W3C > W3C Home Page News Archive > 2006

Week Ending 22 December

Patent Advisory Group for Remote XML Events (REX) Launched

2006-12-22: In accordance with the W3C Patent Policy, W3C has launched a Patent Advisory Group (PAG) in response to disclosures related to the Remote Events for XML (REX) specification; see the PAG charter. The SVG Working Group and Web API Working Group jointly develop this specification. W3C launches a PAG to resolve issues in the event a patent has been disclosed that may be essential, but is not available under the W3C Royalty-Free licensing requirements. Public comments regarding these disclosures may be sent to public-rex-pag@w3.org (public archive). Learn more about Patent Advisory Groups. (Permalink)

Web Services Policy 1.5 - Guidelines for Policy Assertion Authors, Primer

2006-12-21: The Web Services Policy Working Group has published two Web Services Policy 1.5 - Working Drafts: an update to the Primer and a First Public Working Draft of Guidelines for Policy Assertion Authors. The new Guidelines document provides guidance for assertion authors that will work with the Web Services Policy 1.5 Framework and Attachment specifications to create domain specific assertions. Web Services Policy Framework defines a base set of constructs that can be used and extended by other Web services specifications to describe a broad range of service requirements and capabilities. Visit the Web Services Policy Working Group home page. (Permalink)

Group Note: Using XML Digital Signatures in the 2006 XML Environment

2006-12-20: The XML Core Working Group updated the Working Group Note Using XML Digital Signatures in the 2006 XML Environment, describes how to use the XML Digital Signature Recommendation in a way consistent with the present (fall 2006) XML environment. Visit the XML Core home page. (Permalink)

Group Note: Known Issues with Canonical XML 1.0 (C14N/1.0)

2006-12-20: The XML Core Working Group updated the Working Group Note Known Issues with Canonical XML 1.0 (C14N/1.0), which addresses some of the issues related to inheritance of the XML attributes xml:base and xml:id and the W3C Recommendation for Canonical XML Version 1.0. Visit the XML Core home page. (Permalink)

WAI-ARIA Suite Updated

2006-12-20: The Protocols and Formats Working Group has published updated Working Drafts of WAI-ARIA Roadmap, Roles, and States and Properties. The suite describes accessibility of rich Web content using interactive technologies such as AJAX and DHTML. These concepts are further introduced in the WAI-ARIA Overview. The PFWG charter has been updated to allow the group to publish Recommendation-track documents. Accordingly, WAI-ARIA Roles and States and Properties are now intended to become W3C Recommendations; the Roadmap remains a draft Working Group Note. Visit the WAI PFWG home page. (Permalink)

Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 3.0)

2006-12-20: The Synchronized Multimedia (SYMM) Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 3.0). This the third version of the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL, pronounced "smile"), an XML-based language that allows authors to write interactive multimedia presentations. This version will extend the functionality of SMIL 2.1, facilitate the reuse of SMIL syntax and semantics in other XML-based languages, and define new SMIL profiles. Read more about the Synchronized Multimedia Activity. (Permalink)

HTTP Vocabulary in RDF

2006-12-20: The WAI Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG) has released the First Public Working Draft of HTTP Vocabulary in RDF, which describes a representation of HTTP vocabulary in RDF. The terms defined by the document allow HTTP headers that have been exchanged between a client and a server to be recorded in RDF format. Visit the WAI ERT home page. (Permalink)

Last Call: Canonical XML 1.1

2006-12-20: The XML Core Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Canonical XML 1.1, describes a method for generating a physical representation, the canonical form, of an XML document that accounts for permissible syntactic changes permitted by XML 1.0. Comments are welcome through 30 April 2007. Visit the XML Core home page. (Permalink)

XML Base Proposed Edited Recommendation: Call for Review

2006-12-20: The XML Core Working Group has published a Proposed Edited Recommendation for XML Base (Second Edition). XML Base describes a facility, similar to that of HTML BASE, for defining base URIs for parts of XML documents. Comments are welcome through 31 January 2007. Visit the XML Core home page. (Permalink)

Authorized Translation of WCAG 1.0 in Catalan

2006-12-20: Today the World Web Consortium released the Authorized Catalan Translation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0. This is the first document published following the Policy for W3C Authorized Translations. The Lead Translation Organization for this Authorized Translation was the Facultat de Biblioteconomia i Documentació - Universitat de Barcelona. Visit the Web Accessibility Initiative home page. Learn more about W3C Translations. (Permalink)

Working Draft: W3C mobileOK Basic Tests 1.0

2006-12-19: The Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group has released the second Working Draft of W3C mobileOK Basic Tests 1.0. This document defines the tests that provide the basis for making a claim to be W3C mobileOK Basic compliant and are based upon W3C's Mobile Web Best Practices. Read about the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group. (Permalink)

Speech Synthesis Markup Language Version 1.1 Requirements

2006-12-19: The Voice Browser Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Speech Synthesis Markup Language Version 1.1 Requirements, which proposes a prioritized list of requirements for extending SSML 1.0 to accommodate a wider range of Asian, Eastern European, and Middle Eastern languages. This document follows discussions pursuant to W3C Workshops (first, second) on extending SSML; see the August 2006 press release and visit the Voice home page. (Permalink)

SOAP 1.2 Part 3: One-Way MEP

2006-12-19: The XML Protocol Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of SOAP 1.2 Part 3: One-Way MEP. Where SOAP Version 1.2 Part 2 provides a request-response Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) and a response-only MEP, the new Part 3 Working Draft provides a one-way MEP. Visit the XML Protocol home page. (Permalink)

SOAP 1.2 Proposed Edited Recommendations: Call for Review

2006-12-19: The XML Protocol Working Group has published four Proposed Edited Recommendations of SOAP 1.2, all Second Editions: Part 0: Primer, Part 1: Messaging Framework, Part 2: Adjuncts, and Specification Assertions and Test Collection. SOAP Version 1.2 provides the definition of the XML-based information that can be used for exchanging structured and typed information between peers in a decentralized, distributed environment. Comments are welcome through 2 February 2007. Visit the XML Protocol home page. (Permalink)

W3C Celebrates Ten Years with Style

Made With CSS 2006-12-19: Ten years ago, on 17 December 1996, W3C published the first standard for style on the Web: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), level 1. CSS Web designers have since enjoyed fine-grain control of page appearance (fonts, colors, layout, margins, etc.) and easier page design and maintenance. CSS can also help make pages more adaptable to more users, including users with mobile devices and some users with disabilities. To celebrate this tenth anniversary, W3C invites developers to propose their favorite CSS designs for the CSS10 Gallery. Learn more about CSS from the CSS10 pages, the press release, and the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 15 December

Keeping Privacy Promises: Privacy Workshop Report

Casa Don Guanella, Ispra 2006-12-14: A W3C Privacy Workshop Report recommending next steps for keeping privacy promises when exchanging sensitive information on the Web is now available. In October 2006, privacy and access control experts from America, Australia, Asia and Europe met to study Web privacy issues and solutions. Please read the press release about the results of the W3C Workshop on Languages for Privacy Policy Negotiation and Semantics-Driven Enforcement, hosted by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. (Permalink)

XForms 1.1: Working Draft

2006-12-12: The XForms Working Group has updated XForms 1.1, a foundation for the next generation of forms for the Web. XForms 1.1 adds to version 1.0: several new submission capabilities, action handlers, utility functions, user interface improvements, and helpful datatypes as well as a more powerful action processing facility, including conditional, iterated and background execution, the ability to manipulate data arbitrarily and to access event context information. Visit the XForms home page. (Permalink)

Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces: Working Draft

2006-12-11: The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has released the third Working Draft of Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces. In multimodal interaction users choose the way or "mode" of access that suits their current needs. With this framework, developers can provide user interfaces allowing multiple ways to interact with the Web and output for each mode, including displays, tactile mechanisms, speech and audio. (Permalink)

Week Ending 8 December

CSS Mobile Profile: Working Draft

2006-12-08: The CSS Working Group released a Working Draft of CSS Mobile Profile 2.0. This subset of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 2.1 is a baseline for implementations of CSS on constrained devices like mobile phones, written to ensure interoperability and for alignment with OMA's Wireless CSS Specification 1.1. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

CC/PP Version 2.0: Working Draft

2006-12-08: The Device Independence Working Group released the First Public Working Draft of Composite Capability/Preference Profiles (CC/PP): Structure and Vocabularies 2.0. A CC/PP profile describes a device's capabilities and user preferences and is used to guide content adaptation. Version 2.0 is an update to the CC/PP 1.0 Recommendation for alignment with the Resource Description Framework (RDF). Visit the device independence home page. (Permalink)

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0: Working Draft

2006-12-07: The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 and requests comments prior to a second Last Call. ATAG helps developers design tools that are accessible to users, and that produce accessible Web content. The result is that more people, including those with disabilities, can create Web content that is accessible for more users including people with disabilities. Find out more from the Web Accessibility Initiative home page. (Permalink)

Workshop on the Mobile Web in Developing Countries

photo of speaker at the Workshop 2006-12-06: The Workshop on the Mobile Web in Developing Countries is underway 5-6 December in Bangalore, India. Jataayu Software hosts. Participants are discussing mobile Web access within developing countries in terms of needs, blocking factors and potential uses. "We must ensure that the Web is designed to meet the needs of sparser populations and of those whose only access to the Web may be on their phone," said Tim Berners-Lee (W3C). Read the press release, about W3C Workshops and about the Mobile Web Initiative. (Photo: Ken Banks, kiwanja.net. Permalink)

Mobile Testing, Device Description Groups Launched

Mobile Web Initiative 2006-12-05: Advancing its goal to make browsing the Web from mobile devices a reality, W3C is pleased to announce the launch of two groups: The MWI Device Description Working Group is chaired by Rotan Hanrahan (MobileAware) and is rechartered to enable the development of globally accessible data and service repositories for use in content adaptation. The new MWI Test Suites Working Group is chaired by Dominique Hazaël-Massieux (W3C) and Carmelo Montanez (NIST) and is chartered to enable conformance testing for mobile Web user agents. Participation is open to W3C Members. Read about the Mobile Web Initiative. (Permalink)

XSL-FO 1.1 Standard Enhances High Quality XML Formatting

2006-12-05: Today the World Web Consortium released Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 1.1 as a W3C Recommendation. Version 1.1 adds new functionality to the XSL 1.0 Recommendation for change marks, indexes, multiple flows, and bookmarks, and extends support for graphics scaling, markers and page numbers. A change list is available. Read the press release and testimonials and about the XML Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Talks in December

2006-12-03: Browse W3C presentations and events also available as an RSS channel. (Permalink)

Week Ending 1 December

W3C Celebrates 10 Years in Asia

photo of Hotel Nikko Tokyo 2006-11-28: The World Wide Web Consortium marks the ten year anniversary of its Asian presence with W3C10 Asia, a public celebration on 28 November in Tokyo, Japan. At the same venue on 29-30 November is the semiannual Advisory Committee Meeting where W3C Member organizations participate in two days of discussions, special sessions and lightning talks on W3C Activities. Learn how to become a W3C Member and join W3C at the next Advisory Committee Meeting on 6-8 May 2007 in the Banff/Calgary area, Alberta, Canada. (Permalink)

Week Ending 24 November

XSLT 2.0, XML Query and XPath 2.0 Are Proposed Recommendations

2006-11-22: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of XML Query 1.0, XSLT 2.0, XPath 2.0 and supporting documents to Proposed Recommendations. XSLT transforms documents into different markup or formats. Important for databases, search engines and object repositories, XML Query can perform searches, queries and joins over collections of documents. Both XSLT 2 and XQuery use XPath expressions and operate on XPath Data Model instances. Today's drafts incorporate changes since Candidate Recommendation and move the xdt:* types to the XML Schema xs namespace, a change made in conjunction with the XML Schema Working Group. Comments are welcome through 31 December. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Last Call: Compound Document Framework and WICD Profiles

2006-11-22: The Compound Document Formats Working Group has released four Last Call Working Drafts: Compound Document by Reference Framework 1.0, WICD Core 1.0, WICD Full 1.0, and WICD Mobile 1.0. Comments are welcome through 19 December. The Web Integration Compound Document (WICD, pronounced "wicked") is a device independent Compound Document profile based on XHTML, CSS and SVG. The drafts describe behavior when single documents contain multiple formats. Read more about Rich Web Clients. (Permalink)

Last Call: XML Schema Patterns for Databinding

2006-11-22: The XML Schema Patterns for Databinding Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of Basic XML Schema Patterns for Databinding Version 1.0 and the First Public Working Draft of Advanced Patterns. The patterns can describe XML 1.0 representations of commonly used data structures independent of any particular programming language, database or modelling environment. The basic set is known to be interoperable between state of the art databinding implementations, while the advanced patterns are in common use but are known to cause issues. Comments on Last Call are welcome through 12 January. Read about Web services. (Permalink)

Voice Browser Call Control: Working Draft

2006-11-22: The Voice Browser Working Group has published a Working Draft of Voice Browser Call Control: CCXML Version 1.0. CCXML, the Call Control eXtensible Markup Language, provides telephony call control support for VoiceXML and other dialog systems. The draft addresses minor changes based on the implementation report as well as many Last Call comments. Visit the voice browser home page. (Permalink)

European W3C Symposium on eGovernment: Advance Notice

2006-11-20: The European W3C Symposium on eGovernment will be held on 1-2 February 2007, in Gijón, Asturias, Spain. The symposium is organized by the W3C Spanish Office and Fundación CTIC, and supported by the Principality of Asturias Government. Attendees will discuss specific government and citizens’ needs related to eGovernment services, identify aspects that put Web interoperability at risk and find how governments can deliver better and more efficient services through computer technologies. Registration is open and sponsorship opportunities are available. In order to establish better communication about Web technologies for eGovernment W3C plans a possible series of which this is the first event. (Permalink)

Week Ending 17 November

Last Call: Web Services Policy 1.5

2006-11-17: The Web Services Policy Working Group has released Last Call Working Drafts of Web Services Policy 1.5. Comments are welcome through 12 January. The Policy Framework defines a model for expressing the nature of Web services in order to convey conditions for their interaction. Attachment defines how to associate policies, for example within WSDL or UDDI, with subjects to which they apply. Changes in these drafts include ignorable policy assertions, an Internet media type, and a request for feedback on adding versioning guidance. Read about Web services. (Permalink)

XProc: An XML Pipeline Language

2006-11-17: The XML Processing Model Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of XProc: An XML Pipeline Language. Used to control and organize the flow of documents, the XProc language standardizes interactions, inputs and outputs for transformations for the large group of specifications such as XSLT, XML Schema, XInclude and Canonical XML that operate on and produce XML documents. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Note: Rich Web Application Backplane

2006-11-16: The Hypertext Coordination Group has released Rich Web Application Backplane as a Coordination Group Note describing a common infrastructure for declarative and imperative Web programming languages. The common building blocks for Web applications such as submission, data models, model-view binding and behavior, and Web components may thus be used for multiple markup formats. Read about the Hypertext Coordination Group. (Permalink)

Timed Text Distribution Profile Is a Candidate Recommendation

2006-11-16: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of Timed Text (TT) Authoring Format 1.0 - Distribution Format Exchange Profile (DFXP) to Candidate Recommendation. The format enables authors and authoring systems to interchange style, layout and timing associated with text. DFXP helps to transform and distribute subtitles and captions to legacy systems. Comments are welcome through 16 February 2007. W3C encourages developers to implement the specification and share their experience with the Timed Text Working Group. (Permalink)

Mobile Web Seminar in Paris

Mobile Web Initiative 2006-11-16: Today, W3C holds a Mobile Web Seminar in Paris, France, about the use of the Web while on the move: the mobile Web. The speakers on 16 November include representatives of Mobile Web Initiative sponsors such as Bango, France Telecom, Jataayu Software, MobileAware, mTLD, Opera Software, and Vodafone, as well as W3C-MWI representatives. Read about the Mobile Web Initiative, a joint effort by authoring tool vendors, content providers, handset manufacturers, browser vendors and mobile operators. (Permalink)

XInclude 1.0 Second Edition Is a W3C Recommendation

2006-11-15: Today the World Web Consortium released XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.0 Second Edition as a Recommendation. Produced as a convenience to readers, the second edition is intended to correct all known errata in the 2004 XInclude 1.0 Recommendation. XInclude is a generic mechanism for merging XML documents (information sets) using existing XML constructs — elements, attributes and URI references. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Clipboard Operations: Working Draft

2006-11-15: The Web API Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Clipboard Operations for the Web 1.0: Copy, Paste, Drag and Drop. Developers will be able to use this API to enable and enhance common clipboard functions in their Web applications. This first draft is based on data transfer documentation for Internet Explorer on Windows. The group invites comments from Web content and browser developers. Read about the Rich Web Clients Activity. (Permalink)

P3P 1.1 Working Group Note

2006-11-13: The P3P Specification Working Group has published The Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.1 (P3P1.1) Specification as a W3C Working Group Note. P3P enables Web sites to express their privacy practices in a standard format that can be retrieved automatically and interpreted easily by user agents. This release incorporates resolutions to Last Call review comments. Although W3C does not have plans at this time to advance P3P 1.1 to Recommendation, we anticipate more work in the area of Web privacy and invite the P3P community to continue discussions about P3P in the forums listed on the the P3P home page. (Permalink)

XHTML Role Attribute Module Working Draft

2006-11-13: The HTML Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of XHTML Role Attribute Module. The XHTML Role Attribute defined in this specification allows the author to annotate XML Languages with machine-extractable semantic information about the purpose of an element. Use cases include accessibility, device adaptation, server-side processing, and complex data description. Visit the HTML home page. (Permalink)

W3C mobileOK Basic Tests 1.0 Working Draft

2006-11-13: The Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of W3C mobileOK Basic Tests 1.0. This document defines the tests that provide the basis for making a claim to be W3C mobileOK Basic compliant and are based upon W3C's Mobile Web Best Practices. Read about Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group. (Permalink)

Week Ending 10 November

Mobile Web Webinar 20 November

2006-11-10: Join us for a free W3C Webinar where you will learn how to mobilize your Web content. Dominique Hazaël-Massieux (W3C) will present documents and tools provided by the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group including best practices, techniques, plans for the future mobileOK mark, and a demonstration of the best practices checker. The webinar will be held on 20 November at 10:00 a.m. UTC. Please register and visit the Mobile Web Initiative home page. (Permalink)

Planet Mobile Web Set in Motion

Mobile Web Initiative 2006-11-09: W3C is pleased to announce Planet Mobile Web. This community service is a starting point for reading multiple blogs that discuss mobile Web usage. The Planet provides both an aggregated HTML view and aggregated RSS/Atom feeds. Read about the W3C Mobile Web Initiative, a joint effort by authoring tool vendors, content providers, handset manufacturers, browser vendors and mobile operators. (Permalink)

Widgets 1.0: Working Draft

2006-11-09: The Web Application Formats Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Widgets 1.0. Also known as gadgets or modules, widgets are small programs like clocks, stock tickers, news casters, games and weather forecasters that display and update remote data and run on the Web browser environment. The specification defines the packaging format, manifest file and scripting interfaces for downloading and installation on client machines. Also published, the requirements document has been updated and retitled. Read about Rich Web Clients. (Permalink)

Last Call: CSS 2.1

2006-11-06: The CSS Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 revision 1 (CSS 2.1). Comments are welcome through 7 December. CSS 2.1 is derived from and is intended to replace CSS2. A snapshot of CSS language usage, the specification adds a few highly requested features, fixes errata and brings CSS2 in line with implementations. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Incubator Group to Develop Common Web Language (CWL)

2006-11-06: W3C is pleased to announce that Institute of Semantic Computing (ISeC), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and Justsystem have chosen the W3C Incubator process as a means to explore a Common Web Language (CWL) for information exchange through the Web, to enable computer processing of that language, and to provide a pilot model and conversions for RDF/OWL, UNL and UWs. W3C Members may use this form to join the group. Read about the Incubator Activity, an initiative to foster development of emerging Web-related technologies. (Permalink)

Week Ending 3 November

XForms 1.1: Working Draft

2006-11-03: The XForms Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of XForms 1.1. Designed to refine and strengthen the XML processing platform introduced by XForms 1.0, version 1.1 adds several submission capabilities, a more powerful action processing facility, the ability to manipulate data arbitrarily and to access event context information, and adds numerous helpful data types, utility functions, user interface improvements, and action event handlers. Visit the XForms home page. (Permalink)

Last Call: Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition

2006-11-03: The Voice Browser Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition (SISR) Version 1.0. SISR tags for grammar rules are used to extract meaning from speech recognition. SISR defines the syntax and semantics of tag content in the Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS) for output as serialized XML or ECMAScript variables. This draft removes the starttime and endtime features present at Candidate Recommendation. Comments are welcome through 24 November. Visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

Third Workshop on Internationalizing SSML: Call for Participation

2006-11-03: Position papers are due 1 December for the Third Workshop on Internationalizing the Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) on 13-14 January 2007 in Hyderabad, India, jointly hosted by the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and Bhrigus Software. Attendees will discuss improvements for using SSML to render under-represented languages including Arabic, Hebrew and the Indian languages Telugu, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarthi and Urdu. Read about W3C Workshops and visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

Mobile Web Best Practices Is a Proposed Recommendation

photo of mobile Web access 2006-11-02: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 to Proposed Recommendation. Comments are welcome through 11 December. Written for designers of Web sites and content management systems, these guidelines describe how to author Web content that works well on mobile devices. Thirty organizations participating in the Mobile Web Initiative achieved consensus and encourage adoption and implementation of these guidelines to improve user experience and to achieve the goal of "one Web." Read about the Mobile Web Initiative. (Permalink)

Internationalization Tag Set Is a Candidate Recommendation

2006-11-02: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 1.0 to Candidate Recommendation. Organized by data categories, the ITS set of elements and attributes supports the internationalization and localization of schemas and documents. Implementations are provided for DTDs, XML Schema and Relax NG, and can be used with new or existing vocabularies like XHTML, DocBook and OpenDocument. Comments are welcome through 10 December. Visit the Internationalization home page. (Permalink)

Web Services Policy 1.5: Working Drafts

2006-11-02: The Web Services Policy Working Group has released updated Working Drafts of Web Services Policy 1.5. The Policy Framework defines a model for expressing the nature of Web services in order to convey conditions for their interaction. Attachment defines how to associate policies, for example within WSDL or UDDI, with subjects to which they apply. Read about Web services. (Permalink)

W3C Talks in November

2006-11-01: Browse W3C presentations and events also available as an RSS channel. (Permalink)

Week Ending 27 October

Last Call: Pronunciation Lexicon Specification (PLS) Version 1.0

2006-10-26: The Voice Browser Working Group has released the second Last Call Working Draft of Pronunciation Lexicon Specification (PLS) Version 1.0. Comments are welcome through 26 November. Designed for ease of use by developers and internationally, PLS allows pronunciation information to be specified for both speech recognition and speech synthesis engines in voice browsing applications. Pronunciations grouped together in a PLS document may be referenced from other markup languages such as SRGS and SSML. Visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

W3C Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary in Asia

photo of Hotel Nikko Tokyo 2006-10-26: The World Wide Web Consortium marks the ten year anniversary of its Asian presence with a public celebration on 28 November in Tokyo, Japan. The program includes "Role of W3C at Keio — From Foundations to the Future," "How Japanese Industry Works with Web Standards," "How Asia Will Influence the Future Web," discussion, and an exhibition, press briefing and reception. Advance registration is required. Read the media advisory and more about W3C10 Asia. (Permalink)

Third Workshop on Internationalizing SSML: Advance Notice

2006-10-25: W3C plans a third Workshop on Internationalizing the Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) on 13-14 January 2007, hosted by Bhrigus Software in Hyderabad, India. Attendees will discuss improvements for using SSML to render under-represented languages including Arabic, Hebrew and Hindi. A Call for Participation is expected in November. Read about W3C Workshops and visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

GRDDL Links Microformats and Semantic Web: Working Draft

2006-10-24: The GRDDL Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of GRDDL. With important applications such as connecting microformats to the Semantic Web, GRDDL is a mechanism to extract RDF statements from suitable XHTML and XML content using programs such as XSLT transformations. GRDDL allows powerful mash-ups at very low cost. Read the press release and visit the Semantic Web home page. (Permalink)

Last Call: Ink Markup Language (InkML)

2006-10-23: The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of Ink Markup Language (InkML). Comments are welcome through 18 December. The InkML data format is used to represent ink entered with an electronic pen or stylus. Ink-aware Web applications can process and exchange handwriting, gestures, sketches, music and other notational languages. Visit the Multimodal Interaction home page. (Permalink)

Markup Validator, Link Checker Updated

2006-10-23: W3C has updated its W3C Markup Validation Service and Link Checker with bug fixes, documentation and usability improvements, and a new Validator API for developers. Along with W3C's other Web Quality Tools, the Markup Validator and Link Checker are developed as open source software with the participation of volunteers and support of a large community, and are among W3C's most popular and useful resources. (Permalink)

Week Ending 20 October

Web of Services for Enterprise Computing: Call for Participation

2006-10-20: Position papers are due 15 December for the Workshop on Web of Services for Enterprise Computing to be held 27-28 February 2007 in Bedford, MA, USA, hosted by MITRE. Participants will discuss how to facilitate the processing of business transactions and interactions with systems that pre-date the Web, and to address the need to interconnect intranet and/or extranet services using Web technologies. Read about Workshops and W3C Activities. (Permalink)

Delivery Context Interfaces (DCI) Is a Candidate Recommendation

2006-10-19: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of Delivery Context: Interfaces (DCI) Accessing Static and Dynamic Properties to Candidate Recommendation. DCI provides access to device properties including capabilities, configuration, user preferences and environmental conditions such as remaining battery life, signal strength, ambient brightness, location, and display orientation. Comments are welcome through 31 March 2007. Read about the Device Independence Activity. (Permalink)

Web Services Policy Primer: Working Draft

2006-10-18: The Web Services Policy Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Web Services Policy 1.5 - Primer. This introduction to the Web Services Policy language is designed for authors of policy expressions and assertions and for implementers whose software modules read and write policy expressions. Basic and advanced concepts are presented through examples. The primer can be read alongside the normative Policy Framework and Attachment specifications. Read about Web services. (Permalink)

File Upload: Working Draft

2006-10-18: The Web API Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of File Upload. Applications will be able to use this API to trigger a file selection dialog with which the user can select one or more files in their local file system. It allows client-side manipulation of the content, for instance to display an image or parse an XML document from disk. The group invites comments from Web content and browser developers. Read about the Rich Web Clients Activity. (Permalink)

Mobile Web Seminar in Paris

2006-10-18: W3C invites the public to a Mobile Web seminar that will focus on current results produced by W3C's Mobile Web Initiative on 16 November in Paris, France. Speakers include representatives of MWI sponsors such as France Telecom, Jataayu Software, MobileAware, Opera Software, and Vodafone. Entrance is free but registration is required. The 3GWeb project is a European IST Programme. Read the media advisory. (Permalink)

WebCGM 2.0 Is a Proposed Recommendation

2006-10-17: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of WebCGM 2.0 to Proposed Recommendation. Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) is an ISO standard for the interchange of 2D vector and mixed vector/raster graphics. WebCGM is a profile of CGM, which adds Web linking and is optimized for Web applications in technical illustration, documentation, data visualization and similar fields. Version 2.0 adds DOM access to WebCGM objects, adds an XML Companion File (XCF) for external data, and extends graphical and intelligent content. Comments are welcome through 30 November. Implementations of WebCGM 2.0 are already available. Read about WebCGM. (Permalink)

Secure Browsing Initiative Launched

2006-10-17: W3C is pleased to announce the launch of the Web Security Context Working Group whose mission is to enable a secure and usable interface so Web users can make safe trust decisions on the Web. "There is much deployed and proven security technology, but we now need to connect it all the way through to the Web user," said Tim Berners-Lee (W3C). Mary Ellen Zurko (IBM) chairs the group which is chartered to establish requirements and deliver standards for presenting essential security information to users and for ensuring the integrity of that information. Read the press release and more about the Security Activity. (Permalink)

Week Ending 13 October

Last Call: CSS Print Profile

2006-10-13: The CSS Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of CSS Print Profile. This subset of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language works with the XHTML-Print Recommendation for printing to low-cost devices. It satisfies print and display needs in the absence of a printer-specific driver and where variability in the formatting of the output is acceptable. An extension set provides stronger layout control for the printing of mixed text and images, tables and image collections. Comments are welcome through 20 November. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Media Access Events: Working Draft

2006-10-13: The Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Media Access Events. This set of events and DOM APIs enable detailed monitoring of media stream buffering and initialization. The group invites review from Web content and browser developers to determine whether the specification meets the community's needs for event-driven access to streaming media. Visit the SVG home page. (Permalink)

Remote Events for XML (REX): Working Draft

2006-10-13: A joint effort of the SVG and Web API Working Groups, the REX Task Force has released an updated Working Draft of Remote Events for XML (REX) 1.0. Using the REX grammar, endpoints can interact with DOM Events remotely as if they were at the same location. Read more about Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) and Web APIs. (Permalink)

W3C Renews Commitment to XML

2006-10-12: W3C is pleased to announce the renewal of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. "W3C created, developed and continues to maintain the enormously successful XML family of specifications for supporting and interchanging text, graphics, protocols, voice, music, math, programming, user interfaces, Web services and more," said Liam Quin, W3C XML Activity Lead. The XML Activity's nine groups maintain stability and backwards compatibility, make improvements to encourage interoperability, and bring new communities to XML. Join W3C and visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Last Call: CSS3 Paged Media

2006-10-10: The CSS Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of CSS3 Module: Paged Media, a part of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language Level 3. Built on the box model, the page module adds functionality for pagination, margins, size and orientation, headers and footers, widows and orphans, image orientation and page numbering. Comments are welcome through 3 November. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Last Call: Content Selection for Device Independence (DISelect) 1.0

2006-10-10: The Device Independence Working Group released the DISelect specification in three parts. Content Selection for Device Independence (DISelect) 1.0 and Delivery Context: XPath Access Functions 1.0 are Last Call Working Drafts. Comments are welcome through 7 November. Content Selection Primer 1.0 is a First Public Working Draft. DISelect supports the creation of Web sites that can be used from diverse devices. Visit the device independence home page. (Permalink)

Device Independent Authoring Language Primer: Working Draft

2006-10-10: The Device Independence Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of DIAL Primer. The Device Independent Authoring Language (DIAL) describes data, styling, layout, and interaction independently, making Web content adaptable for a wide variety of platforms including the thousands of mobile devices in use and devices to come. Read about device independence. (Permalink)

Health Care and Life Sciences Public Workshop on Semantic Web, Athens, GA USA

2006-10-09: The Semantic Web Health Care and Life Sciences Interest Group (HCLSIG) holds a public ISWC workshop on Semantic Web Health Care & Life Sciences on 6 November in Athens, Georgia, USA at the 5th International Semantic Web Conference. The agenda (PDF) has been announced. Aiding decision-making in clinical research and drug discovery, Semantic Web technologies will bridge many forms of biological and medical information across institutions. If your organization wishes to participate, use the conference registration. Read about the Health Care and Life Sciences Interest Group and the Semantic Web. (Permalink)

Week Ending 6 October

XSL 1.1 Is a Proposed Recommendation: Call for Review

2006-10-06: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 1.1 to Proposed Recommendation. Version 1.1 updates and enhances the XSL 1.0 Recommendation for change marks, indexes, multiple flows, and bookmarks, and extends support for graphics scaling, markers, and page numbers. The change list since Candidate Recommendation is available. Comments are welcome through 3 November. Read about the XML Activity. (Permalink)

Mauro Nunez Named North American Business Manager

photo of Mauro Nunez 2006-10-05: W3C has named Mauro Nunez to North American Business Manager. Mauro coordinates financial matters at MIT and across the Consortium and contributes to Membership, legal, policy and other operational areas. A Fulbright Scholar, Mauro founded and ran a business in Boston, MA, USA, and served as Director of Finance at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Valparaíso, Chile. Read more about W3C and its Management team. (Permalink)

SPARQL Query Language for RDF: Working Draft

2006-10-05: The RDF Data Access Working Group has released a Working Draft of the SPARQL Query Language for RDF. SPARQL (pronounced "sparkle") offers developers and end users a way to write and to consume search results across a wide range of information such as personal data, social networks and metadata about digital artifacts like music and images. W3C has published the document as a Working Draft while the group evaluates the language design and the trade-offs between simplicity and user requirements. Visit the Semantic Web home page. (Permalink)

W3C Talks in October

2006-10-04: Browse W3C presentations and events also available as an RSS channel. (Permalink)

Serializing SPARQL Query Results in JSON

2006-10-04: The RDF Data Access Working Group has released Serializing SPARQL Query Results in JSON as a Working Group Note. JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), a lightweight data-interchange format, is used as an alternative to XML vocabulary to serialize the results of SPARQL query forms. SPARQL offers developers and end users a way to write and consume search results across a wide range of information and provides a means of integration over disparate sources. Visit the Semantic Web home page. (Permalink)

GRDDL Primer and Use Cases: Working Drafts

2006-10-04: The GRDDL Working Group has released First Public Working Drafts of GRDDL Primer and GRDDL Use Cases. With important applications such as connecting microformats to the Semantic Web, Gleaning Resource Descriptions from Dialects of Languages (GRDDL) is a mechanism to extract RDF statements from suitable XHTML and XML content using programs such XSLT transformations. Visit the Semantic Web home page. (Permalink)

XInclude 1.0 Second Edition: Call for Review

2006-10-03: The XML Core Working Group has released a Proposed Edited Recommendation of XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.0 Second Edition. Produced as a convenience to readers, the second edition is intended to correct all known errata in the 2004 XInclude 1.0 Recommendation. XInclude introduces a generic mechanism for merging XML documents (information sets) using existing XML constructs—elements, attributes and URI references. Comments are welcome through 3 November. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 29 September

Last Call: Semantic Annotations for WSDL

2006-09-29: The Semantic Annotations for Web Services Description Language (SAWSDL) Working Group released a Last Call Working Draft of Semantic Annotations for WSDL. With these attributes, semantic annotations can be added to Web Services Description Language (WSDL) components for use in classifying, discovering, matching, composing, and invoking Web services. Comments are welcome through 1 November. The group also released the First Public Working Draft of the companion Usage Guide. Read about Web services. (Permalink)

XProc: An XML Pipeline Language

2006-09-28: The XML Processing Model Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of XProc: An XML Pipeline Language. Used to control and organize the flow of documents, the XProc language standardizes interactions, inputs and outputs for transformations for the large group of specifications such as XSLT, XML Schema, XInclude and Canonical XML that operate on and produce XML documents. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Versioning XML Languages Using XML Schema 1.1

2006-09-28: The XML Schema Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Guide to Versioning XML Languages using XML Schema 1.1. XML Schema 1.1 introduces new features that make it easier to define XML languages which are flexible enough to tolerate later revision in a forward-compatible way. Written for application and schema developers, the guide shows the new mechanisms and illustrates several techniques. The group invites comments on this draft which is expected to become a Working Group Note. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Time Ontology in OWL: Working Draft

2006-09-28: The Semantic Web Best Practices and Deployment Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Time Ontology in OWL. The OWL-Time work follows from the DARPA Agent Markup Language DAML-Time work and brings together a number of classifications related to time. Developed for describing the temporal content of Web pages and the temporal properties of Web services, the vocabulary can express datetime, relationships between intervals and between instants, and durations of intervals. A Time Zone Resource in OWL is provided for the US and the entire world. Visit the Semantic Web home page. (Permalink)

Web Services Policy 1.5: Working Drafts

2006-09-27: The Web Services Policy Working Group has released updated Working Drafts of Web Services Policy 1.5. The Policy Framework defines a model for expressing the nature of Web services in order to convey conditions for their interaction. Attachment defines how to associate policies, for example within WSDL or UDDI, with subjects to which they apply. Read about Web services. (Permalink)

XMLHttpRequest Object for AJAX: Working Draft

2006-09-27: The Web API Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of The XMLHttpRequest Object. The draft documents features of the XMLHttpRequest object, the core component of AJAX. The interface allows scripts to perform HTTP client functions, such as submitting form data or loading data from a remote Web site. Read about the Rich Web Clients Activity. (Permalink)

Selectors API: Working Draft

2006-09-27: The Web APIs Working Group released an updated Working Draft of Selectors API. Methods are defined for identifying elements in a document for the purpose of performing script or Document Object Model (DOM) operations on them. Selectors defined in the CSS3 Selectors specification are used to identify the elements. Visit the Web APIs Working Group home page. (Permalink)

EARL 1.0 Schema: Working Draft

2006-09-27: The Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of the Evaluation and Report Language (EARL) 1.0 Schema. EARL is a flexible format used to exchange, combine and compare test results including bug reports, test suite evaluations and conformance claims. The test subjects might be Web sites, authoring tools, user agents or other entities. See the EARL Overview. The group welcomes feedback from Web developers and researchers. Read about the Web Accessibility Initiative. (Permalink)

WAI-ARIA to Address Access to Dynamic Web Content

2006-09-26: The Protocols and Formats Working Group has released First Public Working Drafts of Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA). The Roadmap describes accessibility of dynamic Web content built with technologies such as AJAX and DHTML. Roles provides mappings for user interface controls and navigation APIs. States and Properties associates behaviors with document-level markup. Read the press release and visit the Web Accessibility Initiative home page. (Permalink)

XHTML-Print Is a W3C Recommendation

2006-09-26: Today the World Web Consortium released XHTML-Print as a W3C Recommendation. Designed for printing from mobile and low-cost devices, the XHTML-Print page description format satisfies print and display needs in the absence of a printer-specific driver and where variability in the formatting of the output is expected and is acceptable. The work is based on XHTML-Print written by the Printer Working Group (PWG), a program of the IEEE-ISTO. Visit the HTML home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 22 September

IETF Publishes New Language Tag Specifications

2006-09-21: The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has published two new specifications for language tags. RFC 4646: Tags for the Identification of Languages replaces RFC 3066 and, with the new IANA Language Subtag Registry, extends language tag syntax to address a number of long-standing issues. The separate RFC 4647: Matching of Language Tags addresses how to match the new tags. The W3C I18n GEO Working Group provides a gentle introduction to the new syntax. Visit the Internationalization home page. (Permalink)

Paged Media, Values and Units: CSS3 Working Drafts

2006-09-19: The CSS Working Group has released two updated Working Drafts for Cascading Style Sheets Level 3 (CSS3). Generated Content for Paged Media describes features such as cross-references, footnotes, headers and footers often used in printed publications. Values and Units explains specified, computed, and actual values and defines common values and units in one specification which can be referred to by other CSS3 modules. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Mobile Web in Developing Countries: Call for Participation

2006-09-19: Position papers are due 1 November for the Workshop on the Mobile Web in Developing Countries to be held 5-6 December in Bangalore, India. Jataayu Software hosts. Participants will discuss mobile Web access within developing countries in terms of needs, blocking factors and potential uses. "We must ensure that the Web is designed to meet the needs of sparser populations and of those whose only access to the Web may be on their phone," said Tim Berners-Lee (W3C). Sponsorships are available to enable participation by those who might not otherwise be able to attend due to travel or other costs. Read the press release, about W3C Workshops and about the Mobile Web Initiative. (Permalink)

Ralph Swick Named Acting Technology and Society Domain Leader

photo of Ralph Swick 2006-09-19: W3C has named Ralph Swick Acting Technology and Society Domain Leader directing the privacy, security and Semantic Web Activities. Ralph has served as T&S Technical Director since 1997 and will continue those responsibilities as well. Ralph came to W3C from technical direction and architecture for the X Window System, and from Digital and MIT Project Athena where he engineered information filtering and computer-supported collaboration software. Ralph is standing in as Domain Leader for Daniel J. Weitzner, who will turn most of his attention for nine months to Web privacy research at MIT/CSAIL. Read about T&S, W3C's work at the intersection of Web technology and public policy, and about W3C. (Photo credit: Tim Berners-Lee. Permalink)

Register for the XML Access Languages Conference, Oxford, UK

photo of CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory 2006-09-19: The W3C Office for the UK and Ireland in conjunction with XML UK holds the XML Access Languages conference on 26 September at the CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, UK. Mark Birbeck, Michael Kay, Brian Matthews, Liam Quin, Andy Seaborne, Jeni Tennison, Chris Wallace, and Michael Wilson present the latest advances in XSLT, XQuery, and other XML technologies. All registrations must be received by 17:00 UTC on 22 September. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 15 September

Last Call: VoiceXML 2.1

2006-09-15: The Voice Browser Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML) 2.1. Comments are welcome through 6 October. Fully backwards-compatible with VoiceXML 2.0, version 2.1 standardizes eight additional features implemented by VoiceXML platforms: data, disconnect, grammar, foreach, mark, property, script, and transfer. Refer to the summary for changes since Candidate Recommendation, including modification of the foreach element. Visit the voice browser home page. (Permalink)

Canonical XML and Digital Signatures: Working Drafts Published

2006-09-15: In order to address the impact of the xml:id W3C Recommendation, the XML Core Working Group has released the following three First Public Working Drafts to update Canonical XML to version 1.1 and to provide guidelines on using it with XML digital signatures. Canonical XML and XML signatures can ensure the integrity of data traveling between XML processors, crucial in applications like electronic commerce. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

XSL-FO Workshop to Explore Requirements for Version 2.0

2006-09-13: The W3C Workshop on Gathering Requirements for Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) 2.0 will be held 18 October in Heidelberg, Germany at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. The XSL Working Group invites experts to discuss requirements, features and design for Version 2.0 of the formatting part of the Extensible Stylesheet Language also called XSL-FO. The Workshop is colocated with the Print Symposium. Read the press release, about W3C Workshops and about the XML Activity. (Permalink)

Note: Developing Multimodal User Interfaces

2006-09-11: The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has published Common Sense Suggestions for Developing Multimodal User Interfaces as a Working Group Note. Written for interface designers and developers, the suggestions are based on several years experience developing multimodal applications. The four principles described are: satisfying real-world constraints, communication with users, helping users recover from errors, and making users comfortable. Read about multimodal interaction. (Permalink)

Week Ending 8 September

Last Call: XML Binding Language (XBL) 2.0

2006-09-08: The Web Application Formats Working Group has released a Last Call Working Draft of XML Binding Language (XBL) 2.0, a technology for extending the appearance and behavior of elements in Web formats such as HTML. Comments are welcome through 7 December. With XBL, elements may be mapped to script, event handlers, CSS, and more complex content models. Content can be re-ordered and wrapped so that, for instance, complex CSS styles can be applied to simple HTML or XHTML markup. XBL can be used to implement new DOM interfaces, and, with other specifications, to implement arbitrary tag sets as widgets. Read about the Rich Web Clients Activity. (Permalink)

XML Query Test Suite 1.0 Released

2006-09-08: The XML Query Working Group has released version 1.0 of the XML Query Test Suite (XQTS). With this release there are over 15,000 test cases. The Working Group is asking implementors to submit results in September (anonymously if necessary) to help demonstrate that the XML Query 1.0 specification can be implemented interoperably and is ready to move forward to Proposed Recommendation. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

WebCGM 2.0 Is a Candidate Recommendation

2006-09-06: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of WebCGM 2.0 to Candidate Recommendation. Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) is an ISO standard for the interchange of 2D vector and mixed vector/raster graphics. WebCGM is a profile of CGM, which adds Web linking and is optimized for Web applications in technical illustration, documentation, data visualization and similar fields. Version 2.0 adds DOM access to WebCGM objects, adds an XML Companion File (XCF) for external data, and extends graphical and intelligent content. Comments and implementation reports are welcome through 6 October. Six implementations of WebCGM 2.0 are already available. Read more about WebCGM. (Permalink)

Week Ending 1 September

Print Symposium to Focus on Web Standards

photo of Heidelberg Print Media Academy 2006-09-01: The W3C Germany and Austria Office is pleased to present the W3C Print Symposium 2006 on 17 October at the Heidelberg Print Media Academy in Heidelberg, Germany. Klaas Bals, Bert Bos, Håkon Wium Lie, Chris Lilley, Liam Quin, Thomas Tikwinski, Andrew Shellshear, and a representative of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG will present on W3C print technologies including XSL, XSLT, SVG Print, CSS Paged Media and XHTML Print. The event is colocated with the XSL-FO Workshop on 18 October and there will be an opportunity to meet the XSL Working Group. A student discount is offered. Symposium registration is open, and is free for W3C Members. (Photo credit: Thomas Tikwinski. Permalink)

W3C Talks in September

2006-08-31: Browse W3C presentations and events also available as an RSS channel. (Permalink)

Working Draft: XML Schema 1.1 Structures

2006-08-31: The XML Schema Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of XML Schema 1.1 Part 1: Structures. XML schemas define shared markup vocabularies, the structure of XML documents which use those vocabularies, and provide hooks to associate semantics with them. Simplifications and changes in this draft are to sections on rules for checking validity, "all" groups, the PSVI, conformance, fallback for lax validation, particles and wildcards, among other revisions. Visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

CSS Module for Namespaces Updated

2006-08-28: The CSS Working Group has released an updated Working Draft of CSS Module: Namespaces. The @namespace rule is used for declaring the default namespace and for binding namespaces to namespace prefixes. A syntax is defined that other specifications can adopt for using those prefixes in namespace-qualified names. Visit the CSS home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 25 August

XSL-FO 2.0 Requirements Workshop: Call for Participation

2006-08-22: W3C announces the Workshop on Gathering Requirements for Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) 2.0 to be held 18 October in Heidelberg, Germany, hosted by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. The Workshop will be held in conjunction with the Print Symposium at the same location. Participants will discuss the requirements, features and design of a future version of the formatting part of the Extensible Stylesheet Language also called XSL-FO. Read about W3C Workshops and the XML Activity. (Permalink)

Web Forms 2.0: Working Draft

2006-08-21: The Web Application Formats Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Web Forms 2.0. Extending HTML 4, XHTML 1.1 and the DOM, Web Forms 2.0 features include new strongly-typed input fields, attributes, declarative repeating of form sections, DOM interfaces, DOM events, and XML submission and initialization of forms. Web Forms 2.0 leverages the knowledge authors have gained with their experience with HTML. Read about Rich Web Clients. (Permalink)

Web Applications Packaging: Working Draft

2006-08-21: The Web Application Formats Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of Web Applications Packaging Format Requirements. The document specifies design goals and requirements for packaging small client-side Web applications known as "widgets", "gadgets" or "modules," used to display and update remote data. Applications such as clocks, stock tickers, news casters, games and weather forecasters are packaged to allow a single download and installation on a client machine. Read about Rich Web Clients. (Permalink)

Mobile Web in Developing Countries: Advance Notice of Workshop

2006-08-21: W3C plans a Workshop on the Mobile Web in Developing Countries on 4-5 December in New Delhi, India, hosted by C-DAC, the site of the W3C India Office. Participants will discuss mobile Web access within developing countries, in terms of needs, blocking factors and potential uses. A Call for Participation for this Workshop is expected in September. Scholarships to cover travel costs will be available. Read about W3C Workshops and the Mobile Web Initiative. (Permalink)

Week Ending 18 August

New Editions of Core XML Standards Published

2006-08-16: The World Wide Web Consortium today published new editions of four core XML standards: the fourth edition of Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 and second editions of Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.1, Namespaces in XML 1.0 and Namespaces in XML 1.1. These new editions incorporate corrections to all known errata. Read the press release and visit the XML home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 11 August

Compound Document Framework and WICD Profiles: Working Drafts

2006-08-11: Addressing Last Call comments, the Compound Document Formats Working Group has released four updated Working Drafts: Compound Document by Reference Framework, WICD Core 1.0, WICD Full 1.0, and WICD Mobile 1.0. The Web Integration Compound Document (WICD, pronounced "wicked") is a device independent Compound Document profile based on XHTML, CSS and SVG. The drafts describe behavior when single documents contain multiple formats. Read more about Rich Web Clients. (Permalink)

SVG Tiny 1.2 Is a Candidate Recommendation

2006-08-10: W3C is pleased to announce the advancement of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Tiny 1.2 to Candidate Recommendation. With native support shipping in Opera and Firefox browsers on desktops, the SVG language describes interactive vector graphics, text, images, animation and graphical applications in XML. SVG Tiny 1.2 is designed for Web access by devices of all sizes from handhelds to desktops, automobile media centers and entertainment consoles. Two implementations of SVG Tiny 1.2 are already available, with more on the way. The Requirements document is also updated. Read the press release and testimonials and visit the SVG home page. (Permalink)

Week Ending 4 August

Speech Experts Focus on Synthesis in More Languages

photo of SSML Workshop 2006-08-03: Participants in the second Workshop on Internationalizing the Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) have published their minutes and report. Speech and linguistics experts met on 30-31 May in Heraklion, Crete to study improvements to SSML for Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European languages such as Arabic, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Russian and Slovenian. W3C thanks FORTH for hosting. Read the press release, join W3C and visit the voice home page. (Photo credit: Kazuyuki Ashimura. Permalink)

Web Services Policy 1.5: Working Drafts

2006-08-01: The Web Services Policy Working Group has released First Public Working Drafts of the Web Services Policy 1.5. The Policy Framework defines a model for expressing the nature of Web services in order to convey conditions for their interaction. Attachment defines how to associate policies, for example within WSDL or UDDI, with subjects to which they apply. Read about Web services. (Permalink)

Week Ending 28 July

W3C Thanks Systems Team on Appreciation Day

2006-07-28: On System Administrator Appreciation Day, W3C expresses its gratitude to the Systems Team. Under their care W3C's main Web servers have served over 70 million hits per day. Our mail hubs reject over 1 million virus and spam delivery attempts per day with zero reported false positives. Our server infrastructure typically sees server uptimes measured in hundreds of days; some of our servers have been in continuous operation for over a year. Join us in celebration of these key contributors to W3C, and thank your own sysadmins for their tireless work. We extend our appreciation to: (Permalink)

Ted Guild Named Head of Systems

photo of Ted Guild 2006-07-26: W3C has named Ted Guild to Head of W3C Systems. Previously led by Alan Kotok, the Systems Team is responsible for the operation of W3C servers worldwide, development and deployment of software tools, and support for standards development, content development, collaboration, communication and archiving. Ted came to W3C in 2000 from corporate IT positions in financial, Internet, public utilities and marketing organizations. Read more About W3C. (Photo credit: Ralph R. Swick. Permalink)

XHTML 2.0: Working Draft

2006-07-26: The HTML Working Group has released the eighth public Working Draft of XHTML™ 2.0. A general purpose markup language without presentation elements, XHTML 2 is designed for representing documents for a wide range of purposes across the Web. See the introduction for the differences between XHTML versions 1 and 2. Much of XHTML 2 works in existing browsers. The draft includes an implementation in RELAX NG with DTD and XML Schema implementations to follow. Visit the HTML home page. (Permalink)

XHTML Role Attribute Module: Working Draft

2006-07-25: The HTML Working Group has released the First Public Working Draft of the XHTML Role Attribute Module to provide the ability to integrate the role attribute into any markup language based on XHTML Modularization 1.1. Developed in conjunction with the accessibility community and other groups, the document is the first of a series of XHTML modules designed to help extend the scope of XHTML-family markup languages into new environments. Visit the HTML home page. (Permalink)

Mobile Stakeholders Sketch Future of Device Description Repository

photo of the Workshop 2006-07-24: Participants in the International Workshop on the Implementation of a Device Description Repository have published their report. Mobile operators, manufacturers, service providers, and accessibility, content adaptation and device information providers met 12-13 July in Madrid, Spain, to discuss the creation of a repository of device information. W3C thanks Telefónica for hosting. Read about the W3C Mobile Web Initiative, a joint effort to make the Web interoperable and usable for users of mobile devices. (Photo credit: Cédric Kiss. Permalink)

Week Ending 21 July

Privacy Policy and Enforcement Workshop: Call for Participation

2006-07-21: W3C will hold a Workshop on Languages for Privacy Policy Negotiation and Semantics-Driven Enforcement on 17-18 October 2006 at the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission in Ispra, Italy. Vendors and researchers will meet to discuss privacy for personal data, automated policy negotiation in Web services, Web applications and identity management, and the use of Semantic Web technologies for privacy enforcement. Participation is open to Members and the public. Read about Workshops and the Privacy Activity. (Permalink)

Specifying Language in XHTML and HTML Content: Working Draft

2006-07-21: The Internationalization GEO (Guidelines, Education & Outreach) Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of Internationalization Best Practices: Specifying Language in XHTML & HTML Content. Part of a series designed for authors, the document is an aid to specifying the language of content for an international audience. Visit the Internationalization home page. (Permalink)

SVG Tiny 1.2 Working Draft

2006-07-21: In response to Last Call comments, the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Working Group has published a Working Draft of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Tiny 1.2 Specification. The SVG language delivers vector graphics, text, and images to the Web in XML. SVG Tiny 1.2 is a complete language specification and is implementable on devices large and small, from cellphones and PDAs to desktop and laptop computers. Visit the SVG home page. (Permalink)

WAI to Advise on 508 Standards Update

2006-07-20: W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has been appointed to the Advisory Committee for the revision of U.S. Section 255 guidelines and Section 508 standards, which include Web accessibility. WAI looks forward to continuing to coordinate with organizations around the world to develop harmonized standards for Web accessibility. Additional information is available in the U.S. Access Board article: Board Names Advisory Committee for 508 Standards Update. Visit the WAI home page. (Permalink)

Emotional States Focus of Incubator Group

2006-07-19: W3C is pleased to announce the creation of the Emotion Incubator Group to investigate a language to represent the emotional states of users and the emotional states simulated by user interfaces. The group is sponsored by W3C Members DFKI, Deutsche Telekom T-Com, University of Edinburgh, Chinese Academy of Sciences, EPFL, USC ISI, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, and Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. W3C Members may use this form to join the group. Read about the Incubator Activity, an initiative to foster development of emerging Web-related technologies. (Permalink)

Efficient XML Interchange Measurements: Working Draft

2006-07-18: The Efficient XML Interchange Working Group has released the First Pu