The Model-Based User Interfaces Working Group has published a Working Draft of MBUI – Abstract User Interface Models. Model-Based User Interface Design facilitates interchange of designs through a layered approach that separates out different levels of abstraction in user interface design. This document covers the specification of Abstract User Interface Models, by defining its semantics through a meta-model, and an interchange syntax (expressed as XML Schema) for exchanging Abstract User Interface Models between different user interface development environments. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

The HTML Working Group has published two Working Drafts today:

• W3C DOM4, which defines a platform-neutral model for events, promises, and document nodes.
• Use Cases and Requirements for Standardizing Responsive Images, which captures the use cases and requirements for standardizing a solution for responsive images. The use cases and requirements were gathered with consultation with the HTML Working Group and WHATWG participants, Responsive Images Community Group members, and the general public.

Learn more about the HTML Activity.

The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG) invites implementations of the Candidate Recommendation Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0, and comments on a Working Draft of the Note 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, and defines how to make authoring tools accessible so that people with disabilities can use them. ATAG is introduced in the ATAG Overview and ATAG at a Glance. Authoring tools include content management systems (CMS), learning management systems (LMS), HTML editors, blogs, wikis, social media, and development environments. AUWG invites developers of authoring tools who might be interested in sharing your ATAG implementation experience to contact AUWG by 7 December 2013. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG) today published the Last Call Working Draft of User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) 2.0 and a Working Draft of 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. UAWG particularly requests that developers of browsers, media players, and web applications review and comment on these guidelines by 16 December 2013. Learn more in the UAAG Overview and read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

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.

The RDF Working Group has published a Group Note of RDF 1.1 JSON Alternate Serialization (RDF/JSON). The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a framework for representing information in the Web. This document defines a textual syntax for RDF called RDF/JSON that allows an RDF graph to be completely written in a form compatible with the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and alternative to the one recommended in JSON-LD. The syntax defined in this document should not be used unless there is a specific reason to do so. Use of JSON-LD is recommended. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

The Web Applications Working Group has published four Working Drafts:

• Streams API. This specification provides an API for representing binary data and string data in web applications as a Stream object, as well as programmatically building and reading its contents. This includes a Stream, a StreamConsumeResult and a StreamReadType interfaces, extensions to XMLHttpRequest and to URL.createObjectURL and URL.revokeObjectURL. This API is designed to be used in conjunction with other APIs and elements on the web platform, notably: File, XMLHttpRequest, postMessage, and Web Workers.
• 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.
• 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.
• UI Events. This specification extends the events and features defined in DOM Events Level 3.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

The Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG) today published the updated Last Call 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 6 December. Learn more in the call for review e-mail and read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of CSS Syntax Module Level 3. This module describes, in general terms, the basic structure and syntax of CSS stylesheets. It defines, in detail, the syntax and parsing of CSS – how to turn a stream of bytes into a meaningful stylesheet. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. Comments are welcome through 17 December. Learn more about the Style Activity.

The XML Processing Model Working Group has published a Working Draft of XProc V2.0 Requirements. This is the usability improvement requirements document for XProc V2.0, based on user and implementor experience with XProc. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

The RDF Working Group today published five Candidate Recommendations for version 1.1 of the Resource Description Framework (RDF), a widespread and stable technology for data interoperability:

• RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax defines the basics which underly all RDF syntaxes and systems. It provides for general data interoperability.
• RDF 1.1 Semantics defines the precise semantics of RDF data, supporting use with a wide range of “semantic” or “knowledge” technologies.
• RDF 1.1 N-Triples defines a simple line-oriented syntax for serializing RDF data. N-Triples is a minimalist subset of Turtle.
• RDF 1.1 TriG defines an extension to Turtle (aligned with SPARQL) for handling multiple RDF Graphs in a single document.
• RDF 1.1 N-Quads defines an extension to N-Triples for handling multiple RDF Graphs in a single document.

All of these technologies are now stable and ready to be widely implemented. Each specification (except Concepts) has an associated Test Suite and includes a link to an Implementation Report showing how various software currently fares on the tests. If you maintain RDF software, please review these specifications, update your software if necessary, and (if relevant) send in test results as explained in the Implementation Report.

RDF 1.1 is a refinement to the 2004 RDF specifications, designed to simplify and improve RDF without breaking existing deployments.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

The Government Linked Data (GLD) Working Group today published the Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) as a Candidate Recommendation. DCAT allows governmental and non-governmental data catalogs to publish their entries in a standard machine-readable format so they can be managed, aggregated, and presented in other catalogs.

Originally developed at DERI, DCAT has evolved with input from a variety of stakeholders and is now stable and ready for widespread use. If you have a collection of data sources, please consider publishing DCAT metadata for it, and if you run a data catalog or portal, please consider making use of DCAT metadata you find. The Working Group is eager to receive comments reports of use at public-gld-comments@w3.org and is maintaining an Implementation Report.

Learn more about the eGovernment Activity.

The RDF Working Group has published two Proposed Recommendations today:

• JSON-LD 1.0. JSON is a useful data serialization and messaging format. This specification defines JSON-LD, a JSON-based format to serialize Linked Data. The syntax is designed to easily integrate into deployed systems that already use JSON, and provides a smooth upgrade path from JSON to JSON-LD. It is primarily intended to be a way to use Linked Data in Web-based programming environments, to build interoperable Web services, and to store Linked Data in JSON-based storage engines. Comments are welcome through 05 December.
• JSON-LD 1.0 Processing Algorithms and API. This specification defines a set of algorithms for programmatic transformations of JSON-LD documents. Restructuring data according to the defined transformations often dramatically simplifies its usage. Furthermore, this document proposes an Application Programming Interface (API) for developers implementing the specified algorithms. Comments are welcome through 05 December.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.