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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.