Structured data on the Web gained additional momentum with the June 2011 announcement from Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! of schema.org, which "provides a collection of schemas ... that webmasters can use to markup their pages in ways recognized by major search providers." The launch raised two topics in particular that will now be the focus of new task forces within W3C's Semantic Web Interest Group; schema.org will participate in these discussions:

• Web Schemas Task Force, to be chaired by R.V. Guha (Google). This task force will focus on collaboration around vocabularies.
• HTML Data Task Force, to be chaired by Jeni Tennison. This task force will focus on the relationship between RDFa, microdata, and other approaches to structured data on the Web, including how people can combine data sources or translate from one syntax to another.

Anyone may participate in these task forces; for more information see the Semantic Web Interest Group home page. Learn more about the Semantic Web.

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group published two W3C Recommendations today: CSS Namespaces Module and Selectors Level 3. The first defines the syntax for using namespaces in CSS. The second defines the patterns that style sheet designers may use to match parts of a document; see the list of changes from CSS2 selectors. The Working Group also published the First Draft of Selectors Level 4, which introduces powerful new selectors. Learn more about the Style Activity.

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of The WebSocket API. To enable Web applications to maintain bidirectional communications with server-side processes, this specification introduces the WebSocket interface. Comments are welcome through 21 October. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

The Web Services Resource Access Working Group has published Proposed Recommendations of seven Web Services specifications: Enumeration (WS-Enumeration), Event Descriptions (WS-EventDescriptions), Eventing (WS-Eventing), Fragment (WS-Fragment), Metadata Exchange (WS-MetadataExchange), SOAP Assertions (WS-SOAPAssertions), and Transfer (WS-Transfer). Comments welcome through 4 November 2011. Learn more about the Web Services Activity.

The XML Print and Page Layout Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL-FO) Version 2.0. XSL-FO is a powerful template-based language for formatting XML documents. This is the first draft that includes the existing specification as well as new work, although some new features from the previous draft are not yet included. Learn more about XML.

The Web Applications Working Group published a W3C Recommendation today of Widget Packaging and XML Configuration. This specification standardizes a packaging format and metadata for a class of software known as 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.

The Working Group also published today:

• a Working Draft of Widget URI scheme, which defines the widget URI scheme and rules for dereferencing a widget URI, which can be used to address resources inside a package.
• a Note of Requirement For Standardizing Widgets, which lists the design goals and requirements that specifications would need to address in order to standardize various aspects of widgets.
• a Last Call Working Draft of Web IDL, which 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. Last call comments welcome through 18 October 2011.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new W3C online course: HTML5 Audio and Video. Taught by Mark Boas, one of the HTML5 doctors, the course will last 5 weeks, from 17 October to 20 November 2011. Through this course students will learn how to use HTML5 media in Web pages and applications. The full price of the course is €225 but we have a limited number of seats available at the early bird rate of €145, available until 7 October 2011. Register today!

Linked Data technology offers huge potential for enterprise applications such as the integration and the management of data within and across enterprises. The distributed nature of Linked Data enables loose-coupling for data sharing within and between organizations. With Linked Data, enterprises have a unique opportunity to cooperate in their use of shared data without the costs of extensive coordination. W3C is organizing a Workshop on Linked Enterprise Data Patterns: Data-driven Applications on the Web for participants to discuss requirements, share solutions, and develop a healthy and scalable Linked Enterprise Data infrastructure. The Workshop takes place 6-7 December in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Anyone may participate; W3C membership is not required. All participants are required to submit a position paper by 25 October. Learn more about the Workshop and the Semantic Web.

The Web Applications Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of Progress Events. The Progress Events specification defines an event interface that can be used for measuring progress; e.g., HTTP entity body transfers. This specification is primarily meant to be used by other specifications. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.