynote, Digital Libraries and the Semantic Web, at the 5th European Conference on Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries in Darmstadt, Germany. On 12 September, Chris Lilley presents SVG: Vector Graphics Meets Unicode at the 19th International Unicode Conference in San Jose, USA, and Henry Thompson gives a keynote, XML, Objects and the Web: How XML Schema and XML Infoset facilitate OO Data Binding, at Net.ObjectDays 2001 in Erfurt, Germany. (Permalink)

Week Ending 31 August

In Memoriam: Michael Dertouzos

30 August 2001: Professor Michael L. Dertouzos, director of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) since 1974, died on 27 August 2001, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Born in Athens, Greece, author of eight books, and widely admired for bringing his humanity to computing, Dertouzos was 64. Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director, credits Prof. Dertouzos with the W3C's existence, and has written a personal tribute. In his last interview on 22 August 2001, Dertouzos said, "Don't forget the impact that love has on education." His impact is difficult to overestimate. He is already sorely missed. (Permalink)

DOM Level 3 XPath Working Draft Published

30 August 2001: The DOM Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 XPath Specification. The draft provides simple functionalities to access a DOM tree using XPath 1.0. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

XML Accessibility Guidelines Working Draft Published

29 August 2001: The WAI Protocols and Formats Working Group has released a Working Draft of XML Accessibility Guidelines. A guide for tools designers and authors of XML formats, the document explains how to design accessible applications using XML, the Extensible Markup Language. Please send your comments by 30 September. Read about the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. (Permalink)

Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Becomes a W3C Proposed Recommendation

28 August 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) 1.0 to Proposed Recommendation. Designers use an XSL stylesheet to express how source content should be styled, laid out, and paginated onto a presentation medium such as a browser window, a pamphlet or a book. Please send your comments by 25 September. Read more on the XSL home page. (Permalink)

XForms Working Draft Published

28 August 2001: The XForms Working Group has released a new Working Draft of XForms 1.0. More flexible than previous HTML and XHTML form technologies, the new generation of Web forms called XForms separates purpose, presentation, and data. Comments are welcome. Read more about XForms and the W3C HTML Activity. (Permalink)

XQuery/XPath Functions and Operators Working Draft Published

27 August 2001: Two joint task forces from the W3C XML Query, XML Schema, and XSL Working Groups have released the first publication of XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators Version 1.0 as a Working Draft. Written for use in XQuery, XPath and related XML standards, the document defines operations on XML schema datatypes and operators and functions on nodes and node sequences as defined in the XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model. Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 24 August

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Working Draft Published

24 August 2001: The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group has released a Working Draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 showing how checkpoints more generalized and less HTML-specific than WCAG 1.0 might read. WCAG checkpoints explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. Read about the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). (Permalink)

XSLT 1.1 Working Draft Published

24 August 2001: The XSL Working Group has published a final Working Draft of XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 1.1. Except for its status, it is unchanged from the previous draft. Requirements for version 1.1 will be considered for XSLT 2.0. An XSLT style sheet describes rules for transforming a source tree into a result tree. The source tree can be filtered and reordered, and arbitrary structure can be added. Learn more about XSL and the W3C Style Activity. (Permalink)

DOM Level 3 Events Working Draft Published

23 August 2001: The DOM Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification. The DOM is a platform- and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of documents. Comments are invited. Read about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

Speech Recognition Grammar Last Call Working Draft Published

22 August 2001: The W3C Voice Browser Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of the Speech Recognition Grammar Specification. With this language, developers can specify words and patterns of words to be listened for by speech recognizers. Please send your comments by 28 September. Visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

XML-Signature Becomes a W3C Proposed Recommendation

20 August 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of XML-Signature Syntax and Processing to Proposed Recommendation. XML digital signatures provide integrity, message authentication, and signer authentication services. The specification is the work of the joint IETF/W3C XML Signature Working Group. Comments are welcome through 17 September. Read about the XML Digital Signature Activity. (Permalink)

Patent Policy Last Call Working Draft Published

20 August 2001: The Patent Policy Working Group has released the W3C Patent Policy Framework as a Last Call Working Draft. The draft proposes changes to the W3C process and Member Agreements, including licensing modes for W3C Working Groups, disclosure obligations, licensing commitments, and a procedure for variances. Comments are welcome through 30 September. Learn more in the backgrounder and Patent Policy FAQ. (Permalink)

Week Ending 17 August

W3C Launches Quality Assurance Activity

16 August 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the creation of the Quality Assurance (QA) Activity. Launched with a Working Group and Interest Group, the primary mission of the QA Activity is to improve the quality of W3C specification implementation in the field. QA will work on the quality of W3C specifications, promote the development of good validators, test tools, and harnesses for implementers, and think ahead to additional steps. Learn more in the QA Activity statement. (Permalink)

W3C Launches New RDF Validation Service

14 August 2001: As part of the Semantic Web Activity, W3C is pleased to announce the launch of the W3C RDF Validation Service. Created and maintained by Art Barstow, visiting W3C Fellow from Hewlett-Packard, the validator is based on the Another RDF Parser (ARP) by Jeremy Carroll. Enter a URI or RDF/XML document, and the RDF Validator will display a 3-tuple (triple) representation and a graphical visualization of the data model. Feedback on the new service is welcome at www-rdf-validator@w3.org. (Permalink)

Week Ending 10 August

XML Information Set Becomes a W3C Proposed Recommendation

10 August 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of XML Information Set (Infoset) to Proposed Recommendation. The Infoset defines a set of eleven types of information items in XML documents. Comments are invited through 10 September at www-xml-infoset-comments@w3.org (archive). Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

SMIL 2.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

9 August 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium today released the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 2.0 as a W3C Recommendation. The specification has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor its adoption by industry. SMIL (pronounced "smile") defines an XML-based language that authors can use to write interactive multimedia presentations. Version 2.0 includes approximately one hundred predefined transition effects, and support for hierarchical layout and animation. See how SMIL is already implemented, and read the press release and testimonials. (Permalink)

XHTML+SMIL Profile Working Draft Published

9 August 2001: As part of the Synchronized Multimedia Activity, the SYMM Working Group has published a Working Draft of XHTML+SMIL Profile. The draft integrates a subset of the SMIL 2.0 specification with XHTML. It includes modules for animation, content control, media objects, timing and synchronization, and transition effects. Comments are welcome. (Permalink)

W3C/MIT Power Restored

8 August 2001: Due to a power outage in the MIT LCS W3C building on Tuesday and Wednesday, 7-8 August, parts of the W3C site were down. W3C apologizes for the inconvenience. Services were restored at 22:00Z on 8 August. (Permalink)

Week Ending 3 August

SVG Requirements Working Drafts Published

3 August 2001: The SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) Working Group has released two Working Drafts of design principles and requirements: SVG 1.1/2.0 Requirements applies to future versions of the SVG language, and SVG Mobile Requirements applies to an SVG mobile profile to be developed for small devices. Read more about W3C work on SVG. (Permalink)

W3C Team Presentations in August

31 July 2001: Kazuhiro Kitagawa, Wataru Okada, and Fumio Kato present Empirical study on location based service on the Web with CC/PP and RDF at ITCom 2001 on 22 August in Denver, Colorado, USA. Philipp Hoschka and Vincent Quint will attend École d'été PDMS 2001 in Autrans, France on 27 August: Vincent presents L'évolution des standards du World Wide Web Consortium, and Philipp presents Le multimédia sur le web : Etat de l'art, enjeux et perspectives. Charles McCathieNevile speaks on Accessibility - What and Why and gives a workshop on Accessibility - How on 30 August in Perth, Western Australia. (Permalink)

CSS3 module: Fonts Working Draft Published

31 July 2001: The CSS Working Group has released the first Working Draft of CSS3 module: Fonts. This module contains the font sections of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Level 2, as well as the font decoration properties that are new in CSS Level 3. Comments are welcome on the public mailing list www-style@w3.org. (Permalink)

Week Ending 27 July

P3P Deployment Guide Updated

27 July 2001: The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 Deployment Guide has been updated. This guide for Web site operators explains how to write a machine-readable privacy policy, and gives step-by-step instructions for deploying your privacy policy on popular Web servers. Read the answers to frequently asked questions about P3P and more about the W3C Privacy Activity. (Permalink)

CSS3 module: The Box Model Working Draft Published

26 July 2001: The CSS Working Group has released the first Working Draft of CSS3 module: the box model. Part of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language Level 3, this module describes the layout of textual documents in visual media. Comments are invited. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 20 July

SMIL Animation Becomes a W3C Proposed Recommendation

19 July 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of SMIL Animation to Proposed Recommendation. This subset of the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language 2.0 (SMIL, pronounced "smile") puts animation on a time line, allows composition of multiple animations, and describes animation elements for any XML-based host language. Comments are welcome through 16 August. Learn about W3C work on synchronized multimedia. (Permalink)

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Becomes a W3C Proposed Recommendation

19 July 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG 1.0) Specification to Proposed Recommendation. SVG delivers two-dimensional vector graphics and mixed vector and raster graphics to the Web in XML, ensuring accessibility, dynamism, reusability, and extensibility. Read the SVG overview. Comments are welcome through 16 August. (Permalink)

W3C Adopts Technical Architecture Group Charter (TAG)

19 July 2001: W3C has published the Technical Architecture Group charter and revised the Process Document. The TAG will document cross-technology Web architecture principles, and resolve architectural issues. Chaired by the W3C Director, the TAG will consist of five elected and three appointed participants. Like other W3C Working Groups, the TAG will use the Recommendation track to build consensus around its documents. The TAG will conduct most of its work on a public mailing list. The nomination period is expected to begin in a few weeks. Visit the TAG home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 13 July

CSS3 module: Cascading and Inheritance Working Draft Published

13 July 2001: The CSS Working Group has published a first Working Draft of CSS3 module: Cascading and inheritance. Part of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Level 2 rewritten as a module for CSS Level 3, the draft describes how values are assigned to properties using the cascade mechanism, inheritance, and initial values. Comments are welcome. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

CSS3 module: Values and Units Working Draft Published

13 July 2001: The CSS Working Group has released a first Working Draft of CSS3 module: Values and Units. A module for CSS Level 3, the draft describes the values and units that CSS properties accept. It explains specified, computed, and actual values. Comments are invited. Learn about the W3C Style Activity. (Permalink)

Amaya 5.1 Released

11 July 2001: Amaya is W3C's Web browser and authoring tool. Version 5.1 is a bug fix release, adding flat style to the button bar, a Portuguese translation of Amaya dialogues, and an online documentation index developed by WinWriters. Download Amaya binaries for Linux, Solaris, Windows 2000/NT, and Windows 95/98. Source code is available. If you are interested in annotations, visit the Annotea home page. (Permalink)

W3C Team Presentations in July

9 July 2001: On 10 July, Hugo Haas and Eric Prud'hommeaux attend the Software Services Grid Workshop, sponsored by the Object Management Group, Inc, in Danvers, Massachusetts, USA. On 11 July, Philipp Hoschka presents Activities of the W3C at the ICANN PSO General Assembly, sponsored by ETSI, in Sophia-Antipolis, France. Charles McCathieNevile speaks on Web accessibility at the TechFest 2001 Assistive Technology Expo to be held on 17 and 19 July in Launceston and Hobart, Tasmania. Charles also speaks at the Central Queensland University in Rockhampton, at Changing Landscape II on 20 July. (Permalink)

SOAP Version 1.2 and XML Protocol Abstract Model Working Drafts Published

9 July 2001: The XML Protocol Working Group has released Working Drafts of SOAP Version 1.2 and the XML Protocol Abstract Model. Publicly developed and based on SOAP/1.1 (Simple Object Access Protocol), SOAP is a data transfer protocol designed for information exchange on the Web, using XML as its encapsulation language. Version 1.2 implements XML schemas and namespaces, clarifies ambiguities, and provides a refined processing model. Read the press release and testimonials, and visit the XML Protocol home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 6 July

W3C Restructures User Interface Domain

6 July 2001: In the W3C sense, "domains" are groups of related W3C Activities. To better balance and focus W3C work, the Document Formats Domain and the Interaction Domain replace W3C's User Interface Domain as of today. The Document Formats Domain, led by Vincent Quint, hosts the Amaya, Graphics, HTML, Internationalization, Math, and Style Activities. The Interaction Domain, led by Philipp Hoschka, hosts the Device Independence, Synchronized Multimedia, and Voice Browser Activities. Michael Sperberg-McQueen becomes Architecture Domain Leader. (Permalink)

Amaya 5.0 Released

4 July 2001: Amaya is W3C's Web browser and authoring tool. Version 5.0 adds accessibility features, enhanced SVG and PNG support, CSS parser feedback, and XHTML 1.1 support including simple and complex ruby annotation. Download Amaya binaries for Solaris 8, Linux, and Windows 2000, NT, 95, and 98. Source code is available. If you are interested in annotations, please visit the Annotea home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 29 June

XML Encryption Syntax and Processing Working Draft Published

27 June 2001: The XML Encryption Working Group has released the first Working Draft of XML Encryption Syntax and Processing. This document specifies a process for encrypting data and representing the result in an XML Encryption EncryptedData element which contains or identifies the cipher data. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C XML Encryption Activity. (Permalink)

Decryption Transform for XML Signature Working Draft Published

27 June 2001: The XML Encryption Working Group has released the first Working Draft of Decryption Transform for XML Signature. A transform is defined, enabling digital signatures verification even if both signature and encryption operations are performed on an XML document. The editors welcome comments. (Permalink)

Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Draft Published

27 June 2001: The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has released a new Working Draft of Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. This document is a companion to UAAG 1.0, and covers the accessibility of user interfaces, content rendering, application programming interfaces (APIs), and languages such as HTML, CSS, and SMIL. Comments are welcome. (Permalink)

User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Draft Published

27 June 2001: The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has published a Working Draft of User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 in response to Last Call comments. This document provides guidelines for designing user agents that lower barriers to Web accessibility for people with visual, hearing, physical, and cognitive disabilities. Comments are invited. Read about the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. (Permalink)

Week Ending 22 June

XML Blueberry Requirements Working Draft Published

20 June 2001: The XML Core Working Group has published the first public Working Draft of XML Blueberry Requirements. The draft lists the design principles and requirements for a revision of XML 1.0 being developed to address Unicode character set and line ending issues. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

DOM Level 3 XPath Working Draft Published

18 June 2001: The DOM Working Group has published the first public Working Draft of the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 XPath Specification. The draft provides simple functionalities to access a DOM tree using XPath 1.0. Comments are welcome. Read about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 15 June

XML Query Working Group Publishes Five Working Drafts

11 June 2001: The W3C XML Query Working Group for a second time this year has released five Working Drafts at once. The drafts include XQuery 1.0: An XML Query Language, the first public release of XML Syntax for XQuery 1.0 (XQueryX), XML Query Use Cases, XQuery 1.0 Formal Semantics replacing XML Query Algebra, and XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model replacing the XML Query Data Model. The XQuery language is designed to be broadly applicable across all types of XML data sources from documents to databases and object repositories. (Permalink)

Week Ending 8 June

XHTML Events Working Draft Published

8 June 2001: The HTML Working Group has released a new Working Draft of XHTML Events comprised of two modules used to associate behaviors with document-level markup. The XHTML Events Module provides DOM Level 2 event model support. A subset, the Basic XHTML Events Module, provides this support to simple applications and devices. Comments are welcome. Read more about the W3C HTML Activity. (Permalink)

XForms Working Draft Published

8 June 2001: The XForms Working Group has released a new Working Draft of XForms 1.0. More flexible than previous HTML and XHTML form technologies, the new generation of Web forms called XForms separates purpose, presentation, and data. Comments are welcome. Read more about XForms and the W3C HTML Activity. (Permalink)

DOM Level 3 Abstract Schemas and Load and Save Working Draft Published

7 June 2001: The DOM Working Group has published the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Abstract Schemas and Load and Save Specification as a Working Draft. Formerly known as DOM Level 3 Content Model and Load and Save, the draft builds on DOM Core Level 3. Read about the W3C DOM Activity. (Permalink)

SMIL 2.0 Becomes a W3C Proposed Recommendation

5 June 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 2.0) to Proposed Recommendation. SMIL (pronounced "smile") 2.0 defines an XML-based language that authors can use to write interactive multimedia presentations. It allows reuse of SMIL syntax and semantics in other XML-based languages. Comments are welcome through 5 July. Read the implementation report and more about the W3C Synchronized Multimedia Activity. (Permalink)

DOM Level 3 Core Working Draft Published

5 June 2001: As part of the W3C DOM Activity, the DOM Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification. The DOM is a platform- and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of documents. Comments are invited on the public mailing list www-dom@w3.org (archive). (Permalink)

Week Ending 1 June

Implementing the Ruby Module Note Published

31 May 2001: Implementing the Ruby Module has been published as a W3C Note. Written by Masayasu Ishikawa of the W3C Team, the Note describes sample module implementations of Ruby Annotation's abstract definition of ruby markup in several schemas: DTD, RELAX, TREX, and XML Schema. Comments may be sent to the author. (Permalink)

XHTML 1.1 and Ruby Annotation Become W3C Recommendations

31 May 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium today released XHTML 1.1 - Module-based XHTML and Ruby Annotation as W3C Recommendations. The specifications are stable, and have been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor their adoption by industry. XHTML 1.1 is a reformulation of XHTML 1.0 Strict based on XHTML modules, including the ruby module. Ruby is a short run of text alongside base text typically used in East Asian documents to indicate pronunciation or annotation. Read the press release and testimonials. (Permalink)

W3C Team Presentations in June

29 May 2001: Charles McCathieNevile and Marja-Riitta Koivunen present Accessible Graphics and Multimedia in the Web at the 7th Annual Human Factors and the Web Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, USA on 4 June. Massimo Marchiori co-chairs and speaks at Financial Protocols 2001 being held 14-15 June in London, UK, where he presents XML and the Foundation Layer. Ivan Herman presents Understanding the Major W3C XML Standards at the Workshop on XML for Financial Services in Stockholm, Sweden on 18 June. Philipp Hoschka presents Les différentes spécifications d'XML at the XML pour les services financiers conference to be held in Paris, France on 25-27 June. Charles McCathieNevile will co-present a Semantic Web class at CWI in The Hague, the Netherlands on 27 June. Massimo Marchiori presents Data on the Web: A W3C Perspective at SEBD 2001 to be held in Venice, Italy on 27-29 June. Browse W3C Team talks and presentations. (Permalink)

Week Ending 25 May

Introduction to CSS3 Working Draft Published

23 May 2001: The CSS Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of Introduction to CSS3. This document lists all the modules in the future Cascading Style Sheets Level 3 (CSS3) specification. Comments are welcome on the www-style@w3.org mailing list (archive) or may be sent to the editors. Learn more on the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 18 May

W3C Workshop on XML Key Management Announced

18 May 2001: Registration is open through 19 June for the W3C Workshop on XML Key Management to be held in Redwood City, California, USA, on 19 July 2001. Participants will consider the requirements for simple key resolution and trust services for XML security applications, the XKMS specification, and discuss the potential for a related W3C Activity. Position papers should be submitted by 19 June. (Permalink)

W3C Team to Present at XML Europe

18 May 2001: Five W3C Team members will present at XML Europe 2001 to be held 21-25 May in Berlin, Germany. Philippe Le Hégaret gives two half-day tutorials, The Document Object Model, Hands-On, on 21 May. Michael Sperberg-McQueen and Henry Thompson give the W3C Standards Update on 23 May. Chris Lilley co-chairs the Graphics track and will present A Comparison of WebCGM and SVG on 24 May. Joseph Reagle presents The Status/Design of XML Signatures and Encryption on 25 May. (Permalink)

Web Accessibility Tutorials Announced

17 May 2001: Wendy Chisholm, Web Accessibility Engineer at W3C, and Shawn Lawton Henry of Optavia will give tutorials at the 7th Annual Human Factors and the Web Conference being held in Madison, Wisconsin, USA on 4-6 June. Web Accessibility Workshop: More People. More Situations. More Business. runs on 5 June, and Advanced Topics in Web Accessibility runs on 6 June. Registration is open. (Permalink)

CSS3 Module: Text Working Draft Published

17 May 2001: The CSS Working Group has released a Working Draft of CSS3 module: text. The document presents a set of text formatting properties for Cascading Style Sheets Level 3 including new properties addressing an international context. Comments are invited. Read about the W3C Style Activity. (Permalink)

CSS Media Queries Working Draft Published

17 May 2001: The CSS Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of Media queries. The draft proposes a registry of media types to describe what type of devices a style sheet applies to, and provides for expressions to limit a style sheet's scope. Comments are invited. Read about the W3C Style Activity. (Permalink)

XML Inclusions Last Call Working Draft Published

17 May 2001: The XML Core Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.0. XInclude specifies a processing model and syntax for general purpose inclusion. This is accomplished by merging a number of XML Infosets into a single composite Infoset. Comments are invited through 5 June. Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

XML Information Set Becomes a W3C Candidate Recommendation

14 May 2001: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of the XML Information Set (Infoset) to Candidate Recommendation. The Infoset defines a set of eleven types of information items in XML documents. Comments are invited through 15 June at www-xml-infoset-comments@w3.org (archive). Read about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 11 May

P3P Deployment Guide Published

10 May 2001: The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 Deployment Guide has been released as a W3C Note. This guide for Web site operators explains how to write a machine-readable privacy policy, ways to publish it, and gives step-by-step instructions for deploying your privacy policy on popular Web servers. Read the answers to frequently asked questions about P3P and more on the W3C Privacy Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Australian Office Hosts W3C Day

8 May 2001: The W3C Australian Office hosted W3C Day at Evolve 2001 in Sydney, Australia on 7 May. Bert Bos, Max Froumentin, Ivan Herman, Dean Jackson, Charles McCathieNevile, Sev Ozdowski, and Hoylen Sue gave talks, and Janet Daly chaired the day's events. The press release has more information. (Permalink)

Week Ending 4 May

XML Schema Becomes a W3C Recommendation

2 May 2001: The World Wide Web Consortium today released XML Schema as a W3C Recommendation in three parts: Part 0: Primer, Part 1: Structures, Part 2: Datatypes. The specification is stable and has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favors its adoption by academic, industry, and research communities. XML Schemas define shared markup vocabularies, the structure of XML documents which use those vocabularies, and provide hooks to associate semantics with them. XML Schema was produced by the XML Schema Working Group. Read the press release and testimonials. (Permalink)

Week Ending 27 April

Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Team Present at WWW10

24 April 2001: Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director, gave the opening keynote at the Tenth International World Wide Web Conference (WWW10) in Hong Kong on 2 May. The keynote slides are online. W3C presented over thirteen and a half hours of content in the W3C Track. (Permalink)

W3C Team Presentations in May

24 April 2001: Massimo Marchiori presents Web Spies: Privacy and P3P at the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy on 10 May, and XML and the Information World at NETTAB 2001 in Genoa, Italy on 17 May. Chris Lilley co-chairs the Graphics track at XML Europe 2001 in Berlin, Germany on 2