W3C

W3C News Archive: 2012

High Resolution Time, and Navigation Timing are W3C Recommendations

17 December 2012

The Web Performance Working Group has published two W3C Recommendations today.

  • Navigation Timing. This specification defines an interface for web applications to access timing information related to navigation and elements.
  • High Resolution Time. This specification defines a JavaScript interface that provides the current time in sub-millisecond resolution and such that it is not subject to system clock skew or adjustments.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

HTML5 Definition Complete, W3C Moves to Interoperability Testing and Performance

17 December 2012

HTML5 W3C published today the complete definition of the HTML5 and Canvas 2D specifications. Though not yet W3C standards, these specifications are now feature complete, meaning businesses and developers have a stable target for implementation and planning. "As of today, businesses know what they can rely on for HTML5 in the coming years, and what their customers will demand," said Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO. HTML5 is the cornerstone of the Open Web Platform, a full programming environment for cross-platform applications with access to device capabilities; video and animations; graphics; style, typography, and other tools for digital publishing; extensive network capabilities; and more. Read the full press release and W3C Member testimonials.

To reduce browser fragmentation and extend implementations to the full range of tools that consume and produce HTML, W3C now embarks on the stage of W3C standardization devoted to interoperability and testing. W3C is on schedule to finalize the HTML5 standard in 2014. In parallel, the W3C community will continue its work on next generation HTML features, including extensions to complement built-in HTML5 accessibility, responsive images, and adaptive streaming.

The HTML Working Group also published first drafts of HTML 5.1, HTML Canvas 2D Context, Level 2, and main element, providing an early view of the next round of standardization. Learn more About HTML.

Guidance on Applying WCAG 2.0 to Non-Web ICT: Updated Draft Published

13 December 2012

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) today published an updated Working Draft of Guidance on Applying WCAG 2.0 to Non-Web Information and Communications Technologies (WCAG2ICT). It is a draft of an informative (that is, not normative) W3C Working Group Note that will clarify how Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 can be applied to non-Web ICT. Please see important information in the Call for Review e-mail. Comments are welcome through 15 February 2013. Read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

WOFF File Format 1.0 is a W3C Recommendation

13 December 2012

The WebFonts Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of WOFF File Format 1.0. This document specifies the WOFF font packaging format. This format was designed to provide lightweight, easy-to-implement compression of font data, suitable for use with CSS @font-face rules. Any properly licensed TrueType/OpenType/Open Font Format file can be packaged in WOFF format for Web use. User agents decode the WOFF file to restore the font data such that it will display identically to the input font. Learn more about the Fonts Activity.

Role Attribute Proposed Recommendation Published

13 December 2012

The Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG) published a Proposed Recommendation of Role Attribute, an XML attribute that allows authors to add semantic information to documents. Role Attribute supports WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications technical specification for making dynamic, interactive web content accessible to people with disabilities. Comments are welcome through 1 February 2013. Read the Role Attribute Proposed Recommendation e-mail announcement for more information, and about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Call for Review: Selectors API Level 1 Proposed Recommendation Published

13 December 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Selectors API Level 1. Selectors, which are widely used in CSS, are patterns that match against elements in a tree structure. The Selectors API specification defines methods for retrieving Element nodes from the DOM by matching against a group of selectors. It is often desirable to perform DOM operations on a specific set of elements in a document. These methods simplify the process of acquiring specific elements, especially compared with the more verbose techniques defined and used in the past. Comments are welcome through 25 January. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call: CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 3

13 December 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 3. This module contains the features of CSS for conditional processing of parts of style sheets, conditioned on capabilities of the processor or the document the style sheet is being applied to. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2, which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are allowing nesting of certain at-rules inside ‘@media’, and the addition of the ‘@supports’ rule for conditional processing. Comments are welcome through 10 January. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Content Security Policy 1.1 Draft Published

13 December 2012

The Web Application Security Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Content Security Policy 1.1. This document defines a policy language used to declare a set of content restrictions for a web resource, and a mechanism for transmitting the policy from a server to a client where the policy is enforced. Learn more about the Security Activity.

HTML+RDFa 1.1 Draft Published

13 December 2012

The RDFa Working Group and the HTML Working Group have published a Working Draft of HTML+RDFa 1.1. This specification defines rules and guidelines for adapting the RDFa Core 1.1 and RDFa Lite 1.1 specifications for use in HTML5 and XHTML5. The rules defined in this specification not only apply to HTML5 documents in non-XML and XML mode, but also to HTML4 and XHTML documents interpreted through the HTML5 parsing rules. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity, and the HTML Activity.

HTML Media Capture and Ambient Light Events Drafts Published

13 December 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published two documents today:

  • A Working Draft of HTML Media Capture.The HTML Media Capture specification defines an HTML form extension that facilitates user access to a device's media capture mechanism, such as a camera, or microphone, from within a file upload control.
  • A Last Call Working Draft of Ambient Light Events.This specification defines a means to receive events that correspond to a light sensor detecting the presence of a light. Comments are welcome through 26 January.

Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Web Audio API and Web MIDI API Drafts Published

13 December 2012

The Audio Working Group has published two Working Drafts today:

  • Web Audio API. This specification describes a high-level JavaScript API for processing and synthesizing audio in web applications. The primary paradigm is of an audio routing graph, where a number of AudioNode objects are connected together to define the overall audio rendering. The actual processing will primarily take place in the underlying implementation (typically optimized Assembly / C / C++ code), but direct JavaScript processing and synthesis is also supported.
  • Audio Working Group has published a Working Draft of Web MIDI API. This specification defines an API supporting the MIDI protocol, enabling web applications to enumerate and select MIDI input and output devices on the client system and send and receive MIDI messages. It is intended to enable non-music MIDI applications as well as music ones, by providing low-level access to the MIDI devices available on the users' systems. At the same time, the Web MIDI API is not intended to become a semantic controller platform; it is designed to expose the mechanics of MIDI input and output interfaces, and the practical aspects of sending and receiving MIDI messages, without identifying what those actions might mean semantically.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Report on Web and Automotive Workshop: Shift into High Gear on the Web

12 December 2012

Shift into High Gear on the Web W3C today published the report of the W3C Web and Automotive Workshop: Shift into High Gear on the Web, hosted by Intel on 14-15 November 2012 in Rome, Italy, and sponsored by QNX and Webinos.

This workshop provided a way for the participants to focus on opportunities and challenges for exploiting Web technologies within the car, and what kinds of standards work may be needed to realize the potential. The Workshop participants reached a broad consensus that HTML5 is a compelling basis for automotive, and that it is now timely to launch standardization of user centric vehicle APIs in order to avoid the risk of fragmentation from competing approaches. Other aspects were identified, such as safety, network and devices integration, business and advertising.

The Workshop prioritized work on use cases and requirements, security/policy mechanisms, a user centric vehicle API and a reference model. The next steps are likely to include further outreach with the aim of launching a standards activity; W3C staff will work with stakeholders to identify opportunities for launching work in support of standards for Web and Automotive.

Report: Current State and Roadmap of Standards for Web Applications on Mobile

12 December 2012

Thumbnail of application platform diagram that appears in reportW3C has published a new edition of Standards for Web Applications on Mobile, an overview of the various technologies developed in W3C that increase the power of Web applications, particularly in the mobile context.

A deliverable of the webinos project, this eighth edition of the document highlights changes since August 2012, particularly the chartering of three new Working Groups on Near-Field Communications (NFC), System Applications (i.e. native apps built with Web technologies) and Pointer Events.

Learn more about the Web and Mobile Devices.

OWL 2 (Second Edition) is a W3C Recommendation

11 December 2012

The OWL Working Group has published the Second Edition of the OWL 2 ontology language as a W3C Edited Recommendation. OWL 2, part of W3C's Semantic Web toolkit, allows people to capture knowledge about a particular application domain (e.g, energy or medicine) and then use tools to manage information, search through it, and learn more from it.

The second edition corrects several minor errors in the specification and also clarifies the relationship between OWL 2 and Datatypes defined in Part 2 of the XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 (now a Recommendation). The standard consists of 13 documents, of which 4 are instructional.

Learn more about the Semantic Web.

W3C Invites Implementations of PROV

11 December 2012

The Provenance Working Group has published four Candidate Recommendation Documents along with corresponding supporting notes. You can find a complete list at the PROV Overview draft. These document provide a framework for interchanging provenance on the Web. PROV enables one to represent and interchange provenance information using widely available formats such as RDF and XML. In addition, it provides definitions for accessing provenance information, validating it, and mapping to Dublin Core.

The release of these Candidate Recommendation documents is a signal to developers that the Working Group believes that each specification is ready for implementation. Although there are already a number of implementations around, the Provenance Working Group kindly asks for developers across the Web to implement the specification and provide implementation feedback.

You can contact the group directly through the public comments mailing list. You are also encouraged to fill out one of group's surveys about your usage of PROV.

Learn more about the Semantic Web.

Twelve RIF Specifications Published

11 December 2012

The Rule Interchange Format Working Group has published a set of twelve documents, advancing the Rule Interchange Format (RIF) to Proposed Edited Recommendation. The Working Group has made minor editorial improvements to its six Recommendations-track specification and its six Working Group Notes, including producing a new RIF Primer.

The Specifications are:

  1. RIF Overview
  2. RIF Core Dialect
  3. RIF Basic Logic Dialect
  4. RIF Production
  5. RIF Framework for Logic Dialects
  6. RIF Datatypes and Built-Ins 1.0
  7. RIF RDF and OWL Compatibility
  8. OWL 2 RL in RIF
  9. RIF Combination with XML data
  10. RIF In RDF
  11. RIF Test Cases
  12. RIF Primer

Learn more about the Semantic Web.

Pointer Events Draft Published

11 December 2012

The Pointer Events Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Pointer Events. This document defines events and related interfaces for handling hardware agnostic pointer input from devices like a mouse, pen, or touchscreen. For compatibility with existing mouse-based content, this specification also describes a mapping to fire DOM Level 3 Events Mouse Events for pointer device types other than mouse. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of Server-Sent Events

11 December 2012

The Web Applications Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of Server-Sent Events. This specification defines an API for opening an HTTP connection for receiving push notifications from a server in the form of DOM events. The API is designed such that it can be extended to work with other push notification schemes such as Push SMS. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

CSS Fonts Module Level 3 Draft Published

11 December 2012

The CSS Working Group published a Working Draft of CSS Fonts Module Level 3. This CSS3 module describes how font properties are specified and how font resources are loaded dynamically. The contents of this specification are a consolidation of content previously divided into CSS3 Fonts and CSS3 Web Fonts modules. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Last Call: Proximity Events

06 December 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Proximity Events. This specification defines a means to receive events that correspond to a proximity sensor detecting the presence of a physical object. Comments are welcome through 24 January. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Last Call: State Chart XML (SCXML): State Machine Notation for Control Abstraction

06 December 2012

The Voice Browser Working Group published a Last Call Working Draft of State Chart XML (SCXML): State Machine Notation for Control Abstraction. This document describes SCXML, or the "State Chart extensible Markup Language". SCXML provides a generic state-machine based execution environment based on CCXML and Harel State Tables. Comments are welcome through 11 January 2013. Learn more about the Voice Browser Activity.

Last Call: Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0

06 December 2012

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group published a Last Call Working Draft of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0. This document defines data categories and their implementation as a set of elements and attributes called the Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0. ITS 2.0 is the successor of ITS 1.0; it is designed to foster the creation of multilingual Web content, focusing on HTML, XML based formats in general, and to leverage localization workflows based on the XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF). Comments are welcome through 10 January 2013. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

Updated Working Drafts of The Screen Orientation API, XMLHttpRequest, DOM4

06 December 2012

The Web Applications Working Group published three Working Drafts today:

  • The Screen Orientation API. The Screen Orientation API's goal is to provide an interface for web applications to be able to read the screen orientation state, to be informed when this state changes and to be able to lock the screen orientation to a specific state.
  • XMLHttpRequest. The XMLHttpRequest specification defines an API that provides scripted client functionality for transferring data between a client and a server.
  • DOM4, published in co-operation with the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group. DOM defines the event and document model the Web platform uses. The DOM is a language- and platform neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content and structure of documents.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

New Dates for the Next W3C Online Course on Programming Mobile Web Apps; Early Bird Rate through 17 December

04 December 2012

W3C is pleased to announce that registration is open for the next edition of the W3C online course "Mobile Web 2: Programming Web Applications". In this course, taught by Marcos Caceres, you will learn how to program mobile Web applications that can ship both online and in application stores. Moving beyond best practices, the course covers all techniques you need to know for creating successful mobile Web apps. The 6-week course begins 21 January 2013. An early bird rate of 195 Euros is available until 17 December 2012. Read the course description and enroll now for the early bird rate. Learn more about W3DevCampus, the W3C online training for Web developers program.

The Network Information API Draft Published

29 November 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Working Draft of The Network Information API. The Network Information API provides an interface for web applications to access the underlying connection information of the device. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Registration Opens for W3Conf 2013, W3C's Developer Conference

28 November 2012

W3Conf W3C announces today W3Conf: Practical Standards for Web Professionals, W3C's second annual developer conference, in San Francisco on 21-22 February 2013. Presentations will focus on practical, cutting-edge standards that developers and designers can use across browsers today, and give a glimpse into what's coming. The conference will feature leading experts in the Web industry on HTML5, CSS, graphics, mobiles, accessibility, multimedia, APIs, and more. Space is limited, so register now.

W3C Appoints Peter Swire New Co-Chair for Do Not Track Standard

27 November 2012

Today the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announces the appointment of Peter Swire as co-Chair of the Tracking Protection Working Group. The group is working to define the Do Not Track protocol, and to establish agreement about what compliance with the Do Not Track signal will mean in practice. A law professor at the Ohio State University and veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations (in the US), Swire brings significant experience in consensus-building and broad expertise on privacy matters to the table. "W3C's Do Not Track process is designed to foster an Internet that users globally can trust," said Swire, "with consumer choice, transparency about privacy practices, and continued innovation that brings diverse content to all those who use the Internet." Read the full press release and participant quotes.

Packaged Web Apps (Widgets) - Packaging and XML Configuration (Second Edition) is a W3C Recommendation

27 November 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of Packaged Web Apps (Widgets) - Packaging and XML Configuration (Second Edition). This specification standardizes a packaging format and metadata for a class of software known commonly as packaged apps or widgets. Unlike traditional user interface widgets (e.g., buttons, input boxes, toolbars, etc.), widgets as specified in this document are full-fledged client-side applications that are authored using technologies such as HTML and then packaged for distribution. Examples range from simple clocks, stock tickers, news casters, games and weather forecasters, to complex applications that pull data from multiple sources to be "mashed-up" and presented to a user in some interesting and useful way. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Online Symposium: Easy-to-Read on the Web

21 November 2012

Registration is now open for the online symposium on Easy-to-Read on the Web to be held on 3 December 2012. Researchers, practitioners, content authors, designers, developers, users with disabilities, and others are invited to participate. The symposium will address how to make information on the Web easier to understand, particularly by people with cognitive disabilities and people with low language skills. The symposium will explore user needs and the state of the art in research, development, and practice to contribute to a common understanding of easy-to-read on the Web. For details and registration, see Easy-to-Read on the Web - Online Symposium. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

User Interface Safety Directives for Content Security Policy Draft Published

20 November 2012

The Web Application Security Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of User Interface Safety Directives for Content Security Policy. This document defines directives for the Content Security Policy mechanism to declare a set of input protections for a web resource's user interface, defines a non-normative set of heuristics for Web user agents to implement these input protections, and a reporting mechanism for when they are triggered. Learn more about the Security Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of Content Security Policy 1.0

15 November 2012

The Web Application Security Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of Content Security Policy 1.0. This document defines a policy language used to declare a set of content restrictions for a web resource, and a mechanism for transmitting the policy from a server to a client where the policy is enforced. Learn more about the Security Activity.

CSS Writing Modes Module Level 3, CSS Masking Drafts Published

15 November 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Writing Modes Module Level 3. CSS Writing Modes Level 3 defines CSS support for various international writing modes, such as left-to-right (e.g. Latin or Indic), right-to-left (e.g. Hebrew or Arabic), bidirectional (e.g. mixed Latin and Arabic) and vertical (e.g. Asian scripts).

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group and the SVG Working Group have published the First Public Working Draft of CSS Masking. CSS Masking provides two means for partially or fully hiding portions of visual elements: masking and clipping. Masking describes how to use another graphical element or image as a luminance or alpha mask. Typically, rendering an element via CSS or SVG can conceptually described as if the element, including its children, are drawn into a buffer and then that buffer is composited into the element's parent. Luminance and alpha masks influence the transparency of this buffer before the compositing stage. Clipping describes the visible region of visual elements. The region can be described by using certain SVG graphics elements or basic shapes. Anything outside of this region is not rendered.

Learn more about the Style Activity, and the Graphics Activity.

CSS Text Module Level 3, CSS Text Decoration Module Level 3 Drafts Published

13 November 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published two Working Drafts today.

  • CSS Text Module Level 3. This CSS3 module defines properties for text manipulation and specifies their processing model. It covers line breaking, justification and alignment, white space handling, and text transformation.
  • CSS Text Decoration Module Level 3. This module contains the features of CSS relating to text decoration, such as underlines, text shadows, and emphasis marks. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

XML Encryption 1.1 and XML Signature 1.1 Interop Test Reports Published

13 November 2012

The XML Security Working Group has published two Group Notes today.

  • XML Encryption 1.1 Interop Test Report. This document is the interop report for new features introduced in XML Encryption 1.1. It does not replicate interop testing performed for features retained from XML Encryption 1.0.
  • XML Signature 1.1 Interop Test Report. This document is the interop report for new features introduced in XML Signature 1.1. It includes the test cases and test results for these new features. It does not replicate interop testing performed for features retained from XML Signature 1.0.

Learn more about the Security Activity.

Mobile Web 1 Online Training Starts Today; Still Time to Register

12 November 2012

A new edition of W3C Mobile Web 1: Best Practices online training starts today, and there is still time to register. Participants gain expertise in improving the Web user experience on mobile devices. This 6-week online training course (from 12 Nov. to 23 Dec. 2012), led by a mobile Web professional, lets you study at your own pace. The course is available in English or Spanish during the same period. Learn more about W3DevCampus, W3C's online training for developers.

W3C Launches Pointer Events Working Group

09 November 2012

W3C announced today the launch of the Pointer Events Working Group. Web browsers can receive input in a variety of ways. A “pointer” is an abstract form of input that can be any point of contact on a input surface made by a mouse cursor, pen, finger, or multiple fingers. The mission of this group is to define a single unified event model for mouse, touch, and pen/tablet user interfaces. Enabling content creators to use a single model for different input types will make content creation more efficient and inclusive. See the Pointer Events Working Group Charter for more information.

Agenda, Papers Announced for Web and Automotive Workshop

08 November 2012

Shift into High Gear on the Web W3C announced today the agenda and accepted papers for Shift into High Gear on the Web, W3C's first Web and Automotive Workshop, hosted by Intel Open Source Technology Center, in Rome, Italy on 14-15 November.

People today enjoy applications and services from multiple networked devices. With our increasingly mobile lifestyles, it’s time to include the connected car in this mix. Participants in this workshop will share their own perspectives, requirements, and ideas to ensure that emerging global technology standards meet the needs of the Web and Automotive industries.

The Workshop is also supported through sponsorships from QNX and Webinos.

Eleven SPARQL 1.1 Specifications Published

08 November 2012

The SPARQL Working Group has today published a set of eleven documents, advancing most of SPARQL 1.1 to Proposed Recommendation. Building on the success of SPARQL 1.0, SPARQL 1.1 is a full-featured standard system for working with RDF data, including a query/update language, two HTTP protocols (one full-featured, one using basic HTTP verbs), three result formats, and other features which allow SPARQL endpoints to be combined and work together. Most features of SPARQL 1.1 have already been implemented by a range of SPARQL suppliers, as shown in our table of implementations and test results.

The Proposed Recommendations are:

  1. SPARQL 1.1 Overview - Overview of SPARQL 1.1 and the SPARQL 1.1 documents
  2. SPARQL 1.1 Query Language - A query language for RDF data.
  3. SPARQL 1.1 Update - Specifies additions to the query language to allow clients to update stored data
  4. SPARQL 1.1 Query Results JSON Format - How to use JSON for SPARQL query results
  5. SPARQL 1.1 Query Results CSV and TSV Formats - How to use comma-separated values (CVS) and tab-separated values (TSV) for SPARQL query results
  6. SPARQL Query Results XML Format - How to use XML for SPARQL query results. (This contains only minor, editorial updates from SPARQL 1.0, and is actually a Proposed Edited Recommendation.)
  7. SPARQL 1.1 Federated Query - an extension of the SPARQL 1.1 Query Language for executing queries distributed over different SPARQL endpoints.
  8. SPARQL 1.1 Service Description - a method for discovering and a vocabulary for describing SPARQL services.

The following are Candidate Recommendations, as the group still seeks more feedback from implementors:

  1. SPARQL 1.1 Entailment Regimes - defines the semantics of SPARQL queries under entailment regimes such as RDF Schema, OWL, or RIF.
  2. SPARQL 1.1 Protocol for RDF - A protocol defining means for conveying arbitrary SPARQL queries and update requests to a SPARQL service.
  3. SPARQL 1.1 Graph Store HTTP Protocol - As opposed to the full SPARQL protocol, this specification defines minimal means for managing RDF graph content directly via common HTTP operations.

The group has also produced a test suite and a page on using SPARQL 1.1 with RDF 1.1. Learn more about the Semantic Web.

Online Symposium: Text Customization for Readability

06 November 2012

Registration is now open for the online symposium on Text Customization for Readability to be held on 19 November 2012. This symposium brings together researchers, practitioners, and users with disabilities to explore the needs of people with low vision, dyslexia, and other conditions and situations that impact reading. It focuses specifically on text customization requirements and functionality, that is, providing users the ability to change (or personalize) specific aspects of text display to improve readability for their particular needs. For details and registration, see Text Customization for Readability - Online Symposium. To share your perspectives on text customization for readability, see Invitation for short contributions. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

CSS Grid Layout Draft Published

06 November 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Grid Layout. Grid Layout contains features targeted at web application authors. The Grid can be used to achieve many different layouts. It excels at dividing up space for major regions of an application, or defining the relationship in terms of size, position, and layer between parts of a control built from HTML primitives. Like tables, the Grid enables an author to align elements into columns and rows, but unlike tables, the Grid doesn't have content structure, and thus enables a wide variety of layouts not possible with tables. In addition, the absence of content structure in the Grid helps to manage changes to layout by using fluid and source order independent layout techniques. By combining media queries with the CSS properties that control layout of the Grid and its children, authors can adapt their layout to changes in device form factors, orientation, and available space, without needing to alter the semantic nature of their content. Learn more about the Style Activity.

W3C Community Convenes in France for TPAC 2012

29 October 2012

TPAC 2012 This week, the W3C community meets in Lyon, France for TPAC 2012 W3C's annual face-to-face Membership meeting. Participants will coordinate technical directions for the Open Web Platform, explore its impact across industries and devices, and discuss organizational strategy. More than 450 people will participate in Working Group meetings, an Advisory Committee meeting, and a Plenary Day for breakout discussions on a a variety of topics. Although participation in TPAC is limited to those already in W3C groups, the TPAC proceedings are public and will be made available shortly after the meeting. Follow the meeting on social networking sites with tag #tpac. W3C also welcomes local developers today to a Meetup at the Lyon City Hall.

Last Call: Publishing and Linking on the Web

25 October 2012

The Technical Architecture Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Publishing and Linking on the Web. Publishing a page on the Web is fundamentally different from printing and distributing a page in a magazine or book. This document is intended to inform future social and legal discussions of the Web by clarifying the ways in which the Web's technical facilities operate to store, publish and retrieve information, and by providing definitions for terminology as used within the Web's technical community. This document also describes the technical and operational impact that does or could result from legal constraints on publishing, linking and transformation on the Web. Comments are welcome through 13 December. Learn more about the Technical Architecture Group.

File API Draft Published

25 October 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of File API. Web applications should have the ability to manipulate as wide as possible a range of user input, including files that a user may wish to upload to a remote server or manipulate inside a rich web application. This specification defines the basic representations for files, lists of files, errors raised by access to files, and programmatic ways to read files. Additionally, this specification also defines an interface that represents "raw data" which can be asynchronously processed on the main thread of conforming user agents. The interfaces and API defined in this specification can be used with other interfaces and APIs exposed to the Open Web Platform. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Filter Effects 1.0 Draft Published

25 October 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Filter Effects 1.0. Filter effects are a way of processing an element's rendering before it is displayed in the document. Typically, rendering an element via CSS or SVG can conceptually described as if the element, including its children, are drawn into a buffer (such as a raster image) and then that buffer is composited into the elements parent. Filters apply an effect before the compositing stage. Examples of such effects are blurring, changing color intensity and warping the image. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Nine HTML5 Drafts Updated

25 October 2012

The HTML Working Group has published nine updated working drafts:

There is a list of the changes made to the HTML5 specification since publication of the previous HTML Working Draft (March 2012). The changes are essentially fine-tuning refinements rather than major new additions, in keeping with the progress of the specification toward greater stability, and transitioning toward an upcoming Candidate Recommendation draft.

Learn more about HTML.

Linked Data Platform 1.0 Draft Published

25 October 2012

The Linked Data Platform (LDP) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Linked Data Platform 1.0. A set of best practices and simple approach for a read-write Linked Data architecture, based on HTTP access to web resources that describe their state using RDF. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Last Call: Best Practices for Fragment Identifiers and Media Type Definitions

25 October 2012

The Technical Architecture Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Best Practices for Fragment Identifiers and Media Type Definitions. Fragment identifiers (fragids) within URIs are specified as being interpreted based on the media type of a representation. Media type definitions therefore have to provide details about how fragids are interpreted for that media type. This document recommends best practices for the authors of media type definitions, for the authors of structured syntax suffix registrations (such as +xml), for the authors of specifications that define fragid structures, and for authors that publish documents that are intended to be used with fragids or who refer to fragments within documents using URIs with fragids. Comments are welcome through 13 December. Learn more about the Technical Architecture Group.

Web MIDI API Draft Published

25 October 2012

The Audio Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Web MIDI API. This specification defines an API supporting the MIDI protocol, enabling web applications to enumerate and select MIDI input and output devices on the client system and send and receive MIDI messages. It is intended to enable non-music MIDI applications as well as music ones, by providing low-level access to the MIDI devices available on the users' systems. At the same time, the Web MIDI API is not intended to become a semantic controller platform; it is designed to expose the mechanics of MIDI input and output interfaces, and the practical aspects of sending and receiving MIDI messages, without identifying what those actions might mean semantically. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces is a W3C Recommendation

25 October 2012

The Multimodal Interaction Working Group a W3C Recommendation of Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces. This document describes a loosely coupled architecture for multimodal user interfaces, which allows for co-resident and distributed implementations, and focuses on the role of markup and scripting, and the use of well defined interfaces between its constituents. Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity.

W3C Workshop: Electronic Books and the Open Web Platform

24 October 2012

W3C announced today a Workshop on Electronic Books and the Open Web Platform, 11-12 February 2013, in New York (USA). The event is hosted by O'Reilly and collocated with the O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference (TOC 2013).Today’s eBook market is dynamic, fast-changing and strong. eBooks compete with printed versions, and there is a wide choice of hardware and software available for eBook readers. Nevertheless, publishers face major business and technical challenges in this market, some of which could be reduced or removed by standardization. Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to share their own perspectives, requirements, and ideas to ensure that emerging global technology standards meet the needs of the eBook industry. W3C membership is not required to participate. All participants are required to submit a statement of interest by 10 December 2012.

Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0 Draft Published

23 October 2012

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group has published a Working Draft of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0. This document defines data categories and their implementation as a set of elements and attributes called the Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0. ITS 2.0 is designed to foster the creation of multilingual Web content, focusing on HTML5, XML based formats in general, and to leverage localization workflows based on the XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF), and language technology applications like machine translation or named entity annotation. In addition to HTML5 and XML, algorithms to convert ITS attributes to NIF is provided. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

Call for Review: High Resolution Time Proposed Recommendation Published

23 October 2012

The Web Performance Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of High Resolution Time. This specification defines a JavaScript interface that provides the current time in sub-millisecond resolution and such that it is not subject to system clock skew or adjustments. Comments are welcome through 20 November. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call: Server-Sent Events

23 October 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Server-Sent Events. This specification defines an API for opening an HTTP connection for receiving push notifications from a server in the form of DOM events. The API is designed such that it can be extended to work with other push notification schemes such as Push SMS. Comments are welcome through 13 November. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call: An organization ontology

23 October 2012

The Government Linked Data Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of An organization ontology. This document describes a core ontology for organizational structures, aimed at supporting linked data publishing of organizational information across a number of domains. It is designed to allow domain-specific extensions to add classification of organizations and roles, as well as extensions to support neighbouring information such as organizational activities. Comments are welcome through 25 November. Learn more about the eGovernment Activity.

Call for Review: OWL 2

18 October 2012

The OWL Working Group has published twelve Proposed Edited Recommendations today, and two Working Group Notes:

The OWL 2 Web Ontology Language, informally OWL 2, is an ontology language for the Semantic Web with formally defined meaning. OWL 2 ontologies provide classes, properties, individuals, and data values and are stored as Semantic Web documents. OWL 2 ontologies can be used along with information written in RDF, and OWL 2 ontologies themselves are primarily exchanged as RDF documents. Comments on the Proposed Edited Recommendations are welcome through 15 November.

  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Document Overview. This document serves as an introduction to OWL 2 and the various other OWL 2 documents. It describes the syntaxes for OWL 2, the different kinds of semantics, the available profiles (sub-languages), and the relationship between OWL 1 and OWL 2.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Structural Specification and Functional-Style Syntax. The meaningful constructs provided by OWL 2 are defined in terms of their structure. As well, a functional-style syntax is defined for these constructs, with examples and informal descriptions. One can reason with OWL 2 ontologies under either the RDF-Based Semantics or the Direct Semantics. If certain restrictions on OWL 2 ontologies are satisfied and the ontology is in OWL 2 DL, reasoning under the Direct Semantics can be implemented using techniques well known in the literature.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Mapping to RDF Graphs.This document defines the mapping of OWL 2 ontologies into RDF graphs, and vice versa.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Direct Semantics. This document provides the direct model-theoretic semantics for OWL 2, which is compatible with the description logic SROIQ. Furthermore, this document defines the most common inference problems for OWL 2.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language RDF-Based Semantics. This document defines the RDF-compatible model-theoretic semantics of OWL 2.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Conformance. This document describes the conditions that OWL 2 tools must satisfy in order to be conformant with the language specification. It also presents a common format for OWL 2 test cases that both illustrate the features of the language and can be used for testing conformance.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Profiles. This document provides a specification of several profiles of OWL 2 which can be more simply and/or efficiently implemented. In logic, profiles are often called fragments. Most profiles are defined by placing restrictions on the structure of OWL 2 ontologies. These restrictions have been specified by modifying the productions of the functional-style syntax.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language New Features and Rationale.This document is a simple introduction to the new features of the OWL 2 Web Ontology Language, including an explanation of the differences between the initial version of OWL and OWL 2. The document also presents the requirements that have motivated the design of the main new features, and their rationale from a theoretical and implementation perspective.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Quick Reference Guide. This document provides a non-normative quick reference guide to the OWL 2 language. It also provides links to other documents, including the OWL 2 Primer for language introduction and examples, the OWL 2 Structural Specification and Functional Syntax document for more details of the functional syntax, and the OWL 2 New Features and Rationale document for new feature descriptions.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language XML Serialization. This document specifies an XML serialization for OWL 2 that mirrors its structural specification. An XML schema defines this syntax and is available as a separate document, as well as being included here.
  • rdf:PlainLiteral: A Datatype for RDF Plain Literals. This document presents the specification of a primitive datatype for the plain literals of RDF.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Primer. This primer provides an approachable introduction to OWL 2, including orientation for those coming from other disciplines, a running example showing how OWL 2 can be used to represent first simple information and then more complex information, how OWL 2 manages ontologies, and finally the distinctions between the various sublanguages of OWL 2.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Manchester Syntax. This Working Group Note of The Manchester syntax is a user-friendly compact syntax for OWL 2 ontologies; it is frame-based, as opposed to the axiom-based other syntaxes for OWL 2. The Manchester Syntax is used in the OWL 2 Primer, and this document provides the language used there. It is expected that tools will extend the Manchester Syntax for their own purposes, and tool builders may collaboratively extend the common language.
  • OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Data Range Extension: Linear Equations. This Working Group Note specifies a syntax and semantics for incorporating linear equations with rational coefficients solved in the reals in OWL 2.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Push API Draft Published

18 October 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Push API. This specification defines a “Push API” that provides webapps with scripted access to server-sent application data, for simplicity referred to here as "Push messages" as delivered by "Push services". Push services are a way for application servers to send messages to webapps, whether or not the webapp is active in a browser window. The specific method to be used by a webapp is either selected by the user through selecting a Web Intent Push Service provider, or by the browser. The Push API is defined to promote compatibility with any underlying delivery method. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call: XML Signature 1.1 and XML Encryption 1.1

18 October 2012

The XML Security Working Group has published today two Last Call Working Drafts, as well as two Working Group Notes in conjunction with these:

  • XML Signature Syntax and Processing Version 1.1. This document specifies XML digital signature processing rules and syntax. XML Signatures provide integrity, message authentication, and/or signer authentication services for data of any type, whether located within the XML that includes the signature or elsewhere. Comments are welcome through 08 November.
  • XML Encryption Syntax and Processing Version 1.1. This document specifies a process for encrypting data and representing the result in XML. The data may be in a variety of formats, including octet streams and other unstructured data, or structured data formats such as XML documents, an XML element, or XML element content. The result of encrypting data is an XML Encryption element that contains or references the cipher data. Comments are welcome through 08 November.
  • Functional Explanation of Changes in XML Signature 1.1. This document provides a summary of non-editorial changes in XML Signature 1.1 from the XML Signature Second Edition Recommendation.
  • Functional Explanation of Changes in XML Encryption 1.1. This document provides a summary of non-editorial changes in XML Encryption 1.1 from the XML Encryption Recommendation.

Learn more about the Security Activity.

Shadow DOM Draft Published

16 October 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of Shadow DOM. This specification describes a method of establishing and maintaining functional boundaries between DOM subtrees and how these subtrees interact with each other within a document tree, thus enabling better functional encapsulation within DOM. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Patent Advisory Group Recommends Continuing Work on XML Security Specifications

15 October 2012

The XML Security Patent Advisory Group (PAG) has published a report recommending that W3C continue work on the XML Encryption Syntax and Processing Version 1.1 without changes. The PAG did, however, recommend changes to the Candidate Recommendations of XML Signature Syntax and Processing Version 1.1 and XML Signature 2.0 enabling implementations to use alternative algorithms that are still interoperable. 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 terms. See the original announcement of the PAG.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Approved as ISO/IEC International Standard

15 October 2012

Today W3C and JTC 1, a joint technical committee of ISO and IEC, announced formal approval of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 as an ISO/IEC International Standard, ISO/IEC 40500. "This important accessibility standard, which is already widely deployed internationally, can now benefit from additional formal recognition from ISO/IEC national bodies," noted Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO. "Such recognition is expected to increase internationally harmonized uptake of WCAG 2.0 by governments, business, and the broader Web community."

ISO/IEC 40500 is exactly the same as the original WCAG 2.0 Standard from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Supporting resources that provide practical advice for meeting ISO/IEC 40500 / WCAG 2.0 are freely available from the WCAG Overview. Read the full press release, learn more about W3C's PAS Submitter status in the W3C PAS FAQ, and comment on the blog post.

Implementing ATAG 2.0 Working Draft Published

11 October 2012

The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of Implementing ATAG 2.0: A guide to understanding and implementing Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. Implementing ATAG 2.0 is a planned Note to support ATAG 2.0. ATAG defines how authoring tools should help developers produce accessible web content that conforms to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. It also defines how to make authoring tools accessible so that people with disabilities can use them. Read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Call for Review: WOFF File Format 1.0 Proposed Recommendation Published

11 October 2012

The WebFonts Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of WOFF File Format 1.0. This document specifies the WOFF font packaging format. This format was designed to provide lightweight, easy-to-implement compression of font data, suitable for use with CSS @font-face rules. Any properly licensed TrueType/OpenType/Open Font Format file can be packaged in WOFF format for Web use. User agents decode the WOFF file to restore the font data such that it will display identically to the input font. Comments are welcome through 08 November. Learn more about the Fonts Activity.

Microdata to RDF Note Published

09 October 2012

The Semantic Web Interest Group has published a Group Note of Microdata to RDF. HTML microdata is an extension to HTML used to embed machine-readable data into HTML documents. Whereas the microdata specification describes a means of markup, the output format is JSON. This specification describes processing rules that may be used to extract RDF from an HTML document containing microdata. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

CSS Counter Styles Level 3 Draft Published

09 October 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of CSS Counter Styles Level 3. This module introduces the ‘@counter-style’ rule, which allows authors to define their own custom counter styles for use with CSS list-marker and generated-content counters. It also predefines a set of common counter styles, including the ones present in CSS2 and CSS2.1. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Two Documents published by the XML Core Working Group

09 October 2012

The XML Core Working Group has published two Documents today:

  • A First Public Working Draft of XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.1.This document specifies a processing model and syntax for general purpose inclusion. Inclusion is accomplished by merging a number of XML information sets into a single composite infoset. Specification of the XML documents (infosets) to be merged and control over the merging process is expressed in XML-friendly syntax (elements, attributes, URI references).
  • A Group Note of Associating Schemas with XML documents 1.0 (Third Edition). This document allows schemas using any schema definition language to be associated with an XML document by including one or more processing instructions with a target of xml-model in the document's prolog.

Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

Announcing Web Platform Docs

08 October 2012

WebPlatform.org W3C, in collaboration with Adobe, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, Opera, and others, announced today the alpha release of Web Platform Docs (docs.webplatform.org). This is a new community-driven site that aims to become a comprehensive and authoritative source for web developer documentation. With Web Platform Docs, web professionals will save time and resources by consulting with confidence a single site for current, cross-browser and cross-device coding best practices.

"People in the web community — including browser makers, authoring tool makers, and leading edge developers and designers — have tremendous experience and practical knowledge about the web," said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "Web Platform Docs is an ambitious project where all of us who are passionate about the web can share knowledge and help one another."

Watch the welcome video, read the press release and W3C Member testimonials, blog post from Doug Schepers, and get started on Web Platform Docs.

User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) 2.0 Drafts Published

04 October 2012

The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG) today published updated Working Drafts of User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) 2.0 and Implementing UAAG 2.0. UAAG defines how browsers, media players, and other "user agents" should support accessibility for people with disabilities and work with assistive technologies. UAAG 2.0 is updated to better address mobile devices and input by speech, touch, and gesture. See the call for review e-mail for a summary of changes. Comments are welcome through 9 November 2012. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Web Audio Processing: Use Cases and Requirements Draft Published

04 October 2012

The Audio Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Web Audio Processing: Use Cases and Requirements. This document introduces a series of scenarios and a list of requirements guiding the work of the W3C Audio Working Group in its development of a web API for processing and synthesis of audio on the web. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Web Intents Addendum - Local Services Draft Published

04 October 2012

The Device APIs Working Group and Web Applications (WebApps) Working Group have jointly published a Working Draft of Web Intents Addendum - Local Services. This specification is an addendum to Web Intents, that defines how Web Intents enabled User Agents can discover and communicate with local Web Intents Services. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity, and the Rich Web Client Activity.

Network Service Discovery Draft Published

04 October 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Working Draft of Network Service Discovery. This specification defines a mechanism for an HTML document to discover and subsequently communicate with HTTP-based services advertised via common discovery protocols within the current network. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

W3C Workshop: Making the Multilingual Web work

02 October 2012

W3C announced today the sixth MultilingualWeb workshop in a series of events exploring the mechanisms and processes needed to ensure that the World Wide Web lives up to its potential around the world and across barriers of language and culture. To be held 12–13 March 2013 in Rome, this workshop is made possible by the generous support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Anyone may attend at no charge and the W3C welcomes participation by both speakers and non-speaking attendees. Early registration is encouraged due to limited space.

Building on the success of five highly regarded previous workshops in Madrid, Pisa, Limerick, Luxembourg, and Dublin, this workshop will emphasize the application of theory and technology to meet practical needs. The workshop brings together participants interested in the best practices and standards needed to help content creators, localizers, language tools developers, and others meet the challenges of the multilingual Web. It provides further opportunities for networking across communities that span the various aspects involved. We are particularly interested in speakers who can demonstrate novel solutions for reaching out to a global, multilingual audience. Registration is available online.

Two Drafts Published by the Tracking Protection Working Group

02 October 2012

The Tracking Protection Working Group has published two Working Drafts today.

  • Tracking Preference Expression (DNT).This specification defines the technical mechanisms for expressing a tracking preference via the DNT request header field in HTTP, via an HTML DOM property readable by embedded scripts, and via properties accessible to various user agent plug-in or extension APIs. It also defines mechanisms for sites to signal whether and how they honor this preference, both in the form of a machine-readable tracking status resource at a well-known location and via a Tk response header field, and a mechanism for allowing the user to approve site-specific exceptions to DNT as desired.
  • Tracking Compliance and Scope. This specification defines the meaning of a Do Not Track (DNT) preference and sets out practices for websites to comply with this preference.

Learn more about the Privacy Activity.

Web API Design Cookbook Note Published

02 October 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Group Note of Web API Design Cookbook. This document captures common practices in designing APIs that fit well into the Web platform as a whole, using WebIDL. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

W3C launches System Applications Working Group

02 October 2012

W3C announced today the launch of the System Applications Working Group, whose mission is to define a runtime environment, security model, and associated APIs for building Web applications with comparable capabilities to native applications. See the System Applications Working Group Charter for more information, and read more about the Ubiquitous Web Domain.

W3C Workshop: Web Performance

28 September 2012

W3C announced today a Workshop on Web Performance, 8 November, hosted by Google at their Mountain View, California campus. As the Open Web Platform expands, the need for high performance implementation has grown, particularly on mobile devices. Participants will examine a broad range of performance issues and how they might be addressed. There is no fee to participate in this Workshop and W3C Membership is not required. All participants are required to submit a statement of interest by 29 October. Learn more about W3C's Web Performance Working Group, which also invites people to share performance issues via their survey on Open Web Platform Performance Priorities.

Media Fragments URI 1.0 (basic) is a W3C Recommendation

27 September 2012

The Media Fragments Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of Media Fragments URI 1.0 (basic). This document describes the Media Fragments 1.0 (basic) specification. It specifies the syntax for constructing media fragment URIs and explains how to handle them when used over the HTTP protocol. The syntax is based on the specification of particular name-value pairs that can be used in URI fragment and URI query requests to restrict a media resource to a certain fragment. Learn more about the Video in the Web Activity.

RDB to RDF Mapping Language (R2RML) and A Direct Mapping of Relational Data to RDF are W3C Recommendations

27 September 2012

The RDB2RDF Working Group has published two W3C Recommendations today:

  • R2RML: RDB to RDF Mapping Language. This document describes R2RML, a language for expressing customized mappings from relational databases to RDF datasets. Such mappings provide the ability to view existing relational data in the RDF data model, expressed in a structure and target vocabulary of the mapping author's choice. R2RML mappings are themselves RDF graphs and written down in Turtle syntax. R2RML enables different types of mapping implementations. Processors could, for example, offer a virtual SPARQL endpoint over the mapped relational data, or generate RDF dumps, or offer a Linked Data interface.
  • A Direct Mapping of Relational Data to RDF. This document defines a direct mapping from relational data to RDF.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Call for Review: Packaged Web Apps (Widgets) - Packaging and XML Configuration (Second Edition) Proposed Edited Recommendation Published

27 September 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Proposed Edited Recommendation of Packaged Web Apps (Widgets) - Packaging and XML Configuration (Second Edition). This specification updates the Widget Packaging and XML Configuration, and addresses some errata found in the original recommendation. It also updates the name of the specification, to be more in vogue with industry trends towards the naming of this class of application. This specification standardizes a packaging format and metadata for a class of software known commonly as packaged apps or widgets. Unlike traditional user interface widgets (e.g., buttons, input boxes, toolbars, etc.), widgets as specified in this document are full-fledged client-side applications that are authored using technologies such as HTML and then packaged for distribution. Comments are welcome through 25 October. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

CSS Intrinsic & Extrinsic Sizing Module Level 3 Draft Published

27 September 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of CSS Intrinsic & Extrinsic Sizing Module Level 3. This module extends the CSS sizing properties with keywords that represent content-based "intrinsic" sizes and context-based "extrinsic" sizes, allowing CSS to more easily describe boxes that fit their content or fit into a particular layout context. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. Learn more about the Style Activity.

W3C Renews Audio Working Group

26 September 2012

W3C announced today the renewal of the Audio Working Group, whose mission is to add advanced sound and music capabilities to the Open Web Platform. The new charter adds a new deliverable, the Web MIDI API, which will provide a bridge between the browser and MIDI capable devices, such as musical instruments and controllers, and has great interest from the MIDI Manufacturers Association. The charter also clarifies the Web Audio API deliverable and timeline. See the Audio Working Group Charter for more information, and read more about the Interaction Domain.

W3C Workshop: Do Not Track and Beyond

20 September 2012

W3C announced today a Workshop on Do Not Track and Beyond, 26-27 November in Berkeley, California. W3C is currently creating standards that define mechanisms for expressing user preferences around Web tracking. The Working Group has produced drafts of Do Not Track specifications, concurrent with various implementations in browsers and Web sites and heightened press and policymaker attention. At the same time, public awareness of online privacy issues has increased.

Workshop participants will discuss the Consortium's next steps in the area of tracking protection and Web privacy. What have we learned from Do Not Track standardization and real-world implementations? What should we look at next and beyond DNT?

There is no fee to participate in this Workshop and W3C Membership is not required. All participants are required to submit a position paper by 19 October and space is limited. W3C thanks UC Berkeley and TRUST Science and Technology Center for hosting the meeting, and Yahoo! for sponsoring the event. Learn more about the W3C Privacy Activity.

For Review: Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM)

20 September 2012

An updated Working Draft of Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) was published today by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) and Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG), through the joint WCAG 2.0 Evaluation Methodology Task Force (Eval TF). WCAG-EM describes an approach for evaluating how websites -- including web applications and websites for mobile devices -- conform to WCAG 2.0. Learn more from the call for review e-mail and about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

W3C Invites Implementations of The WebSocket API

20 September 2012

The Web Applications Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of The WebSocket API. This specification defines an API that enables Web pages to use the WebSocket protocol (defined by the IETF) for two-way communication with a remote host. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

DOM Parsing and Serialization Draft Published

20 September 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of DOM Parsing and Serialization. This specification defines various APIs for programmatic access to HTML and generic XML parsers by web applications for use in parsing and serializing DOM nodes. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of CSS Flexible Box Layout Module

20 September 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of CSS Flexible Box Layout Module. The specification describes a CSS box model optimized for user interface design. In the flex layout model, the children of a flex container can be laid out in any direction, and can "flex" their sizes, either growing to fill unused space or shrinking to avoid overflowing the parent. Both horizontal and vertical alignment of the children can be easily manipulated. Nesting of these boxes (horizontal inside vertical, or vertical inside horizontal) can be used to build layouts in two dimensions. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Publishing and Linking on the Web Draft Published

18 September 2012

The Technical Architecture Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Publishing and Linking on the Web. This document is intended to inform future social and legal discussions of the Web by clarifying the ways in which the Web's technical facilities operate to store, publish and retrieve information, and by providing definitions for terminology as used within the Web's technical community. This document also describes the technical and operational impact that does or could result from legal constraints on publishing, linking and transformation on the Web. Comments should be sent before end of september 2012, for consideration during the upcoming TAG meeting. This is not a deadline, comments can be sent anytime. Learn more about the Technical Architecture Group.

Web Cryptography API Draft Published

13 September 2012

The Web Cryptography Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Web Cryptography API. This specification describes a JavaScript API for performing basic cryptographic operations in web applications, such as hashing, signature generation and verification, and encryption and decryption. Additionally, it describes an API for applications to generate and/or manage the keying material necessary to perform these operations. Key storage is provided for both temporary and permanent keys. Access to keying material is contingent on the same origin policy. Uses for this API range from user or service authentication, document or code signing, and the confidentiality and integrity of communications. Learn more about the Security Activity.

Simple Delivery Profile for Closed Captions (US) Draft Published

13 September 2012

The Timed Text Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Simple Delivery Profile for Closed Captions (US). This document defines the behavior expected of a presentation processor using the player constraints for such an online delivery profile. The Simple Online Delivery profile is focused on streamlined delivery of closed captions on the Internet. This interoperability profile supports core TTML features to deliver content originating legacy formats such as CEA-608 and -708 content, and is targeted primarily for delivery in US markets. The Simple Delivery Profile for Closed Captions focuses interoperability using TTML 1.0 to support delivery of closed captions for video content. Other profiles based on TTML 1.0 may target other types of subtitles such as on-screen text or graphics. This interoperability profile is a proper subset of TTML 1.0 plus features required to support US Government closed captioning requirements for online presentation. Learn more about the Video in the Web Activity.

Three drafts published by the CSS Working Group

11 September 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published three Working Drafts today.

  • CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 3. This module contains the features of CSS for conditional processing of parts of style sheets, conditioned on capabilities of the processor or the document the style sheet is being applied to. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2, which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are allowing nesting of certain at-rules inside '@media', the addition of the '@supports' and '@document' rules for conditional processing.
  • CSS Image Values and Replaced Content Module Level 4. This module contains the features of CSS level 4 relating to the <image> type and replaced elements. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS Image Values and Replaced Content Module Level 3. The main extensions compared to level 3 are several additions to the ‘<image>’ type, additions to the ‘<gradient>’ type, extensions to the ‘image()’ function, definitions for interpolating several ‘<image>’ types, and several properties controlling the interaction of replaced elements and CSS's layout models.
  • CSS Transforms. CSS transforms allows elements styled with CSS to be transformed in two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. This specification is the convergence of the CSS 2D transforms, CSS 3D transforms and SVG transforms specifications.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

HTML+RDFa 1.1 Draft Published

11 September 2012

The RDFa Working Group has published a Working Draft of HTML+RDFa 1.1.This specification defines rules and guidelines for adapting the RDFa Core 1.1 and RDFa Lite 1.1 specifications for use in HTML5 and XHTML5. The rules defined in this specification not only apply to HTML5 documents in non-XML and XML mode, but also to HTML4 and XHTML documents interpreted through the HTML5 parsing rules. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Last Call: Constraints of the Provenance Data Model

11 September 2012

The Provenance Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Constraints of the Provenance Data Model. This document defines a subset of PROV instances called valid PROV instances. The intent of validation is ensure that a PROV instance represents a history of objects and their interactions which is consistent, and thus safe to use for the purpose of logical reasoning and other kinds of analysis. Valid PROV instances satisfy certain definitions, inferences, and constraints. These definitions, inferences, and constraints provide a measure of consistency checking for provenance and reasoning over provenance. They can also be used to normalize PROV instances to forms that can easily be compared in order to determine whether two PROV instances are equivalent. Validity and equivalence are also defined for PROV bundles and documents. Comments are welcome through 10 October. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Mobile Accessibility Resources Updated

10 September 2012

The Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) published updated resources related to mobile accessibility. They cover how mobile accessibility is addressed in existing W3C standards/guidelines, and how the overlap between mobile web design/development and accessibility strengthens the business case. Learn more from the Mobile Accessibility Resources e-mail and read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Easy-to-Read on the Web - Online Symposium - Call for Papers

06 September 2012

The Research and Development Working Group (RDWG) will hold an online symposium to explore easy-to-read language to meet the needs of people with cognitive disabilities or low language skills. The Call for Papers is open until 12 October 2012. Learn more about the Easy-to-Read on the Web Symposium and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Last Call: Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification

06 September 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification. This specification defines the Document Object Model Events Level 3, a generic platform- and language-neutral event system which allows registration of event handlers, describes event flow through a tree structure, and provides basic contextual information for each event. The Document Object Model Events Level 3 builds on the Document Object Model Events Level 2. Comments are welcome through 27 September. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

HTML5 Europe Tour

05 September 2012

HTML5W3C is organizing an HTML5 Tour across Europe from 10 to 20 September 2012. The guest speaker of the tour, Michael Smith, W3C HTML Activity Lead, will present the latest in HTML5 and W3C Open Web Platform. Michael Smith, in his HTML5 Europe Tour, will visit Berlin, Budapest, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and Rome.

Each stop is organized by the corresponding regional W3C Office. Almost all events are open to the public and free of charge. Find out more about the dates, the locations, the registration pages and the events' agenda in the program.

Report: Current State and Roadmap of Standards for Web Applications on Mobile

05 September 2012

Thumbnail of application platform diagram that appears in the report W3C has published a new edition of Standards for Web Applications on Mobile, an overview of the various technologies developed in W3C that increase the power of Web applications, particularly in the mobile context.

A deliverable of the MobiWebApp project, this seventh edition of the document highlights changes since May 2012, particularly two new proposed charters to start work on Near-Field Communications (NFC) and System Applications (i.e. native apps built with Web technologies), and the work on Web Intents, storage quota management and multimedia integration.

Learn more about the Web and Mobile Devices.

Shift into High Gear on the Web: Workshop on Web and Automotive

04 September 2012

Rome, cars W3C announces today a Shift into High Gear on the Web, a Workshop Web and Automotive, 14-15 November 2012, in Rome (Italy). The event is hosted by Intel/OTC (Open Source Technology Center) and sponsored by Webinos.

People today enjoy applications and services from multiple networked devices: notebook and desktop computers, smart phones, tablets, and Internet TVs. With our increasingly mobile lifestyles, it’s time to include the connected car in this mix. The Web is the ideal platform to offer a rich range of benefits and value-added services to drivers and passengers. The goal of this workshop is to explore how to make these benefits a reality.

W3C invites automotive manufacturers and service providers, wireless carriers, insurance companies, application and solution developers and others to participate in this discussion at the workshop. W3C membership is not required to participate. Please submit a statement of interest by 12 October and learn more about participation.

This Workshop has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme.

For Review: Web Accessibility Metrics Research Report

30 August 2012

The First Public Working Draft of Research Report on Web Accessibility Metrics, a W3C Working Group Note, is now available for review. See the Call for Review: Web Accessibility Metrics Research Report e-mail for more information. Comments are welcome through 30 September 2012.

Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0 Draft Published

29 August 2012

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group has published a Working Draft of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0. Content or software that is authored in one language (the source language) is often made available in additional languages or adapted with regard to other cultural aspects. This is done through a process called localization, where the original material is translated and adapted to the target audience. In addition, document formats expressed by schemas may be used by people in different parts of the world, and these people may need special markup to support the local language or script. For example, people authoring in languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Urdu need special markup to specify directionality in mixed direction text.

ITS 2.0 is a technology to add metadata to Web content, for the benefit of localization, language technologies, and internationalization. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

IEEE, IAB, IETF, Internet Society and W3C Endorse OpenStand Principles that Drive Innovation and Borderless Commerce

28 August 2012

OpenStand Badge Five leading global organizations—IEEE, Internet Architecture Board (IAB), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Society and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)—today announced that they have signed a statement affirming the importance of a jointly developed set of principles establishing a modern paradigm for global, open standards. The shared “OpenStand” principles—based on the effective and efficient standardization processes that have made the Internet and Web the premiere platforms for innovation and borderless commerce—are proven in their ability to foster competition and cooperation, support innovation and interoperability and drive market success. Read the full press release and join the supporters by showing you stand with us.

First Draft of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2 Published

28 August 2012

The SVG Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2. This specification defines the features and syntax for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Version 2, a language for describing two-dimensional vector and mixed vector/raster graphics. This version of SVG builds upon SVG 1.1 Second Edition by improving the usability of the language and by adding new features commonly requested by authors. See the list of changes from SVG 1.1. Learn more about the Graphics Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of CSS Values and Units Module Level 3

28 August 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of CSS Values and Units Module Level 3. This CSS3 module describes the common values and units that CSS properties accept and the syntax used for describing them in CSS property definitions. A test suite will be available as part of the CSS test suites. Learn more about the Style Activity.

First edition of the Open Data Conference

24 August 2012

W3C will participate in the first edition of the “Open Data Conference” that will take place on September 27, 2012 in Paris, France.

This event with an international dimension will gather public and private decision makers and address some of the pressing challenges facing the Open Data paradigm, such as accountability, privacy, or data licensing.

Among the guests are professor Nigel Shadbolt, a “founding father” of Open Data in England, and Arnaud Montebourg, French Minister of Productive Recovery. Daniel Dardailler, W3C Director of International Relations, will speak on the “Open Data and Future Uses” round-table and present W3C’s involvement in the area.

Registration is open until 24 September, 2012.

Four drafts updated by the CSS Working Group

23 August 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group published four Working Drafts today:

  • CSS Fonts Module Level 3. This CSS3 module describes how font properties are specified and how font resources are loaded dynamically. The contents of this specification are a consolidation of content previously divided into CSS3 Fonts and CSS3 Web Fonts modules.
  • CSS Regions Module Level 3. The CSS regions module allows content to flow across multiple areas called regions. The regions are not necessarily contiguous in the document order. The CSS regions module provides an advanced content flow mechanism, which can be combined with positioning schemes as defined by other CSS modules such as the Multi-Column Module or the Grid Layout Module to position the regions where content flows.
  • Selectors Level 4. Selectors are patterns that match against elements in a tree, and as such form one of several technologies that can be used to select nodes in an XML document. Selectors have been optimized for use with HTML and XML, and are designed to be usable in performance-critical code. They are a core component of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which uses Selectors to bind style properties to elements in the document.
  • CSS Fragmentation Module Level 3. This module describes the fragmentation model that partitions a flow into pages. It builds on the Page model module and introduces and defines the fragmentation model. It adds functionality for pagination, breaking variable fragment size and orientation, widows and orphans.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

Text Customization for Readability - Online Symposium - Call for Papers

21 August 2012

The Research and Development Working Group (RDWG) will hold an online symposium to explore the needs of people with low vision, dyslexia, and other conditions and situations that impact reading. The Call for Papers is open until 24 September 2012. Learn more about the Text Customization for Readability Symposium and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

WebRTC 1.0: Real-time Communication Between Browsers Draft Published

21 August 2012

The Web Real-Time Communications Working Group has published a Working Draft of WebRTC 1.0: Real-time Communication Between Browsers. This document defines a set of ECMAScript APIs in WebIDL to allow media to be sent over the network to another browser or device implementing the appropriate set of real-time protocols, and media to be received from another browser or device. This specification is being developed in conjunction with a protocol specification developed by the IETF RTCWEB group and an API specification to get access to local media devices developed by the Media Capture Task Force. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

WAI-ARIA User Agent Implementation Guide Working Draft Published

16 August 2012

The Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG) today published an updated Working Draft of WAI-ARIA 1.0 User Agent Implementation Guide, which describes how browsers and other user agents should support WAI-ARIA (the Accessible Rich Internet Applications specification); specifically, how to expose WAI-ARIA features to platform accessibility APIs. Comments are welcome through 28 September. Learn more in the call for review e-mail and read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Compositing and Blending 1.0 Draft Published

16 August 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Working Groups have published the First Public Working Draft of Compositing and Blending 1.0. Compositing describes how shapes of different elements are combined into a single image. There are various possible approaches for compositing. Previous versions of SVG used Simple Alpha Compositing. In this model, each element is rendered into its own buffer and is then merged with its backdrop using the Porter Duff source-over operator. This specification will define a new compositing model that expands upon the Simple Alpha Compositing model by offering: additional Porter Duff compositing operators; advanced blending modes which allow control of how colors mix in the areas where shapes overlap; and compositing groups. Learn more about the Style and Graphics activities.

Call for Review: Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces Proposed Recommendation Published

14 August 2012

The W3C Multimodal Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces. This document describes a loosely coupled architecture for multimodal user interfaces, which allows for co-resident and distributed implementations, and focuses on the role of markup and scripting, and the use of well defined interfaces between its constituents. Comments are welcome through 14 September. Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity.

CSS Text Level 3 Draft Published

14 August 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Text Level 3. This CSS3 module defines properties for text manipulation and specifies their processing model. It covers line breaking, justification and alignment, white space handling, text decoration and text transformation. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Call for Review: 'R2RML: RDB to RDF Mapping Language' and 'A Direct Mapping of Relational Data to RDF' Proposed Recommendations Published

14 August 2012

The RDB2RDF Working Group has published two Proposed Recommendations today:

  • R2RML: RDB to RDF Mapping Language. This document describes R2RML, a language for expressing customized mappings from relational databases to RDF datasets. Such mappings provide the ability to view existing relational data in the RDF data model, expressed in a structure and target vocabulary of the mapping author's choice. R2RML mappings are themselves RDF graphs and written down in Turtle syntax. R2RML enables different types of mapping implementations. Processors could, for example, offer a virtual SPARQL endpoint over the mapped relational data, or generate RDF dumps, or offer a Linked Data interface. Comments are welcome through 15 September.
  • A Direct Mapping of Relational Data to RDF. The need to share data with collaborators motivates custodians and users of relational databases (RDB) to expose relational data on the Web of Data. This document defines a direct mapping from relational data to RDF. This definition provides extension points for refinements within and outside of this document. Comments are welcome through 15 September.

The group also published two Working Group Notes today:

  • R2RML and Direct Mapping Test Cases. This document defines the R2RML and Direct Mapping Test Cases deliverable for the RDB2RDF Working Group as defined in the Working Group's Charter.
  • RDB2RDF Implementation Report. This document reports on implementations of the Direct Mapping specification, and R2RML specification. The main purpose of this document is to show that each feature of the Direct Mapping and R2RML has been implemented by demonstrating interoperable implementations of each feature. To evaluate the coverage of an implementation's features, the RDB2RDF Test Cases are used as a point of reference.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Last Call: The WebSocket API

09 August 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of The WebSocket API. This specification defines an API that enables Web pages to use the WebSocket protocol (defined by the IETF) for two-way communication with a remote host. Comments are welcome through 30 August. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

'XForms 2.0' and 'XForms 2.0: XPath expression module' Drafts Published

08 August 2012

The Forms Working Group has published two First Public Working Drafts:

  • XForms 2.0. XForms is an XML markup for a new generation of forms and form-like applications on the Web, integrated into other markup languages, such as XHTML, ODF or SVG. An XForms-based application gathers and processes data using an architecture that separates presentation, purpose and content. XForms accommodates form component reuse, fosters strong data type validation, eliminates unnecessary round-trips to the server, offers device independence and accessibility, and reduces the need for scripting. XForms 2.0 adds support for defining custom functions, variables, a pluggable expression language with extra functions (XPath 2.0), model-based switch and repeat, Attribute Value Templates, consuming and submitting JSON and CSV instance data, amongst other things.
  • The Forms Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of XForms 2.0: XPath expression module. This module defines how XPath could be used for addressing instance data nodes in binding expressions, to express constraints, and to specify calculations in XForms. This module is based on XPath 2.0, but an XPath 1.0 backwards compatibility mode is provided to ensure that nearly all XPath 1.0 expressions continue to deliver the same result with XPath 2.0. This module also defines the XForms Function Library which contains additional functions that are useful for creating forms.

Learn more about the XForms Activity.

Networked Service Discovery and Messaging Draft Published

07 August 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Networked Service Discovery and Messaging. This specification defines a mechanism for an HTML document to discover and subsequently communicate with HTTP-based services advertised via common discovery protocols within a user's network. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Veronica Thom Named W3C Chief Financial Officer

07 August 2012

Veronica Thom W3C has named Veronica Thom its new Chief Financial Officer. In this role, Ms. Thom is responsible for finance, budget, and financial plans and controls. With her combined business/finance background, Ms. Thom will advise W3M on future initiatives.

Before joining W3C in July 2012, Ms. Thom served as Vice President for Nordic, Mexico and Australia markets with PartyLite, Inc. a direct selling company of Blyth, Inc. She was responsible for leading these new and emerging markets in sales and marketing, as well as driving profitability.

Ambient Light Events Draft Published

02 August 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Ambient Light Events. This specification defines a means to receive events that correspond to a light sensor detecting the presence of a light. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

MBUI - Task Models Draft Published

02 August 2012

The Model-Based User Interfaces Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of MBUI - Task Models. Task models are useful when designing and developing interactive systems. They describe the logical activities that have to be carried out in order to reach the user’s goals. This document covers the specification of Task Models, with a meta-model expressed in UML, and an XML Schema that can be used as the basis for interchange of Task Models between different user interface development tools. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Web Audio API Draft Published

02 August 2012

The Audio Working Group has published a Working Draft of Web Audio API. This specification describes a high-level JavaScript API for processing and synthesizing audio in web applications. The primary paradigm is of an audio routing graph, where a number of AudioNode objects are connected together to define the overall audio rendering. The actual processing will primarily take place in the underlying implementation (typically optimized Assembly / C / C++ code), but direct JavaScript processing and synthesis is also supported. This API is designed to be used in conjunction with other APIs and elements on the web platform, notably: XMLHttpRequest (using the responseType and response attributes). For games and interactive applications, it is anticipated to be used with the canvas 2D and WebGL 3D graphics APIs. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Launches Patent Advisory Group for Tracking Preference Expression

01 August 2012

In accordance with the W3C Patent Policy, W3C has launched a Patent Advisory Group (PAG) in response to a disclosure related to the Tracking Preference Expression specification published by the Tracking Protection Working Group; see the PAG charter.

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 this disclosure may be sent to public-tracking-comments@w3.org (with public archive). Learn more about Patent Advisory Groups.

Patent Advisory Group Recommends Continuing Work on Touch Events Version 1

31 July 2012

The Touch Events Patent Advisory Group (PAG) has published a report recommending that W3C continue work on the Touch Events version 1 specification without changes. 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. See the original announcement of the PAG.

Last Call: Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Profile

31 July 2012

The Efficient XML Interchange Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Profile. This document describes a profile of the EXI 1.0 specification for devices with limited memory capacities. Comments are welcome through 14 September. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0 Draft Published

31 July 2012

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group has published a Working Draft of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0. This document defines data categories and their implementation as a set of elements and attributes called the Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0. ITS 2.0 is the successor of ITS 1.0; it is designed to foster the creation of multilingual Web content, focusing on HTML5, XML based formats in general, and to leverage localization workflows based on the XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF). In addition to HTML5 and XML, algorithms to convert ITS attributes to RDFa and NIF are provided. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

This is for Everyone: the Tweet Heard Around the World

30 July 2012

Tim Berners-Lee Tim Berners-Lee, London native, inventor of the World Wide Web and Founder and Director of the W3C was celebrated on stage during the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony on July 27 where he live tweeted 'This is for everyone.' What better venue than the Olympic Games, which inspire young people and bring competitors together, to recognize Berners-Lee's role in history and his continued advocacy that the Web, built on open standards, remains available to everyone, everywhere. Congratulations to Sir Tim! Learn more about Tim Berners-Lee and about W3C.

Tim Berners-Lee tweet from Olympics stage: This is for everyone #london2012 #oneweb #openingceremony @webfoundation @w3c

Applying WCAG 2.0 to Non-Web ICT - First Draft Published

27 July 2012

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) today published the First Public Working Draft of Applying WCAG 2.0 to Non-Web Information and Communications Technologies (WCAG2ICT). It is a draft of an informative (that is, not normative) W3C Working Group Note that will clarify how Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 can be applied to non-Web ICT. Please see important background information in the Call for Review e-mail. Comments are welcome through 7 September 2012. Read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Call for Review: Navigation Timing Proposed Recommendation Published

26 July 2012

The Web Performance Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Navigation Timing. This specification defines an interface for web applications to access timing information related to navigation and elements. Comments are welcome through 28 August. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of Page Visibility, Performance Timeline, and User Timing

26 July 2012

The Web Performance Working Group invites implementation of three Candidate Recommendations:

  • Page Visibility which defines a means for site developers to programmatically determine the current visibility state of the page in order to develop power and CPU efficient web applications.
  • Performance Timeline which defines an unified interface to store and retrieve performance metric data. This specification does not cover individual performance metric interfaces.
  • User Timing which defines an interface to help web developers measure the performance of their applications by giving them access to high precision timestamps.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Best Practices for Fragment Identifiers and Media Type Definitions Draft Published

26 July 2012

The Technical Architecture Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Best Practices for Fragment Identifiers and Media Type Definitions. Fragment identifiers within URIs are specified as being interpreted based on the media type of a representation. Media type definitions therefore have to provide details about how fragment identifiers are interpreted for that media type. This document recommends best practices for the authors of media type definitions, for the authors of structured syntax suffix definitions (such as +xml), for the authors of specifications that define syntax for fragment identifiers, and for authors that publish documents that are intended to be used with fragment identifiers or who refer to URIs using fragment identifiers. Learn more about the Technical Architecture Group.

Adobe, Google, Microsoft Sponsorships Bolster W3C Staffing of HTML5 Work

24 July 2012

W3C is pleased to announce commitments from Adobe, Google, and Microsoft for sponsorship funding that will enable W3C to provide additional staffing in support of the HTML Working Group's full range of activities, including editing several specifications and developing tests. These sponsorships will help W3C fill a position announced in June in response to an April call for editors from the HTML Working Group Chairs. In their April email, the Chairs also outlined the group's parallel efforts to finalize a stable HTML5 standard by 2014 and engage with the community on future HTML features. Learn more about the HTML Working Group.

Related story 2012-07-25: HTML Working Group Chairs announce some HTML5 editor appointments.

Three Provenance Last Call Drafts Published

24 July 2012

The Provenance Working Group published three Last Call Working Drafts today. Provenance is information about entities, activities, and people involved in producing a piece of data or thing, which can be used to form assessments about its quality, reliability or trustworthiness.

  • PROV-DM: The PROV Data Model introduces the provenance concepts found in PROV and defines PROV-DM types and relations. The PROV data model is domain-agnostic, but is equipped with extensibility points allowing domain-specific information to be included.
  • PROV-O: The PROV Ontology expresses the PROV Data Model using the OWL2 Web Ontology Language (OWL2). It provides a set of classes, properties, and restrictions that can be used to represent and interchange provenance information generated in different systems and under different contexts. It can also be specialized to create new classes and properties to model provenance information for different applications and domains.
  • PROV-N: The Provenance Notation is introduced to provide examples of the PROV data model: aimed at human consumption, PROV-N allows serializations of PROV instances to be created in a compact manner. PROV-N facilitates the mapping of the PROV data model to concrete syntax, and is used as the basis for a formal semantics of PROV. The purpose of this document is to define the PROV-N notation.

Comments on the Last Call Working Drafts are welcome through 18 September. The group also published a Working Draft of PROV Model Primer, which provides an intuitive introduction and guide to the PROV specification for provenance on the Web. The primer is intended as a starting point for those wishing to create or use PROV data. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Last Call: SPARQL 1.1 Query Language

24 July 2012

The SPARQL Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of SPARQL 1.1 Query Language. RDF is a directed, labeled graph data format for representing information in the Web. This specification defines the syntax and semantics of the SPARQL query language for RDF. SPARQL can be used to express queries across diverse data sources, whether the data is stored natively as RDF or viewed as RDF via middleware. SPARQL contains capabilities for querying required and optional graph patterns along with their conjunctions and disjunctions. SPARQL also supports aggregation, subqueries, negation, creating values by expressions, extensible value testing, and constraining queries by source RDF graph. The results of SPARQL queries can be result sets or RDF graphs. Comments are welcome through 21 August. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

W3C Report on Using Open Data: Policy Modeling, Citizen Empowerment, Data Journalism

20 July 2012

As part of its ongoing commitment to eGovernment and its participation in the EU-funded Crossover Project, W3C ran a very successful workshop last month in Brussels titled Using Open Data: policy modeling, citizen empowerment, data journalism. Today W3C published the Workshop report, which summarizes discussions about the interplay between open government data, citizens and policy makers, challenging certain assumptions sometimes made about open government data.

Several themes emerged from the workshop. For example, social media plays an important route through which governments can access citizen reactions. The combination of open government data and social media data is surely a critical aspect of future policy modeling. Read the full report for more about discussions of the value chain from raw data, through processing and interpretation, to data that is of actual use and interest and that can form the basis of active engagement with citizens. The report links to all papers and slides sets. Read more about W3C's eGovernment Activity.

W3C Identifies how the Web will Transform the Digital Signage Industry

18 July 2012

W3C announced today new momentum for making the Web the future interoperable platform for Digital Signage. W3C issued a summary of key topics and use cases for bringing Digital Signage to the Web, as well as a first gap analysis of enhancements to the Web to enable the transformation of the Digital Signage ecosystem. Digital signage covers a spectrum of display sizes and locations, from sports arenas and urban video terminals of every shape, to monitors in elevators, storefront windows, train stations, and public kiosks featuring rich interactivity. In June, an initial opportunity to discuss next-generation Web-based Digital Signage services drew industry stakeholders to a W3C Workshop "All Signs Point to the Web," hosted by NTT. Read the full press release about the Workshop report and join the Web-based Signage Business Group to develop use cases and requirements for standardization.

Registration Open for Mobile Web Training Courses (in English y en Español)

18 July 2012

Registration is now open for a new round of mobile Web online training courses which begin on 3 September 2012. In these courses, you learn to "mobilize" pages and deliver a good Web experience on mobile devices. These 6-week long W3C online training courses, supported by experienced and professional trainers, let you study at your own pace. The courses are separately delivered in English and in Spanish:

Learn more about W3C online training for developers.

Four Device API Specifications Published; HTML Media Capture Last Call

12 July 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published four Working Drafts:

  • a Last Call Working Draft of HTML Media Capture.The HTML Media Capture specification defines HTML form extensions that facilitate user access to media capture capabilities of the hosting device. Comments are welcome through 09 August.
  • a First Public Working Draft of Pick Media Intent, which enables access to a user's media gallery from a Web application.
  • a First Public Working Draft of Proximity Events, which defines a means to receive events that correspond to a proximity sensor detecting the presence of a physical object.
  • a Working Draft of Pick Contacts Intent, which enables access to a user's address book service from a Web application.

Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

File API Draft Published

12 July 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of File API. Web applications should have the ability to manipulate as wide as possible a range of user input, including files that a user may wish to upload to a remote server or manipulate inside a rich web application. This specification defines the basic representations for files, lists of files, errors raised by access to files, and programmatic ways to read files. Additionally, this specification also defines an interface that represents "raw data" which can be asynchronously processed on the main thread of conforming user agents. The interfaces and API defined in this specification can be used with other interfaces and APIs exposed to the Open Web Platform. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Two JSON-LD First Drafts Published

12 July 2012

JSON has proven to be a highly useful object serialization and messaging format. JSON-LD harmonizes the representation of Linked Data in JSON by outlining a common JSON representation format for expressing directed graphs; mixing both Linked Data and non-Linked Data in a single document. The RDF Working Group has published two related First Public Working Drafts:

  • JSON-LD API 1.0 outlines an API and a set of algorithms for transforming JSON-LD documents in order to make them easier to work with in programming environments like JavaScript, Python, and Ruby.
  • JSON-LD Syntax 1.0 outlines a common JSON representation format for expressing directed graphs; mixing both Linked Data and non-Linked Data in a single document.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of Role Attribute

12 July 2012

The Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG) invites implementations of the Candidate Recommendation Role Attribute, an XML attribute that allows the author to add semantic information to documents. Role Attribute supports WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications technical specification for making dynamic, interactive web content accessible to people with disabilities. Read the Role Attribute Candidate Recommendation e-mail announcement for more information, and about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 3.0 Draft Published

10 July 2012

The XSLT Working Group has published a Working Draft of XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 3.0. This specification defines the syntax and semantics of XSLT 3.0, a language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

XML Signature Best Practices Note Published

10 July 2012

The XML Security Working Group has published a Group Note of XML Signature Best Practices. This document collects best practices for implementers and users of the XML Signature specification. Most of these best practices are related to improving security and mitigating attacks, yet others are for best practices in the practical use of XML Signature, such as signing XML that doesn't use namespaces, for example. Learn more about the Security Activity.

WebDriver Draft Published

10 July 2012

The Browser Testing and Tools Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of WebDriver. This specification defines the WebDriver API, a platform-and language-neutral interface that allows programs or scripts to introspect into, and control the behaviour of, a web browser. The WebDriver API is primarily intended to allow developers to write tests that automate a browser from a separate controlling process, but may also be implemented in such a way as to allow in-browser scripts to control a browser. Learn more about the Web Testing Activity.

Last Call: Turtle

10 July 2012

The RDF Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Turtle. The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a general-purpose language for representing information in the Web. Comments are welcome through 15 September. This document defines a textual syntax for RDF called Turtle that allows an RDF graph to be completely written in a compact and natural text form, with abbreviations for common usage patterns and datatypes. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Use Cases and Exploratory Approaches for Ruby Markup Draft Published

10 July 2012

The Internationalization Core Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Use Cases and Exploratory Approaches for Ruby Markup. This document looks at a number of use cases involving ruby, and examines the pros and cons of a number of alternative approaches for meeting those use cases using the current HTML5 model, the XHTML Ruby Annotation model, and two other models. The aim is to clarify which use cases are supported by the existing markup models (HTML5 or XHTML), and where they are not, provide suggestions about how the markup model could be adapted to support those use cases. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

Last Call: Content Security Policy 1.0

10 July 2012

The Web Application Security Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Content Security Policy 1.0. This document defines Content Security Policy, a mechanism web applications can use to mitigate a broad class of content injection vulnerabilities, such as cross-site scripting (XSS). Content Security Policy is a declarative policy that lets the authors (or server administrators) of a web application restrict from where the application can load resources. Comments are welcome through 24 August. Learn more about the Security Activity.

Three RDF Notes published

05 July 2012

The RDF Web Applications Working Group has published three Group Notes that, while advanced, were not completed before the end of the group's charter. For more information, see the explanation in each individual document.

  • RDFa API provides and API for simple extraction and usage of structured information from a Web document.
  • RDF API defines a set of standardized interfaces for working with RDF data in a web-based programming environment.
  • RDF Interfaces defines a set of standardized interfaces for working with RDF data in a programming environment.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Note Published: Registration and Discovery of Multimodal Modality Components in Multimodal Systems: Use Cases and Requirements

05 July 2012

The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has published a Group Note of Registration and Discovery of Multimodal Modality Components in Multimodal Systems: Use Cases and Requirements. Users of mobile phones, personal computers, tablets or other electronic Devices are increasingly interacting with their devices in a variety of ways: touch screen, voice, stylus, keypads, etc. Today, users, vendors, operators and broadcasters can produce and use all kinds of different Media and Devices that are capable of supporting multiple modes of input or output. Tools for authoring, edition or distribution of Media for Application developers are well-documented. But there is a lack of powerful tools or practices for a richer integration and semantic synchronization of all these media. To the best of our knowledge, there is no standardized way to build a web Application that can dynamically combine and control discovered modalities by querying a registry based on user-experience data and modality states. This document describes design requirements that the Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces specification needs to cover in order to address this problem. Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity.

Web Application Privacy Best Practices Note Published

03 July 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Group Note of Web Application Privacy Best Practices. This document describes privacy best practices for web applications, including those that might use device APIs. This continues the work on privacy best practices in section 3.3.1 on "User Awareness and Control" Mobile Web Application Best Practices without repeat the privacy principles and requirements documented in the Device API Privacy Requirements Note that it complements. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Fullscreen Draft Published

03 July 2012

The Web Applications Working Group and the CSS Working Group published the First Public Working Draft of Fullscreen. This document defines the fullscreen API for the web platform. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity and the Style Activity.

Quota Management API Draft Published

03 July 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Quota Management API. This specification defines an API to manage usage and availability of local storage resources, and defines a means by which a user agent (UA) may grant Web applications permission to use more local space, temporarily or persistently, via various different storage APIs. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Selectors API Level 2 Draft Published

28 June 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of Selectors API Level 2. Selectors, which are widely used in CSS, are patterns that match against elements in a tree structure. The Selectors API specification defines methods for retrieving Element nodes from the DOM by matching against a group of selectors, and for testing if a given element matches a particular selector. It is often desirable to perform DOM operations on a specific set of elements in a document. These methods simplify the process of acquiring and testing specific elements, especially compared with the more verbose techniques defined and used in the past. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call: Selectors API Level 1

28 June 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Selectors API Level 1. Selectors, which are widely used in CSS, are patterns that match against elements in a tree structure]. The Selectors API specification defines methods for retrieving Element nodes from the DOM by matching against a group of selectors. It is often desirable to perform DOM operations on a specific set of elements in a document. These methods simplify the process of acquiring specific elements, especially compared with the more verbose techniques defined and used in the past. Comments are welcome through 19 July. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Media Capture and Streams Draft Published

28 June 2012

The Web Real-Time Communication and Device APIs Working Groups published a Public Working Draft of Media Capture and Streams. This document defines a set of JavaScript APIs that allow local media, including audio and video, to be requested from a platform. Lean more about Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Web Intents Draft Published

26 June 2012

The Web Intents Task Force, jointly operated by the Device Applications (DAP) Working Group and the Web Applications (WebApps) Working Group, has published a First Public Working Draft of Web Intents. This document defines DOM interfaces and markup used by client and service pages to create, receive, and reply to Web Intents messages, and the procedures the User Agent carries out to facilitate that process. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity and the Rich Web Client Activity.

Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0 Draft Published

26 June 2012

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group has published a First Public Working Draft of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0. ITS 2.0 defines data categories for HTML5, XML based formats and RDF. The data categories reply to the needs of language technology applications (e.g. machine translation), the localization industry and the multilingual Web in general. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

Media Queries and 'view mode' are W3C Recommendations

19 June 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of Media Queries, which lets designers create effective Web experiences by adjusting styles according to device capabilities (such as screen dimensions or color support) or state (such as device orientation).

W3C also published today a W3C Recommendation of the 'view-mode' Media Feature, from the Web Applications Working Group. Mutual dependencies between these two Recommendations caused this publication to be delayed until both could be released simultaneously. The 'view-mode' specification extends media query design capabilities to Web application states (e.g., occupies the entire screen or is minimized).

Learn more about the Style Activity.

PROV-AQ: Provenance Access and Query Draft Published

19 June 2012

The Provenance Working Group has published a Working Draft of PROV-AQ: Provenance Access and Query. This document specifies how to use standard Web protocols, including HTTP, to obtain information about the provenance of resources on the Web. It describes both simple access mechanisms for locating provenance information associated with web pages or resources, and provenance query services for more complex deployments. This is part of the larger W3C Prov provenance framework. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Web Notifications Draft Published

14 June 2012

The Web Notification Working Group has published a Working Draft of Web Notifications. Web notifications defines an API for end-user notifications. A notification allows alerting the user outside the context of a web page of an occurrence, such as the delivery of email. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification Draft Published

14 June 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification. This specification defines the Document Object Model Events Level 3, a generic platform- and language-neutral event system which allows registration of event handlers, describes event flow through a tree structure, and provides basic contextual information for each event. The Document Object Model Events Level 3 builds on the Document Object Model Events Level 2. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Two Drafts Published by the CSS Working Group

13 June 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published two Working Drafts:

  • A Last Call Working Draft of CSS Flexible Box Layout Module. The specification describes a CSS box model optimized for user interface design. In the flex layout model, the children of a flex container can be laid out in any direction, and can "flex" their sizes, either growing to fill unused space or shrinking to avoid overflowing the parent. Both horizontal and vertical alignment of the children can be easily manipulated. Nesting of these boxes (horizontal inside vertical, or vertical inside horizontal) can be used to build layouts in two dimensions Comments are welcome through 03 July.
  • The First Public Working Draft of CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3. This module contains the features of CSS relating to the alignment of boxes within their containers in the various CSS box layout models: block layout, table layout, flex layout, and grid layout. (The alignment of text and inline-level content is defined in CSS3TEXT and CSS3LINEBOX.) CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

Online Symposium: Mobile Accessibility

11 June 2012

Registration is now open for the online symposium on mobile accessibility to be held on 25 June 2012. The symposium is intended for researchers and practitioners who want to explore mobile accessibility challenges and solutions, and help develop a roadmap for future research and development. For details and registration, see Mobile Accessibility - Online Symposium. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

RDFa Core 1.1, RDFa Lite 1.1 and XHTML+RDFa 1.1 are W3C recommendations

07 June 2012

The RDF Web Applications Working Group has published RDFa Core 1.1, RDFa Lite 1.1, and XHTML+RDFa 1.1 as W3C Recommendations. The group also published the RDFa 1.1 Primer as a Working Note. Together, these documents outline the vision for RDFa in a variety of XML and HTML-based Web markup languages. RDFa Core 1.1 specifies the core syntax and processing rules for RDFa 1.1 and how the language is intended to be used in XML documents. RDFa Lite 1.1 provides a simple subset of RDFa for novice web authors. XHTML+RDFa 1.1 specifies the usage of RDFa in the XHTML markup language. Learn more about Semantic Web Activity.

RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax Draft Published

05 June 2012

The RDF Working Group has published a Working Draft of RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax. This document defines the RDF data model. Notable changes since the previous working draft include the introduction of new datatypes for HTML fragments and language-tagged strings, a re-worked XML datatype, and a rewritten introduction. Going forward, the Working Group expects to extend the data model with support for multiple graphs. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Report: Current State and Roadmap of Standards for Web Applications on Mobile

04 June 2012

Thumbnail of application platform diagram that appears in report W3C has published a new edition of Standards for Web Applications on Mobile, an overview of the various technologies developed in W3C that increase the power of Web applications, particularly in the mobile context.

A deliverable of the MobiWebApp project, this sixth edition of the document highlights changes since February 2012, including new deliverables from the charter of the rechartered Web Applications Working Group (packaging format for Web applications, Quota Management, push notifications that can wake a sleeping app, Web Intents, fullscreen and screen-lock APIs), playback of protected content in HTML Working Group via Encrypted Media Extensions, progress on many other specifications, and new links to resources on mobile accessibility.

The next edition of the document is scheduled for August 2012. Learn more about the Web and Mobile Devices.

MediaStream Processing API Note Published

31 May 2012

The Audio Working Group has published a Group Note of MediaStream Processing API. A number of existing or proposed features for the Web platform deal with continuous real-time media. Many use-cases require these features to work together. This proposal makes HTML Streams the foundation for integrated Web media processing by creating a mixing and effects processing API for HTML Streams. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Two Last Call Working Drafts published by the RDB2RDF Working Group

29 May 2012

The RDB2RDF Working Group has published two Last Call Working Drafts today:

  • A Direct Mapping of Relational Data to RDF. The need to share data with collaborators motivates custodians and users of relational databases (RDB) to expose relational data on the Web of Data. This document defines a direct mapping from relational data to RDF. This definition provides extension points for refinements within and outside of this document. Comments are welcome through 19 June.
  • R2RML: RDB to RDF Mapping Language. This document describes R2RML, a language for expressing customized mappings from relational databases to RDF datasets. Such mappings provide the ability to view existing relational data in the RDF data model, expressed in a structure and target vocabulary of the mapping author's choice. R2RML mappings are themselves RDF graphs and written down in Turtle syntax. R2RML enables different types of mapping implementations. Processors could, for example, offer a virtual SPARQL endpoint over the mapped relational data, or generate RDF dumps, or offer a Linked Data interface. Comments are welcome through 19 June.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

HTML Media Capture Draft Published

29 May 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Working Draft of HTML Media Capture. The HTML Media Capture specification defines HTML form extensions that facilitate users' access to media capture capabilities of the hosting device. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Three documents published by the Web Applications Working Group

29 May 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published three documents today:

  • First Public Working Draft of Gamepad. The Gamepad specification defines a low-level interface that represents gamepad devices.
  • First Public Working Draft of Pointer Lock. This specification defines an API that provides scripted access to raw mouse movement data while locking the target of mouse events to a single element and removing the cursor from view. This is an essential input mode for certain classes of applications, especially first person perspective 3D applications and 3D modelling software.
  • Group Note of The From-Origin Header. The From-Origin Header specification defines the From-Origin response header -- a way for resources to declare they are unavailable within an embedding context.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Registration Open for Mobile Web Best Practices Course in Spanish; Early Bird Rate through 10 June

29 May 2012

W3C announces registration is open for a new online training course in Spanish on Mobile Web Best Practices: "Buenas Prácticas en Web Móvil." Developed by the W3C/MobiWebApp team, the Spanish version of "Mobile Web 1" will be taught by Gicela Morales. The 6-week course begins 18 June 2012 and costs 225 EUR. However, an early bird rate of 195 EUR is available until 10 June 2012. Read the course description and enroll now for the early bird rate. Learn more about the W3C online training for Web developers program.

Five documents published by the Web Applications Working Group

24 May 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published five documents today:

  • Last Call Working Draft of The WebSocket API. This specification defines an API that enables Web pages to use the WebSocket protocol (defined by the IETF) for two-way communication with a remote host. Comments are welcome through 14 June.
  • Last Call Working Draft of Indexed Database API.This document defines APIs for a database of records holding simple values and hierarchical objects. Each record consists of a key and some value. Moreover, the database maintains indexes over records it stores. An application developer directly uses an API to locate records either by their key or by using an index. A query language can be layered on this API. An indexed database can be implemented using a persistent B-tree data structure. Comments are welcome through 21 June.
  • First Public Working Draft of Input Method Editor API. This specification defines an “IME API” that provides Web applications with scripted access to an IME (input-method editor) associated with a hosting user agent.
  • First Public Working Draft of URL. This specification defines the term URL, various algorithms for dealing with URLs, and an API for constructing, parsing, and resolving URLs.
  • Group Note of XBL 2.0. XBL (the Xenogamous Binding Language) describes the ability to associate elements in a document with script, event handlers, CSS, and more complex content models, which can be stored in another document. This can be used to re-order and wrap content so that, for instance, simple HTML or XHTML markup can have complex CSS styles applied without requiring that the markup be polluted with multiple semantically neutral div elements.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Requirements for Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0 Draft Published

24 May 2012

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Requirements for Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0. This document gathers metadata categories – essentially items like ways to indicate whether or not specific text should be translated, support for machine translation, and so forth – developed within the MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group. The proposed metadata targets web content (primarily HTML5) and “deep Web” content, such as content stored in a content management system (CMS) or XML files from which HTML pages are generated, that facilitates its interaction with multilingual technologies and localization processes. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

W3C Launches Indie UI Working Group

22 May 2012

Today W3C Launched the new Independent User Interface (Indie UI) Working Group that will collaborate with the Web Events WG to develop a way for user actions to be communicated to web applications. Indie UI will develop an intermediate layer between device- and modality-specific events and the functionality needed by web applications, e.g., scrolling the view, placing focus on an object, etc. Indie UI will define a way for different user actions (e.g., scrolling via touch screen, via mouse wheel, or via voice commend) to be translated into a simple event. Then web application developers can get these events from different devices without having to recognize how the user performed the action. Learn more from the announcement e-mail and read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

W3C Invites Implementations of High Resolution Time and Resource Timing

22 May 2012

The Web Performance Working Group invites implementation of two Candidate Recommendations:

  • High Resolution Time.This specification defines a JavaScript interface that provides the current time in sub-millisecond resolution and such that it is not subject to system clock skew or adjustments.
  • Resource Timing. This specification defines an interface for web applications to access the complete timing information for resources in a document.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Call for Review: Widget Interface Proposed Recommendation Published

22 May 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Widget Interface. This specification defines an application programming interface (API) for widgets that provides, amongst other things, functionality for accessing a widget's metadata and persistently storing data. Comments are welcome through 19 June. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Web Services Internationalization (WS-I18N) Note Published

22 May 2012

The Internationalization Core Working Group has published a Group Note of Web Services Internationalization (WS-I18N). This document describes enhancements to SOAP messaging to provide internationalized and localized operations using locale and international preferences. These mechanisms can be used to accommodate a wide variety of development models for international usage. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

Three drafts published by the Web Applications Working Group

22 May 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published three First Public Working Drafts today:

  • Introduction to Web Components. This document is a non-normative reference, which aims to provide an overview of how Web Components work. It summarizes the normative information in the respective specifications in an easy-to-digest prose and illustration.
  • Shadow DOM. This specification describes a method of establishing and maintaining functional boundaries between DOM subtrees and how these subtrees interact with each other within a document tree, thus enabling better functional encapsulation within DOM.
  • The Screen Orientation API. The Screen Orientation API's goal is to provide an interface for web applications to be able to read the screen orientation state, to be informed when this state changes and to be able to lock the screen orientation to a specific state.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of Emotion Markup Language (EmotionML) 1.0

10 May 2012

The Multimodal Interaction Working Group. has published a Candidate Recommendation of Emotion Markup Language (EmotionML) 1.0. As the web is becoming ubiquitous, interactive, and multimodal, technology needs to deal increasingly with human factors, including emotions. The specification of Emotion Markup Language 1.0 aims to strike a balance between practical applicability and scientific well-foundedness. The language is conceived as a "plug-in" language suitable for use in three different areas: (1) manual annotation of data; (2) automatic recognition of emotion-related states from user behavior; and (3) generation of emotion-related system behavior.

The group also published Vocabularies for EmotionML, a Working Group Note.

Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity.

Registration for W3C Online Course on Programming Mobile Web Apps; Early Bird Rate through 25 May

10 May 2012

W3C is pleased to announce that registration is open for a new edition of the W3C online course "Mobile Web 2: Programming Web Applications". Developed by the W3C/MobiWebApp team and taught by Marcos Caceres, this course gives developers all the tools and knowledge necessary to write mobile Web applications that can ship both online and in application stores, using today's advanced technologies. The 6-week course begins 11 June. An early bird rate of 195 Euros is available until 25 May; after that date the full price is 225 Euros so register now.

Call for Review: Geolocation API Specification Proposed Recommendation Published

10 May 2012

The Geolocation Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Geolocation API Specification. This specification defines an API that provides scripted access to geographical location information associated with the hosting device. Comments are welcome through 10 June. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

W3C Launches Linked Data Platform Working Group

09 May 2012

Semantic Web Cube Today W3C launched the new Linked Data Platform (LDP) Working Group to promote the use of linked data on the Web. Per its charter, the group will explain how to use a core set of services and technologies to build powerful applications capable of integrating public data, secured enterprise data, and personal data. The platform will be based on proven Web technologies including HTTP for transport, and RDF and other Semantic Web standards for data integration and reuse. The group will produce supporting materials, such as a description of uses cases, a list of requirements, and a test suite and/or validation tools to help ensure interoperability and correct implementation. Learn more about the Semantic Web.

W3C Community Groups Growing Source of Web Innovation

09 May 2012

Community and Business Groups W3C announced today that eight months after the launch of Community Groups to speed Web innovation, more than 1200 people are participating in 80 groups with wide-ranging interests, including mobile profiles, Web games, and big data. "We wanted to encourage richer and more diverse conversations about Web technology at W3C, and we are off to a great start," said Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO. "A number of design choices (such as the permissive copyright license) have made this an appealing work environment to important stakeholders. The program is young but promising, and will continue to improve as we learn from our community."

The W3C Membership, which convenes next week at its semi-annual meeting, plays a preeminent role both in Community Groups and in turning innovations into interoperable, Royalty-Free Web standards through an open consensus process. Open Web Platform traction has resulted in more than 80 organizations becoming W3C Members in the past year. Read the full press release and testimonials from some new W3C Members and learn more about W3C Community and Business Groups.

W3C Invites Implementations of Battery Status API; Vibration API

08 May 2012

The Device APIs Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendations of Battery Status API and Vibration API. The first defines an API that provides information about the battery status of the hosting device. The second defines an API that provides access to the vibration mechanism of the hosting device. W3C publishes a Candidate Recommendation to indicate that the document is believed to be stable and to encourage implementation by the developer community. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Last Call: Performance Timeline; User Timing

08 May 2012

The Web Performance Working Group has published two Last Call Working Drafts: Performance Timeline and User Timing. The first defines an unified interface to store and retrieve performance metric data. The second defines an interface to help web developers measure the performance of their applications by giving them access to high precision timestamps. Comments are welcome through 07 June. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Three RDFa Specifications are Proposed Recommendations

08 May 2012

The RDF Web Applications Working Group has published three Proposed Recommendations for RDFa Core 1.1, RDFa Lite 1.1 and XHTML+RDFa 1.1.

Together, these documents outline the vision for RDFa in a variety of XML and HTML-based Web markup languages. RDFa Core 1.1 specifies the core syntax and processing rules for RDFa 1.1 and how the language is intended to be used in XML documents. RDFa Lite 1.1 provides a simple subset of RDFa for novice web authors. XHTML+RDFa 1.1 specifies the usage of RDFa in the XHTML markup language. The group also published a draft of the RDFa 1.1 Primer today.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Two CSS Level 3 Modules Published: Exclusions and Shapes; Regions

03 May 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group published Working Drafts of CSS Exclusions and Shapes Module Level 3 and CSS Regions Module Level 3. Exclusions and Shapes lets people define arbitrary areas around which inline content content can flow. CSS Exclusions extend the notion of content wrapping previously limited to floats. The CSS regions module allows content to flow across multiple areas called regions. The regions are not necessarily contiguous in the document order. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Five Provenance Drafts Published

03 May 2012

The Provenance Working Group published 5 Working Drafts today related to the PROV data model. Provenance information can be used for many purposes, such as understanding how data was collected so it can be meaningfully used, determining ownership and rights over an object, making judgments about information to determine whether to trust it, verifying that the process and steps used to obtain a result complies with given requirements, and reproducing how something was generated. The PROV model is used to represent provenance records, which contain descriptions of the entities and activities involved in producing and delivering or otherwise influencing a given object.

  • PROV-DM: The PROV Data Model introduces the provenance concepts found in PROV and defines PROV-DM types and relations.
  • Constraints of the Provenance Data Model introduces a further set of concepts useful for understanding the PROV data model and defines inferences that are allowed on provenance statements and validity constraints that PROV instances should follow. These inferences and constraints are useful for readers who develop applications that generate provenance or reason over provenance. (First Public Working Draft)
  • PROV-N: The Provenance Notation allows serializations of PROV instances to be created in a compact manner. (First Public Working Draft)
  • PROV-O: The PROV Ontology expresses the PROV Data Model using the OWL2 Web Ontology Language (OWL2).
  • PROV Model Primer provides an intuitive introduction and guide to the PROV specification for provenance on the Web.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

W3C Advisory Committee Elects Advisory Board

01 May 2012

The W3C Advisory Committee has filled six open seats on the W3C Advisory Board. Created in 1998, the Advisory Board provides guidance to the Team on issues of strategy, management, legal matters, process, and conflict resolution. Beginning 1 July 2012, the nine Advisory Board participants are Ann Bassetti (Boeing), Jim Bell (HP), Michael Champion (Microsoft), Steve Holbrook (IBM), Qiuling Pan (Huawei), Jean-Charles Verdié (MStar Semiconductor), Ora Lassila (Nokia), Charles McCathieNevile (Opera), and Takeshi Natsuno (Keio University). Steve Zilles continues as interim Advisory Board Chair. Read more about the Advisory Board.

Call for Implementations: Web Workers; HTML5 Web Messaging

01 May 2012

The Web Applications Working Group invites implementation of two Candidate Recommendations:

  • Web Workers, which defines an API that allows Web application authors to spawn background workers running scripts in parallel to their main page. This allows for thread-like operation with message-passing as the coordination mechanism.
  • HTML5 Web Messaging, which defines two mechanisms for communicating between browsing contexts in HTML documents.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Three SPARQL 1.1 Last Call Drafts Published

01 May 2012

The SPARQL Working Group published three Last Call Working Drafts today:

  • SPARQL 1.1 Overview, which provides an introduction to a set of W3C specifications that facilitate querying and manipulating RDF graph content on the Web or in an RDF store.
  • SPARQL 1.1 Graph Store HTTP Protocol, which describes the use of HTTP operations for the purpose of managing a collection of RDF graphs in the REST architectural style.
  • SPARQL 1.1 Query Results CSV and TSV Formats, which describes the use of CSV(comma separated values) and TSV (tab separated values) for expressing SPARQL query results from SELECT queries.

Comments are welcome through 01 June.

The group is further planning to shortly release a 2nd Last Call working draft of the SPARQL 1.1 Query Language, after which we plan to advance all Recommendation track drafts in the next iteration to Proposed Recommendation directly. To this end, the group is currently gathering implementation reports and would appreciate reports from the community of implementations of any of the SPARQL1.1 specifications. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

CSS Writing Modes Module Level 3 Draft Published

01 May 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Writing Modes Module Level 3. CSS Writing Modes Level 3 defines CSS features to support for various international writing modes, such as left-to-right (e.g. Latin or Indic), right-to-left (e.g. Hebrew or Arabic), bidirectional (e.g. mixed Latin and Arabic) and vertical (e.g. Asian scripts). Learn more about the Style Activity.

Character Model for the World Wide Web 1.0: Normalization Draft Published

01 May 2012

The Internationalization Core Working Group has published a Working Draft of Character Model for the World Wide Web 1.0: Normalization. This Architectural Specification provides authors of specifications, software developers, and content developers with a common reference on the use of normalization of text and string identity matching on the Web. The goal of this specification is to improve interoperable text manipulation on the World Wide Web. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

W3C Workshop: Web-Based Signage

26 April 2012

W3C announces today a Workshop on Web-Based Signage, 14-15 June in Tokyo (Chiba), Japan, and hosted by NTT. W3C is organizing a workshop to share perspectives, business use cases, and technology requirements so that the Open Web Platform can be used on large digital displays (such as those found in city squares and at sporting events). We invite operators of consumer electronics companies, digital signage platforms, advertisers, browser vendors, sign owners, and others to participate in this discussion. W3C membership is not required to participate in this workshop. Please submit a statement of interest by 16 May and learn more about participation.

Call for Review: Media Queries Proposed Recommendation Published

26 April 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Media Queries. HTML and CSS support media-dependent style sheets tailored for different media types. For example, a document may use sans-serif fonts when displayed on a screen and serif fonts when printed. Media queries extend the functionality of media types by allowing more precise labeling of style sheets. Please see the Working Group's implementation report and the Media Queries Test Suite. Comments on the Proposed Recommendation are welcome through 23 May. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Last Call: Server-Sent Events

26 April 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Server-Sent Events. This specification defines an API for opening an HTTP connection for receiving push notifications from a server in the form of DOM events. The API is designed such that it can be extended to work with other push notification schemes such as Push SMS. Comments are welcome through 17 May. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Early bird extension until 25 April: W3C Mobile Web Best Practices Training Course

23 April 2012

Get started in developing Web sites that work well on mobile devices by registering to W3C's "Mobile Web 1: Best Practices" online training course! The now 6-week long course starts Monday, 30 April. Read the course description and register before April 25 and save 30 Euros!

Call for Participation in The Graphical Web 2012

20 April 2012

Developers and designers are excited by the ability to use the graphical features of all modern browsers - Canvas, SVG, CSS, WebGL, and HTML5 video and audio. W3C is proud to support The Graphical Web 2012, which is both the first in a new international conference series on Open Web Graphics and the 10th conference on Scalable Vector Graphics, 11-14 September 2012. This year, the conference returns to Switzerland and the site of the first SVG Open. ETH Zürich will be hosting the conference at its Hönggerberg campus. Members of the W3C SVG Working Group, including W3C Team members Chris Lilley and Doug Schepers, will be attending the conference. The SVG Working Group will also brief attendees on recent developments around the SVG specification, including SVG2 and integration with CSS3 and HTML5. The conference includes a day of instructional courses. The deadline for presentation abstracts and course outlines is 7 May. Learn more about the W3C Graphics Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of Web IDL

19 April 2012

The Web Applications Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of Web IDL. This document defines an interface definition language, Web IDL, that can be used to describe interfaces that are intended to be implemented in web browsers. Web IDL is an IDL variant with a number of features that allow the behavior of common script objects in the web platform to be specified more readily. How interfaces described with Web IDL correspond to constructs within ECMAScript execution environments is also detailed in this document. It is expected that this document acts as a guide to implementors of already-published specifications, and that newly published specifications reference this document to ensure conforming implementations of interfaces are interoperable. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Incubator Group Report: Towards a Semantic Decision Representation Format

17 April 2012

The W3C Decisions and Decision-Making Incubator Group has published their final report. The mission of the Decisions and Decision-Making Incubator Group, part of the Incubator Activity, was to determine the requirements, use cases, and a representation of decisions and decision-making in a collaborative and networked environment suitable for leading to a potential standard for decision exchange, shared situational awareness, and measurement of the speed, effectiveness, and human factors of decision-making. The Incubator Group explored the question over the last year, including use cases, requirements and formats for representing decisions in a machine-understandable format. A standardized decision format would allow the decisions that occur everyday to be managed, archived, shared, and tracked. Two key benefits include the ability to expand and advance the meaningful use of web linked data, as well as the ability to tie-in domain knowledge to provide decision context. The final report captures the major accomplishments and results of the incubator group and ends with a recommendation to transition into a W3C Working Group for the establishment of a Decision Markup Language (DecisionML).

This publication is part of the Incubator Activity, a forum where W3C Members can innovate and experiment. This work is not on the W3C standards track.

W3C Invites Implementations of CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3

17 April 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. This draft contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to borders and backgrounds. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2, which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are borders consisting of images, boxes with multiple backgrounds, boxes with rounded corners and boxes with shadows. Learn more about the Style Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of CSS Image Values and Replaced Content Module Level 3

17 April 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of CSS Image Values and Replaced Content Module Level 3. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. This module contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to the <image> type and replaced elements. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2, which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are the generalization of the <url> type to the <image> type, several additions to the ‘<image>’ type, a generic sizing algorithm for images and other replaced content in CSS, and several properties controlling the interaction of replaced elements and CSS's layout models. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Two File API Working Drafts Published

17 April 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published two Working Draft today:

  • File API: Writer. This specification defines an API for writing to files from web applications. This API is designed to be used in conjunction with, and depends on definitions in, other APIs and elements on the web platform. Most relevant among these are File API and Web Workers.
  • File API: Directories and System. This specification defines an API to navigate file system hierarchies, and defines a means by which a user agent may expose sandboxed sections of a user's local filesystem to web applications. It builds on File Writer API, which in turn built on File API, each adding a different kind of functionality.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Registration for W3C Online Course on Mobile Web Best Practices; Early Bird Rate Through 23 April

10 April 2012

W3C is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the next edition of the most popular W3C online training course, Mobile Web 1: Best Practices. The 6-week course begins 30 April 2012. It will help Web designers and content producers who are already familiar with the desktop world to become familiar with the Web as delivered on mobile devices. It is based entirely on W3C standards, particularly the Mobile Web Best Practices. Along with the course description, read comments from past students and what they have achieved. An early bird rate of €195 is available until 23 April 2012; after that date the full price is €225 so register now.

W3C Workshop: The Multilingual Web – Linked Open Data and Multi­lingual­Web-LT Requirements

10 April 2012

W3C announces today a Workshop on Linked Open Data and Multi­lingual­Web-LT Requirements, 11-13 June in Dublin, Ireland. Organized by the MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group, the purpose of this workshop is two-fold: first, to discuss the intersection between Linked Open Data and Multilingual Technologies, and second, to discuss Requirements of the W3C MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group. Participation is free. We welcome participation from both speakers and non-speaking attendees. However, whereas future MultilingualWeb workshops will continue the wide-ranging format of previous MultilingualWeb events, and will aim again at a larger audience, attendees for this workshop are required to participate actively in discussions and will need to submit a position statement for the workshop registration. There are limited spaces available. Learn more about Internationalization at W3C.

Last Call: Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0 and Implementing ATAG 2.0

10 April 2012

The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has published an updated Last Call Working Draft of Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0 and a Working Draft of Implementing ATAG 2.0. ATAG defines how authoring tools should help developers produce accessible web content that conforms to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. It also defines how to make authoring tools accessible so that people with disabilities can use them. Comment deadline is 5 June 2012. Learn more in ATAG 2.0 Last Call Working Draft published and read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

CSS Variables Module Level 1 Draft Published

10 April 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of CSS Variables Module Level 1. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. This module contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to variables. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2, which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are the introduction of the variable as a new primitive value type that is accepted by all properties. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Profile Draft Published

10 April 2012

The Efficient XML Interchange Working Group has published a second Public Working Draft of Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Profile. This document describes a profile of the EXI 1.0 specification for devices with limited memory capacities. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

Mobile Accessibility - Online Symposium - Call for Papers

05 April 2012

The Research and Development Working Group (RDWG) will hold an online symposium to explore mobile accessibility challenges, existing resources, and areas for future research and development. The Call for Papers is open until 7 May 2012. Learn more about the Symposium on Mobile Accessibility and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Two XML Schema Specifications are Recommendations

05 April 2012

The XML Schema Working Group has published W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 Part 1: Structures and Part 2: Datatypes as W3C Recommendations. The W3C XML Schema Recommendation specifies an XML language for describing the structure and constraining the content of XML documents. It provides both structures and data types, as well as facilities for people and specifications to define their own structures and data types, whether for validation, data binding, documentation or other purposes. Learn more about the XML Activity.

Four Drafts Published by the Government Linked Data Working Group

05 April 2012

The Government Linked Data Working Group has published four First Public Working Drafts today:

  • Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT). DCAT is an RDF vocabulary designed to facilitate interoperability between data catalogs published on the Web. This document defines the schema and provides examples for its use.
  • The RDF Data Cube Vocabulary. There are many situations where it would be useful to be able to publish multi-dimensional data, such as statistics, on the web in such a way that it can be linked to related data sets and concepts. The Data Cube vocabulary provides a means to do this using the W3C RDF (Resource Description Framework) standard. The model underpinning the Data Cube vocabulary is compatible with the cube model that underlies SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange), an ISO standard for exchanging and sharing statistical data and metadata among organizations. The Data Cube vocabulary is a core foundation which supports extension vocabularies to enable publication of other aspects of statistical data flows.
  • Terms for describing people. This document defines a set of terms for describing people. It defines how to describe people's characteristics such as names or addresses and how to relate people to other things, for example to organizations or projects. For each term, guidance on the usage within a running example is provided. This document also defines mappings to widely used vocabularies to enable interoperability.
  • An organization ontology. This document describes a core ontology for organizational structures, aimed at supporting linked-data publishing of organizational information across a number of domains. It is designed to allow domain-specific extensions to add classification of organzations and roles, as well as extensions to support neighbouring information such as organizational activities.

Learn more about the eGovernment Activity.

DOM4 Draft Published

05 April 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of DOM4. DOM4 defines the event and document model the Web platform uses. The DOM is a language- and platform neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content and structure of documents. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Launches Web Cryptography Working Group

04 April 2012

W3C launched today a new Web Cryptography Working Group, whose mission is to define an API that lets developers implement secure application protocols on the level of Web applications, including message confidentiality and authentication services, by exposing trusted cryptographic primitives from the browser. Web application developers will no longer have to create their own or use untrusted third-party libraries for cryptographic primitives. This will improve security on the Web. Some of the chartered use cases for this API include:

  • The ability to select credentials and sign statements can be necessary to perform high-value transactions such as those involved in finance, corporate security, and identity-related claims about personal data.
  • The provisioning and use of keys within Web applications can be used for scenarios such as increasing the security of user authentication and determining whether a particular device is authenticated for particular services.
  • The ability to check source integrity before executing Javascript code previously stored in local storage.

Learn more about the Security Activity.

Last Call: Cross-Origin Resource Sharing

03 April 2012

The Web Application Security Working Group has published a Working Draft of Cross-Origin Resource Sharing. This document, produced jointly with the Web Applications Working Group, defines a mechanism to enable client-side cross-origin requests. Specifications that enable an API to make cross-origin requests to resources can use the algorithms defined by this specification. If such an API is used on http://example.org resources, a resource on http://hello-world.example can opt in using the mechanism described by this specification (e.g., specifying Access-Control-Allow-Origin: http://example.org as response header), which would allow that resource to be fetched cross-origin from http://example.org. Comments are welcome through 1 May 2012. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Three drafts published by the CSS Working Group

03 April 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published three Working Drafts today.

  • CSS Transforms.CSS transforms allows elements styled with CSS to be transformed in two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. This specification is the convergence of the CSS 2D transforms, CSS 3D transforms and SVG transforms specifications.
  • CSS Animations. This CSS module describes a way for authors to animate the values of CSS properties over time, using keyframes. The behavior of these keyframe animations can be controlled by specifying their duration, number of repeats, and repeating behavior.
  • CSS Transitions.CSS Transitions allows property changes in CSS values to occur smoothly over a specified duration.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

Note: Requirements for Japanese Text Layout Updated

03 April 2012

Participants in the Japanese Layout Task Force (with input from four W3C Working Groups, CSS, Internationalization Core, SVG and XSL Working Groups) published a second version of a Group Note: Requirements of Japanese Text Layout. This document describes requirements for general Japanese layout realized with technologies like CSS, SVG and XSL-FO. The document is mainly based on a standard for Japanese layout, JIS X 4051, however, it also addresses areas which are not covered by JIS X 4051. This second version of the document contains a significant amount of additional information related to hanmen design, such as handling headings, placement of illustrations and tables, handling of notes and reference marks, etc. A Japanese version is also available. Learn more about W3C's Internationalization Activity.

Ten HTML5 Drafts Updated

29 March 2012

The HTML Working Group has published ten updated working drafts:

There is a comprehensive list of the changes made to the HTML5 spec since publication of the previous HTML Working Draft (May 2011). Most of the changes are fine-tuning refinements rather than major new additions, in keeping with the progress of the specification toward greater stability, and transitioning toward an upcoming Candidate Recommendation draft.

Learn more about HTML.

SMIL Timesheets 1.0 Note Published

29 March 2012

The SYMM Working Group has published a Group Note of SMIL Timesheets 1.0. This document defines an XML timing language that makes SMIL 3.0 element and attribute timing control available to a wide range of other XML languages. This language allows SMIL timing to be integrated into a wide variety of a-temporal languages, even when several such languages are combined in a compound document. Because of its similarity with external style and positioning descriptions in the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) language, this functionality has been termed SMIL Timesheets. Learn more about the W3C Synchronized Multimedia Activity.

W3C Expands Presence at WWW 2012 to Increase Community Engagement

27 March 2012

WWW 2012 W3C invites developers, business, government, media, analysts, and all who attend the 2012 World Wide Web Conference to participate in the expanding W3C Track and learn how the Open Web Platform is transforming industry and society. W3C's activities at the conference this year, from 16-20 April at the Lyon Convention Center in France, include:

  • Tim Berners-Lee Keynote (and participation in Workshops and a Panel)
  • W3C Tutorial Track (NEW!), four half-day presentations on CSS3 in Style, Accessibility in Tomorrow's Web, Developing Mobile Web Applications, Open Data in Practice
  • W3C Track: Camp-style half-day interactive discussions with W3C experts and Web users on Web Security and Privacy, and HTML5 Games

A number of W3C staff will be on hand to discuss HTML5, CSS, and other technologies of the Open Web Platform. Attendees can also learn about W3C online training and participation in W3C Community Groups, and meet representatives of the new W3C France Office. The France Office and Inria will have a booth (number 54) in the exhibition area at the Lyon Convention Center. Read the full press release for details and see you in Lyon.

Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) Draft Published

27 March 2012

The First Public Working Draft of Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) was published today by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) and Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG), through the joint WCAG 2.0 Evaluation Methodology Task Force (Eval TF). WCAG-EM provides an approach for evaluating how websites - including web applications and websites for mobile devices - conform to WCAG 2.0. Learn more about WCAG-EM Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology Draft Published and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Three drafts published by the XML Query Working Group

27 March 2012

The XML Query Working Group has published three Working Drafts today.

Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

Last Call: Widget Updates

22 March 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Widget Updates. This specification defines a process and a document format to allow a user agent to update an installed widget package with a different version of a widget package. A widget cannot automatically update itself; instead, a widget relies on the user agent to manage the update process. Comments are welcome through 19 April. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

CSS Specifications Updated: Flexible Box Layout, Grid Layout

22 March 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published two Working Drafts:

  • CSS Flexible Box Layout Module describes a CSS box model optimized for user interface design. In the flexbox layout model, the children of a flexbox can be laid out in any direction, and can "flex" their sizes, either growing to fill unused space or shrinking to avoid overflowing the parent. Both horizontal and vertical alignment of the children can be easily manipulated. Nesting of these boxes (horizontal inside vertical, or vertical inside horizontal) can be used to build layouts in two dimensions.
  • CSS Grid Layout which allows designers to define invisible grids of horizontal and vertical lines. Elements from a document can then be anchored to points in the grid, which aligns them visually to each other, even if they are not next to each other in the source.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

The Media Capture API Note Published

22 March 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Group Note of The Media Capture API. This specification defined an Application Programming Interface (API) that provided access to the audio, image and video capture capabilities of the device. Development on it has stopped, and further work is taking place as part of “getusermedia: Getting access to local devices that can generate multimedia streams”. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of CSS Speech Module

20 March 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of CSS Speech Module. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language that describes the rendering of markup documents (e.g. HTML, XML) on various supports, such as screen, paper, speech, etc. The Speech module defines aural CSS properties that enable authors to declaratively control the rendering of documents via speech synthesis, and using optional audio cues. Note that this standard was developed in cooperation with the Voice Browser Activity. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Call for Review: Media Fragments URI 1.0 (basic) Proposed Recommendation Published

15 March 2012

The Media Fragments Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Media Fragments URI 1.0 (basic). This document describes the Media Fragments 1.0 (basic) specification. It specifies the syntax for constructing media fragment URIs and explains how to handle them when used over the HTTP protocol. The syntax is based on the specification of particular name-value pairs that can be used in URI fragment and URI query requests to restrict a media resource to a certain fragment. The Media Fragment WG has no authority to update registries of all targeted media types. We recommend media type owners to harmonize their existing schemes with the ones proposed in this document and update or add the fragment semantics specification to their media type registration. Comments are welcome through 26 April. Learn more about the Video in the Web Activity.

Web Audio API Draft Published

15 March 2012

The Audio Working Group has published a Working Draft of Web Audio API. This specification describes a high-level JavaScript API for processing and synthesizing audio in web applications. The primary paradigm is of an audio routing graph, where a number of AudioNode objects are connected together to define the overall audio rendering. The actual processing will primarily take place in the underlying implementation (typically optimized Assembly / C / C++ code), but direct JavaScript processing and synthesis is also supported. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Two Drafts Published by the Tracking Protection Working Group

13 March 2012

The Tracking Protection Working Group has published two documents today.

  • A First Public Working Draft of Tracking Compliance and Scope which defines the meaning of a Do Not Track (DNT) preference and sets out practices for websites to comply with this preference.
  • A First Public Working Draft of Tracking Preference Expression (DNT) which defines the technical mechanisms for expressing a tracking preference via the DNT request header field in HTTP, via an HTML DOM property readable by embedded scripts, and via properties accessible to various user agent plug-in or extension APIs. It also defines mechanisms for sites to signal whether and how they honor this preference, both in the form of a machine-readable tracking status resource at a well-known location and via a "Tk" response header field, and a mechanism for allowing the user to approve site-specific exceptions to DNT as desired.

Learn more about the Privacy Activity.

Three Web Applications Working Group specifications published

13 March 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published three documents today.

  • A Last Call Working Draft of HTML5 Web Messaging which defines two mechanisms for communicating between browsing contexts in HTML documents. Comments are welcome through 03 April.
  • A Last Call Working Draft of Web Workers that defines an API that allows Web application authors to spawn background workers running scripts in parallel to their main page. This allows for thread-like operation with message-passing as the coordination mechanism. Comments are welcome through 03 April.
  • A Group Note of Widget URI scheme that defines the widget URI scheme and rules for dereferencing a widget URI, which can be used to address resources inside a package. The dereferencing model relies on HTTP semantics to return resources in a manner akin to a HTTP GET request. Doing so allows this URI scheme to be used with other technologies that rely on HTTP responses to function as intended, such as XMLHTTPRequest.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of Navigation Timing

13 March 2012

The Web Performance Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of Navigation Timing. This specification defines an interface for web applications to access timing information related to navigation and elements. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call: High Resolution Time

13 March 2012

The Web Performance Working Group has published a First Public and Last Call Working Draft of High Resolution Time. This document defines a Javascript interface that provides the current time in sub-millisecond resolution and such that it is not subject to system clock skew or adjustments. Comments are welcome through 10 April. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of RDFa Core 1.1, RDFa Lite 1.1 and XHTML+RDFa 1.1

13 March 2012

The RDF Web Applications Working Group has published three Candidate Recommendation documents for RDFa Core 1.1, RDFa Lite 1.1 and XHTML+RDFa 1.1.

Together, these documents outline the vision for RDFa in a variety of XML and HTML-based Web markup languages. RDFa Core 1.1 specifies the core syntax and processing rules for RDFa 1.1 and how the language is intended to be used in XML documents. RDFa Lite 1.1 provides a simple subset of RDFa for novice web authors. XHTML+RDFa 1.1 specifies the usage of RDFa in the XHTML markup language.

A number of improvements have been made to RDFa 1.1 over the past year by working closely with Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and the other search engine developers. Public review and comments have resulted in a number of further refinements to the language that eases the learning curve for beginner Web authors.

The release of these Candidate Recommendation documents is a signal to developers that the Working Group believes that each specification is ready for implementation. The RDF Web Applications Working Group thus kindly asks for developers across the Web to implement the specification and provide implementation feedback via the RDF Web Applications Working Group mailing list.

You can learn more about similar projects to RDFa via the W3C's Semantic Web Activity homepage.

XML Security WG publishes Candidate Recommendation Drafts for XML Encryption 1.1

13 March 2012

The XML Security Working Group has published the "XML Encryption 1.1" Candidate Recommendation. This is a new CR publication which reflects changes since the previous CR publication to address newly publicized chosen-ciphertext attacks against the CBC class of algorithms. Changes include making an authenticated encryption algorithm mandatory to implement (AES-128-GCM), updating the security considerations and adding additional algorithm choices to the RSA-OAEP key transport algorithm set to provide algorithm agility. Additional changes include various editorial improvements. Details of all changes are noted in the status section of the document.

The Working Group also has published a CR draft outlining the use of XML Signature 2.0 transforms in XML Encryption 1.1 - the "XML Encryption 1.1 CipherReference Processing using 2.0 Transforms" Candidate Recommendation.

To address patent disclosures related to the XML Signature 1.1 and XML Encryption 1.1 specifications, the W3C has chartered a Patent Advisory Group.

Learn more about the Security Activity.

W3C Workshop - Using Open Data: policy modeling, citizen empowerment, data journalism

09 March 2012

W3C announces today a Workshop on Using Open Data: policy modeling, citizen empowerment, data journalism. For many years, W3C has been a keen promoter of Open Data, fostering a culture in which public administrations make their data available, ideally in machine-processable formats. Many governments have embraced the idea with enthusiasm, setting up national data portals. As part of the FP7-funded Crossover Project, W3C and the European Commission are running a Workshop to ask a simple question: what is all the 'new' government open data being used for? The Workshop takes place 19-20 June in Brussels, Belgium at the European Commission Headquarters. W3C Membership is not required to participate, but participation is limited to 80 people and participants must submit position papers. Workshop participants will focus on uses of open data, not its publication. In particular, the intention is that participants will highlight uses of data for tools that aid policy modeling, that empower citizens, and that can be usefully visualized for data journalism. For more information, see the Workshop home page.

Last Call: CSS Values and Units Module Level 3

08 March 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of CSS Values and Units Module Level 3. This CSS3 module describes the common values and units that CSS properties accept and the syntax used for describing them in CSS property definitions. Comments are welcome through 29 March. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Two Notes Published by the HTML Data Task Force

08 March 2012

The HTML Data Task Force, Semantic Web Interest Group has published two Notes today:

  • The HTML Data Guide aims to help publishers and consumers of HTML data. With several syntaxes (microformats, microdata, RDFa) and vocabularies (schema.org, Dublin Core, microformat vocabularies, etc.) to choose from, it provides guidance on deciding what to choose in a way that meets the publisher's or consumer's needs.
  • The Microdata to RDF describes processing rules that may be used to extract RDF from an HTML document containing micro data.

Both documents are Interest Group Notes, meaning that no further work is planned on the documents themselves, although future Working Groups may use these as input documents for further Recommendation Work.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

W3C Launches Work to Simplify Creation of Content in World's Languages

07 March 2012

MultilingualWeb-LT Today W3C announced new work to make it easier for people to create Web content in the world's languages. The lack of standards for exchanging information about translations is estimated to cost the industry as much as 20% more in translation costs, amounting to billions of dollars. In addition, barriers to distributing content in more than one language mean lost business. Multinational companies often need to translate Web content into dozens of languages simultaneously, and public bodies from Europe and India typically must communicate with citizens in many languages. As the Web becomes more diverse linguistically, translation demands will continue to grow.

The MultilingualWeb–LT (Language Technology) Working Group will develop standard ways to support the (automatic and manual) translation and adaptation of Web content to local needs, from its creation to its delivery to end users. Read the press release and learn more about the W3C Internationalization Activity. The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group receives funding from the European Commission (project name LT-Web) through the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

MediaStream Capture Scenarios Draft Published

06 March 2012

The Device APIs Working Group and Web Real-Time Communications Working Group have published a First Public Working Draft of MediaStream Capture Scenarios. This document collates the scenarios that are target use cases for the Media Capture API that enables access to media input capabilities for Web applications using Javascript. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

Two Drafts Published by the CSS Working Group

28 February 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published two First Public Working Drafts today:

  • CSS Transforms. CSS transforms allows elements styled with CSS to be transformed in two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. This specification is the convergence of the CSS 2D transforms, CSS 3D transforms and SVG transforms specifications.
  • CSS Fragmentation Module Level 3. This module describes the fragmentation model that partitions a flow into pages. It builds on the Page model module and introduces and defines the fragmentation model. It adds functionality for pagination, breaking variable fragment size and orientation, widows and orphans.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

Demos with W3C at Mobile World Congress 2012

24 February 2012

MWC imagery W3C invites media, analysts, and other attendees of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2012 to meet with W3C and learn how the Open Web Platform is transforming industry. From 27 February through 1 March W3C will showcase demonstrations at its booth in Hall 2, Stand 2A31. Demonstrations include:

  • Webinos: Wallet in my Phone, The Vehicle API, Zap and Shake, Air Hockey
  • AT&T: HTML5
  • Opera Software: The Latest on Standards Support in Opera Mobile and Opera’s Mobile Debugging Tools
  • RIM/BlackBerry: PlayBook/QNX platform
  • SK Telecom: CanvasGL: The Fastest GPU-Accelerated WebKit
  • And more!

In time for the event, W3C has updated Standards for Web Applications on Mobile: February 2012 current state and roadmap, which summarizes the various technologies developed in W3C that increase the capabilities of Web applications, and how they apply more specifically to the mobile context.

Learn more about the demo schedule and W3C @ MWC 2012.

White House Supports Do Not Track Technology from W3C

23 February 2012

Today the White House announces a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and support for W3C's Do Not Track technology. The announcement includes: "In response to calls from the Administration and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), leading Internet companies and online advertising networks are committing to use Do Not Track technology from the World Wide Web Consortium in most major web browsers to make it easier for users to control online tracking."

W3C is building consensus around global Web technology that will allow users to express a preference regarding being tracked online, and what is necessary to comply with the user's preference. W3C welcomes support from the US Government for the steps that industry and civil society are taking within W3C to give users meaningful privacy choices and options for consent.

“Personal privacy on the Web is one of the most important policy and technical issues of the decade,” said Dr. Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO. “Standards for online consumer privacy should be developed in a global forum, led by industry, with multistakeholder participation. W3C is well-positioned as the forum to address complex online privacy issues.”

Read the full W3C press release and learn more about W3C's Privacy Activity.

W3C Invites Implementations of R2RML and A Direct Mapping of Relational Data to RDF

23 February 2012

The RDB2RDF Working Group has published two Candidate Recommendation documents that help to bring relational database information to the Semantic Web: R2RML: RDB to RDF Mapping Language and A Direct Mapping of Relational Data to RDF. The former describes R2RML, a language for expressing customized mappings from relational databases to RDF datasets. Such mappings provide the ability to view existing relational data in the RDF data model, expressed in a structure and target vocabulary of the mapping author's choice. The latter document defines a direct mapping from relational data to RDF. Implementations are invited. Test Cases are available at: http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/rdb2rdf/test-cases/. Directions on how to submit implementation reports and test case results are at: http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/rdb2rdf/wiki/Submitting_Implementation_Reports. Comments and implementation experience reports are welcome through 30 April 2012. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Clipboard API and events Draft Published

23 February 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of Clipboard API and events. This specification defines the common clipboard operations of cutting, copying and pasting, in such a way that they are exposed to Web Applications and can be adapted to provide advanced functionalities. Its goal is to provide for compatibility where possible with existing implementations. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

How to Make Your Presentations Accessible to All is updated

21 February 2012

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) has updated How to Make Presentations Accessible to All. This WAI resource helps you make presentations, meetings, training, conferences, etc. accessible to all of your potential audience, including people with disabilities and others. It covers planning, preparing slides, considerations during your presentation, providing accessible material, and other topics for conference organizers and presenters. Learn more in the blog post Make Your Presentations Accessible to All updated - share the news and visit the WAI home page.

Last Call: Timing control for script-based animations

21 February 2012

The Web Performance Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Timing control for script-based animations. This document defines an API web page authors can use to write script-based animations where the user agent is in control of limiting the update rate of the animation. The user agent is in a better position to determine the ideal animation rate based on whether the page is currently in a foreground or background tab, what the current load on the CPU is, and so on. Using this API should therefore result in more appropriate utilization of the CPU by the browser. Comments are welcome through 20 March. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Launches Privacy Interest Group

17 February 2012

W3C launched today a new Privacy Interest Group, whose mission is to improve the support of privacy in Web standards by monitoring ongoing privacy issues that affect the Web, investigating potential areas for new privacy work, and providing guidelines and advice for addressing privacy in standards development. The group may consider issues such as online tracking; location, health and financial data; eGovernment initiatives; and online social networking and identity. Where appropriate, the Interest Group will recommend areas where W3C should begin recommendation-track standards work on privacy issues and may prototype or initiate such work within the group. Participation in the Privacy Interest Group is open to the public. Learn more about Privacy.

W3C Opens Office in Russia

16 February 2012

W3C announces today the opening of a new Russia Offices, as part of increasing inclusion and participation in W3C. The Office is hosted by the National Research University "Higher School of Economics" (HSE), founded in 1992. As one of Moscow's leading Universities, HSE will work with W3C to strengthen ties to both industry and research in Russia as well as HSE's many international academic and industry partners.

"I am happy to welcome W3C in Russia," said Victor Klintsov, Deputy Director of Institute of Information Technology at HSE and the head of the new Office. "It is very positive to see growing demand for Russian talent not only to be included in one of the most dynamic industries, but also to shape it. Second, it is quite important for Russian specialists to contribute to the most prominent area of Internet development: the Web."

Read more in our press release.

SOAP over Java Message Service 1.0 is a W3C Recommendation

16 February 2012

The SOAP-JMS Binding Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of SOAP over Java Message Service 1.0. This document specifies how SOAP binds to a messaging system that supports the Java Message Service (JMS) [Java Message Service]. Binding is specified for both SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2 using the SOAP 1.2 Protocol Binding Framework. This specification also describes how to use WSDL documents to indicate and control the use of this binding. Learn more about the Web Services Activity.

State Chart XML (SCXML): State Machine Notation for Control Abstraction Draft Published

16 February 2012

The Voice Browser Working Group has published a Working Draft of State Chart XML (SCXML): State Machine Notation for Control Abstraction. This document describes SCXML, or the "State Chart extensible Markup Language". SCXML provides a generic state-machine based execution environment based on CCXML and Harel State Tables. Learn more about the Voice Browser Activity.

Last Call: CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3

14 February 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3 for the purpose of updating the previous Candidate Recommendation. This module of CSS contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to borders and backgrounds. The main extensions compared to level 2 are borders consisting of images, boxes with multiple backgrounds, boxes with rounded corners and boxes with shadows. All persons are encouraged to review the changes and send comments to the www-style mailing list. The deadline for comments is 6 March 2012. Learn more about the Style Activity.

XInclude 1.1 Requirement and Use Cases Note Published

14 February 2012

The XML Core Working Group has published a Group Note of XInclude 1.1 Requirement and Use Cases. This document outlines the requirements and use cases for to changes to XInclude: support for RFC 5147 and improved communication between the pre- and post-inclusion Infosets. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

New Mobile Web 2 - Applications Course Open for Registration; Early Bird Rate through 1 March

10 February 2012

W3C is pleased to announce that registration is open for a new W3C mobile Web course, "Mobile Web 2: Applications". Developed by the W3C/MobiWebApp team and taught by Robin Berjon, chair of the W3C Device APIs Working Group and recently elected as a TAG member, this mobile Web course gives developers all the tools and knowledge necessary to write mobile Web applications that can ship both online and in application stores, using today's advanced technologies. The 8-week course begins 12 March 2012 and costs 225 EUR. However, an early bird rate of 165 EUR is available until 1 March 2012. Enroll now for the early bird rate.

Ontology for Media Resources 1.0 is a W3C Recommendation

09 February 2012

The Media Annotations Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of Ontology for Media Resources 1.0. This document defines the Ontology for Media Resources 1.0. The term "Ontology" is used in its broadest possible definition: a core vocabulary. The intent of this vocabulary is to bridge the different descriptions of media resources, and provide a core set of descriptive properties. This document defines a core set of metadata properties for media resources, along with their mappings to elements from a set of existing metadata formats. Besides that, the document presents a Semantic Web compatible implementation of the abstract ontology using RDF/OWL. The document is mostly targeted towards media resources available on the Web, as opposed to media resources that are only accessible in local repositories. Learn more about the Video in the Web Activity.

WebRTC 1.0: Real-time Communication Between Browsers Draft Published

09 February 2012

The Web Real-Time Communications Working Group has published a Working Draft of WebRTC 1.0: Real-time Communication Between Browsers. This document defines a set of APIs to represent streaming media, including audio and video, in JavaScript, to allow media to be sent over the network to another browser or device implementing the appropriate set of real-time protocols, and media received from another browser or device to be processed and displayed locally. This specification is being developed in conjunction with a protocol specification developed by the IETF RTCWEB group and an API specification to get access to local media devices developed by the Media Capture Task Force. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

EMMA: Extensible MultiModal Annotation markup language Version 1.1 Draft Published

09 February 2012

The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has published a Working Draft of EMMA: Extensible MultiModal Annotation markup language Version 1.1. This document is part of a set of specifications for multimodal systems, and provides details of an XML markup language for containing and annotating the interpretation of user input. Examples of interpretation of user input are a transcription into words of a raw signal, for instance derived from speech, pen or keystroke input, a set of attribute/value pairs describing their meaning, or a set of attribute/value pairs describing a gesture. The interpretation of the user's input is expected to be generated by signal interpretation processes, such as speech and ink recognition, semantic interpreters, and other types of processors for use by components that act on the user's inputs such as interaction managers. Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity.

HTML/XML Task Force Report Note Published

09 February 2012

The Technical Architecture Group has published a Group Note of HTML/XML Task Force Report. This document is the report of the TAG Task Force established to explore how interoperability between HTML and XML could be improved. It describes several use cases that the Task Force considered relevant and proposed resolutions to those cases. Learn more about the Technical Architecture Group.

W3C Demonstrates Power of Open Web Platform at Mobile World Congress 2012

08 February 2012

MWC imagery W3C invites media, analysts, and other attendees of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2012 to meet with W3C and learn how the Open Web Platform is transforming industry. From 27 February through 1 March W3C will showcase demonstrations of HTML5, CSS3, and other open Web technologies at its booth in Hall 2, Stand 2A31. CEO Jeff Jaffe, W3C staff, and some W3C Members will be available as expert resources for media stories and analyst reports on how the Web is changing mobile, television, advertising, games, publishing, automotive, health care, and other industries. Read the media advisory and learn more about W3C @ MWC 2012.

W3C Launches New Markup Validation Service

08 February 2012

The W3C has launched the Nu Markup Validation Service, a non-DTD-based markup validator being made available to the community in parallel to the existing DTD-based validator.w3.org W3C markup validator. The W3C Nu Markup Validation Service uses the same backend as the Validator.nu site, which is also the backend for the HTML5-checking feature of validator.w3.org. The Nu Markup Validation Service is a separate, standalone validator which provides that same HTML5-checking feature while also offering a user interface that exposes additional options, such as full validation support for XHTML5 documents, and the ability to validate documents that contain features from RDFa Core 1.1 and from RDFa Lite 1.1.

Widget Access Request Policy is a W3C Recommendation

07 February 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of Widget Access Request Policy. This specification defines the security model controlling network access from within a widget, as well as a method for authors to request that the user agent grant access to certain network resources or sets thereof. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

CSS Positioned Layout Module Level 3 Draft Published

07 February 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of CSS Positioned Layout Module Level 3. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. This module contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to positioning and stacking of elements. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2, which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are the ability to position elements based on CSS Region boxes, and the ability to specify a different containing blocks for elements. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Last Call: Web IDL

07 February 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Web IDL. This document defines an interface definition language, Web IDL, that can be used to describe interfaces that are intended to be implemented in web browsers. Web IDL is an IDL variant with a number of features that allow the behavior of common script objects in the web platform to be specified more readily. How interfaces described with Web IDL correspond to constructs within ECMAScript execution environments is also detailed in this document. It is expected that this document acts as a guide to implementors of already-published specifications, and that newly published specifications reference this document to ensure conforming implementations of interfaces are interoperable. Comments are welcome through 28 February. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Java language binding for Web IDL Draft Published

07 February 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Java language binding for Web IDL. This document defines the Java language binding for Web IDL, the interface definition language for the Web platform. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

W3C Introduces Startup Level for Membership

03 February 2012

To increase and broaden participation in its activities, W3C announces today a new startup membership level for small organizations new to W3C. Organizations are eligible for the new level depending on their size (10 or fewer employees) and annual revenues. This new level is available for the first two years of Membership. Please see the startup level description for details and more information about eligibility. Please contact membership@w3.org if you have any questions.

Last Call: Vibration API

02 February 2012

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of Vibration API. This specification defines an API that provides access to the vibration mechanism of the hosting device. Vibration is a form of tactile feedback. The API is designed to tackle high-value use cases related to gaming, and is not meant to be used as a generic notification mechanism. Comments are welcome through 01 March. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

The PROV Data Model and Abstract Syntax Notation Draft Published

02 February 2012

The Provenance Working Group has published a Working Draft of The PROV Data Model and Abstract Syntax Notation. PROV-DM is a data model for provenance for building representations of the entities, people and activities involved in producing a piece of data or thing in the world. PROV-DM is domain-agnostic, but is equipped with extensibility points allowing further domain-specific and application-specific extensions to be defined. PROV-DM is accompanied by PROV-ASN, a technology-independent abstract syntax notation, which allows serializations of PROV-DM instances to be created for human consumption, which facilitates its mapping to concrete syntax, and which is used as the basis for a formal semantics. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

BAD to Good Updated: Demo shows web accessibility barriers fixed

31 January 2012

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) has updated the Before and After Demonstration (BAD). BAD shows an inaccessible website and a retrofitted version of the same website with the accessibility barriers fixed. Read the update e-mail and learn about Accessibility.

Internet Society Board Approves Donation to Support W3C Stewardship of Open Web Platform

31 January 2012

In its continuing efforts to foster an open Internet ecosystem, the Internet Society today announced a 1M USD donation to the World Wide Web Consortium. This donation, the final installment of the Internet Society’s 2009 pledge of 2.5M USD over three years, supports the continued evolution of W3C as an organization that creates open Web standards.

“The W3C is emblematic of the inclusive, multistakeholder approach that is critical to the continued development, operation, and use of the open, global Internet,” said Raúl Echeberría, Chair of the Internet Society Board of Trustees. “We look forward to continued cooperation between the W3C and the Internet Society to advance our shared values through independent voices.” Read the press release and ISOC and W3C FAQ.

Three Last Call Working Drafts published by the RDF Web Applications Working Group

31 January 2012

The RDF Web Applications Working Group has published three Last Call Working Drafts today:

Together, these documents outline the vision for RDFa in a variety of XML and HTML-based Web markup languages. RDFa Core 1.1 specifies the core syntax and processing rules for RDFa 1.1 and how the language is intended to be used in XML documents. RDFa Lite 1.1 provides a simple subset of RDFa for novice Web authors. XHTML+RDFa 1.1 specifies the usage of RDFa in the XHTML markup language.

A number of improvements have been made to RDFa 1.1 over the past year by working closely with Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and the other search engine developers. Public review and comments have resulted in a number of further refinements to the language that eases the learning curve for beginner Web authors.

The release of these documents as Last Call Working Drafts is a signal to the public that the Working Group believes that all of the technical requirements, public comments and reported issues have been addressed. It is also an open invitation to the general public to review and provide feedback on the finalization of this technology via the RDF Web Applications Working Group mailing list, by 21 February. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

W3C Launches Patent Advisory Group for Touch Events Specification

30 January 2012

In accordance with the W3C Patent Policy, W3C has launched a Patent Advisory Group (PAG) in response to disclosures related to the Touch Events version 1 Specification. The Web Events Working Group develops 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-te-pag@w3.org (with public archive). Learn more about Patent Advisory Groups.

Workshop Report: Data and Services Integration

26 January 2012

W3C today published the report of the Workshop on Data and Services Integration, hosted on 20-21 October 2011 by MITRE in Bedford, Massachusetts, USA. This workshop provided a way for the community to meet and discuss some of the challenges of integration of heterogeneous data and services. With the emergence of the Web, the need for reusing data and services has become even stronger as the number of available services has grown. Different services stacks now exist from Web Services to Cloud-based services. One goal of this workshop was to figure out the needs in the domain of integration that would benefit from standardization, or where discussion via Community or Business Groups could gather a critical mass.

The participants came to the conclusion that solutions to the data integration issues can be the result of better integration of tools helping going cross-stacks. They also discussed how to architect RESTful services in the enterprise, with a plan to create a group to work on Linked Data Patterns, specifically REST-based patterns on RDF and other formats.

Incubator Group Report: Media Analysis Management Interface

25 January 2012

The Media Analysis Management Interface Incubator Group published its final report, Media Analysis Management Interface XG Final Report. The Media Analysis Management Interface (MAMI) enables the understanding of the real world at a low cost by using analysis engines such as video image processing engines, sensor data analysis engines, and so on. It also enables various services to be easily provided, such as physical security, environmental load reduction, and intelligent accessibility services. The MAMI Incubator Group described the requirements of the MAMI and six use cases in three fields: energy saving, video surveillance, and operational improvement. The Incubator Group expects to collaborate with other W3C working groups, in particular the Multimodal Interaction Working Group.

This publication is part of the Incubator Activity. This work is not on the W3C standards track.

Group Note: MMI interoperability test report

24 January 2012

The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has published a Group Note: MMI interoperability test report. This document describes an interoperability test, executed by various members of the Multimodal Interaction Working Group, to demonstrate interoperability of multimodal components which are implementing the "Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces" specification. Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity.

Last Call: XML processor profiles

24 January 2012

The XML Processing Model Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of XML processor profiles. This specification defines several XML processor profiles, each of which defines how any given XML document should be processed, both operationally and in terms of what information must be made available to applications. It is intended as a resource for other specifications, which can by a single normative reference establish precisely what input processing they require as well as what information they require. Comments are welcome through 29 February. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

W3C Invites Implementer Feedback on XML Security 2.0 Specifications

24 January 2012

The XML Security Working Group invites implementation of three Candidate Recommendations: XML Signature Syntax and Processing Version 2.0, Canonical XML Version 2.0, and XML Signature Streaming Profile of XPath 1.0. XML Signatures provide integrity, message authentication, and/or signer authentication services for data of any type, whether located within the XML that includes the signature or elsewhere. The XML Security 2.0 specifications are designed to update the XML Signature and Canonical XML specifications to improve performance, streaming support, robustness, and reduced attack surface.

The Working Group has also published a W3C Note: XML Security RELAX NG Schemas, a document that provides RELAX NG schemas corresponding to the normative XSD schemas for XML Signature 1.1, XML Encryption 1.1, and related specifications.

To address patent disclosures related to the XML Signature 1.1 and XML Encryption 1.1 specifications, W3C has chartered a Patent Advisory Group. Concerns related to XML Signature 1.1 may also apply to XML Signature 2.0.

Learn more about the Security Activity.

Call for Review of two XML Schema Proposed Recommendations

19 January 2012

The XML Schema Working Group has published Proposed Recommendations of two specifications: W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 Part 1: Structures, W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 Part 2: Datatypes. The former specifies the XML Schema Definition Language, which offers facilities for describing the structure and constraining the contents of XML documents, including those which exploit the XML Namespace facility. The schema language, which is itself represented in an XML vocabulary and uses namespaces, substantially reconstructs and considerably extends the capabilities found in XML document type definitions (DTDs). This specification depends on XML Schema Definition Language 1.1 Part 2: Datatypes, which defines facilities for defining datatypes to be used in XML Schemas as well as other XML specifications. The datatype language, which is itself represented in XML, provides a superset of the capabilities found in XML document type definitions (DTDs) for specifying datatypes on elements and attributes. Comments are welcome through 20 February. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 2.0 Draft Published

19 January 2012

The XML Print and Page Layout Working Group has published a Working Draft of Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 2.0. XSL-FO is an XML vocabulary that uses CSS and additional properties for formatting documents to paged media. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

CSS Text Level 3 Draft Published

19 January 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Text Level 3. This CSS3 module defines properties for text manipulation and specifies their processing model. It covers line breaking, justification and alignment, white space handling, text decoration and text transformation. Learn more about the Style Activity.

XMLHttpRequest Level 2 Draft Published

18 January 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of XMLHttpRequest Level 2. The XMLHttpRequest specification defines an API that provides scripted client functionality for transferring data between a client and a server. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Workshop Report: Linked Enterprise Data Workshop

18 January 2012

W3C today published the final report of the Linked Enterprise Data Workshop, hosted by W3C on the 6-7 December in Cambridge, MA, USA. This workshop provided a way for the community to meet and discuss some of the challenges when deploying application relying on the principles of Linked Data. The presentations covered many different topics, ranging from the benefits a set of additional conventions would bring to specific technical issues such as the challenges of dealing with the reality that URLs do change sometimes, as well as the need for a more robust security model, and specific gaps in the current set of standards.

Participants of the Workshop agreed that W3C should create a Working Group to define a “Linked Data Platform”. This is expected to be an enumeration of specifications which constitute Linked Data, with some small additional specifications to cover specific functionality such as pagination. We anticipate a draft charter will be available in the coming weeks.

W3C Invites Implementations of Navigation Timing

18 January 2012

The Web Performance Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of Navigation Timing. User latency is an important quality benchmark for Web Applications. While JavaScript-based mechanisms can provide comprehensive instrumentation for user latency measurements within an application, in many cases, they are unable to provide a complete end-to-end latency picture. To address the need for complete information on user experience, this document introduces the PerformanceTiming interfaces. This interface allows JavaScript mechanisms to provide complete client-side latency measurements within applications. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call: CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 3 (CSS3 UI)

18 January 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 3 (CSS3 UI). The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a language for describing the rendering of HTML and XML documents on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. It uses various selectors, properties and values to style basic user interface elements in a document. This specification describes those user interface related selectors, properties and values that are proposed for CSS level 3 to style HTML and XML (including XHTML and XForms). It includes and extends user interface related features from the selectors, properties and values of CSS level 2 revision 1 and Selectors specifications. Comments are welcome through 14 February. Learn more about the Style Activity.

Report: Social Business - Next Steps after the Jam

17 January 2012

W3C Jam image W3C today published the final report of the Social Business Jam. The report authors recommended starting a W3C Social Business Community Group to evolve social standards around customer-driven use-cases. Participants in the the event, which took place last November using IBM's Collaboration Jam platform, explored how standards around social networking, such as those developed by the Federated Social Web XG, could lead to increased innovation throughout the business cycle. Over 1000 participants discussed topics such as identity management, mobile, attention, business processes, integration, and metrics. W3C invites people to join the Social Business Community Group.

W3C Invites Implementations of Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces

12 January 2012

The Multimodal Interaction Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces. The specification describes a loosely coupled architecture for multimodal user interfaces, which allows for co-resident and distributed implementations, and focuses on the role of markup and scripting, and the use of well defined interfaces between its constituents. Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity.

Two Drafts Published by the HTML Data Task Force

12 January 2012

The HTML Data Task Force of the Semantic Web Interest Group has published two documents today:

  • The HTML Data Guide aims to help publishers and consumers of HTML data. With several syntaxes (microformats, microdata, RDFa) and vocabularies (schema.org, Dublin Core, microformat vocabularies, etc.) to choose from, it provides guidance on deciding what to choose in a way that meets the publisher's or consumer's needs.
  • The Microdata to RDF describes processing rules that may be used to extract RDF from an HTML document containing microdata.

Both documents are Working Drafts, with the goal of publishing a final version as Interest Group Notes. Comments and feedbacks are welcome; please send them to the public-html-data-tf@w3.org mailing list.

Last Call: CSS Image Values and Replaced Content Module Level 3

12 January 2012

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of CSS Image Values and Replaced Content Module Level 3. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. This module contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to the <image> type and replaced elements. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2, which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are the generalization of the <url> type to the <image> type, several additions to the ‘<image>’ type, a generic sizing algorithm for images and other replaced content in CSS, and several properties controlling the interaction of replaced elements and CSS's layout models. Comments are welcome through 07 February. Learn more about the Style Activity.

W3C Advisory Committee Elects Technical Architecture Group Participants

11 January 2012

The W3C Advisory Committee has elected Robin Berjon (unaffiliated) and re-elected Henry Thompson (U. of Edinburgh) to the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG). W3C Director and TAG co-Chair Tim Berners-Lee also re-appointed Noah Mendelsohn (unaffiliated) and Jonathan Rees (Creative Commons). They join continuing participants Peter Linss (HP), Ashok Malhotra (Oracle), Larry Masinter (Adobe), and Jeni Tennison (unaffiliated). Many thanks to Dan Appelquist whose term ends this month. The mission of the TAG is to build consensus around principles of Web architecture and to interpret and clarify these principles when necessary, to resolve issues involving general Web architecture brought to the TAG, and to help coordinate cross-technology architecture developments inside and outside W3C. Read the TAG's December 2011 finding Identifying Application State and learn more about their public work plan.

Last Call: WAI-ARIA 1.0 User Agent Implementation Guide

10 January 2012

The Protocols and Formats Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of WAI-ARIA 1.0 User Agent Implementation Guide. This document describes how user agents should support keyboard navigation and respond to roles, states, and properties provided in Web content via WAI-ARIA. These features are used by authors creating accessible rich internet applications. Users often access the content using assistive technologies that rely on platform accessibility APIs to obtain and interact with information from the page. The WAI-ARIA User Agent Implementation Guide defines how implementations should expose content to accessibility APIs, helping to ensure that this information appears in a manner consistent with author intent. This document is part of the WAI-ARIA suite described in the WAI-ARIA Overview. Comments are welcome through 17 February. Learn more about the WAI Technical Activity.

First Drafts of Two Provenance Specifications Published

10 January 2012

The Provenance Working Group has published two First Public Working Drafts:

  • PROV-AQ: Provenance Access and Query which specifies how to use standard Web protocols, including HTTP, to obtain information about the provenance of Web resources. This is part of the larger W3C provenance framework. Provenance refers to the sources of information, such as people and processes, involved in producing or delivering Web documents, data, and resources.
  • PROV Model Primer which provides an intuitive introduction and guide to the core data model for building representations of the entities, people and processes involved in producing a piece of data or thing in the world.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

Register for Mobile Web Best Practices Course; Early Bird Rate Ends 9 January

06 January 2012

We invite you to register for the W3C Mobile Web and Application Best Practices (MWABP) course. Register by 9 January and save 60 Euros. This is the third edition of this online course, which begins 30 January for 8 weeks. Developed by the W3C/MobiWebApp team, this course will be taught by Frances de Waal and Phil Archer. Participants spend an average of 4-6 hours per week on the course material and assignments. Read the past students' feedback and find out more about the course.

Last Call: Five SPARQL 1.1 Drafts

05 January 2012

The SPARQL Working Group has published (second) Last Call Working Drafts of the following SPARQL 1.1 documents. SPARQL is a set of specfications related to querying a web of linked data. Today's publications

  • SPARQL 1.1 Update defines an update language for RDF graphs.
  • SPARQL 1.1 Service Description defines a vocabulary and discovery mechanism for describing the capabilities of a SPARQL endpoint.
  • SPARQL 1.1 Query Language adds support for aggregates, subqueries, projected expressions, and negation to the SPARQL query language.
  • SPARQL 1.1 Protocol describes a means for conveying SPARQL queries and updates to a SPARQL processing service and returning the results via HTTP to the entity that requested them.
  • SPARQL 1.1 Entailment Regimes defines conditions under which SPARQL queries can be used with entailment regimes such as RDF, RDF Schema, OWL, or RIF.

Review comments welcome through 6 February. Learn more about the Semantic Web and Linked Data.

DOM4 Draft Published

05 January 2012

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of DOM4. DOM4 defines the event and document model the Web platform uses. The DOM is a language- and platform-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content and structure of documents. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Last Call for Two XML Encryption 1.1 Specifications; Related Drafts Published

05 January 2012

The XML Security Working Group has published a new Last Call Working Draft of "XML Encryption 1.1" to solicit review of changes since the previous Candidate Recommendation. The primary changes are to (1) make the AES-128-GCM algorithm mandatory to implement, to address newly publicized chosen-ciphertext attacks against the CBC class of algorithms, (2) add new security considerations related to chosen-ciphertext attacks, timing attacks, CBC block encryption vulnerabilities, and the insecure use of error messages, (3) add a new algorithm for the RSA-OAEP key transport that does not require SHA-1 with the mask generation function, enabling use of various hash MGF combinations.

The XML Security WG is also soliciting review of the Last Call working draft of "XML Encryption 1.1 CipherReference Processing using 2.0 Transforms". This specification brings the simplification benefits of the ongoing XML Security 2.0 effort to XML Encryption CipherReference transform processing. Feedback on both of these Last Call drafts is requested by 16 February 2012.

The Working Group also published today First Public Working Drafts of "Test Cases for XML Encryption 1.1" and "Test Cases for Canonical XML 2.0" and encourages community participation in developing further tests and performing testing. In addition, they updated "XML Security Algorithm Cross-Reference" to reflect new algorithm definitions in XML Encryption 1.1. Learn more about the W3C Security Activity.

Updated Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0

03 January 2012

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group today published updates of two Notes that accompany WCAG 2.0: Techniques for WCAG 2.0 and Understanding WCAG 2.0. (This is not an update to WCAG 2.0, which is a stable document.) To learn more about WCAG Techniques and about contributing to future updates, see the WCAG Techniques Updated - Learn about the informative guidance blog post. Read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

First Draft of Media Accessibility User Requirements Published

03 January 2012

The Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG) today published a First Public Working Draft of Media Accessibility User Requirements that describes the accessibility requirements of people with disabilities with respect to audio and video on the Web, particularly in the context of HTML5. Learn more from the call for review email and about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).