The W3C Mobile Web 2: Programming Applications online course is back! Now open for registration and to start on 13 January 2014, this course covers all techniques for programming successful mobile Web applications that can ship both online and in application stores. You will have access to high quality content material, be trained by a first-class expert, and learn step by step. Register before 25 December 2013 to benefit from the early bird rate. Learn more about W3DevCampus, the W3C online training for Web developers.

The Web Applications (WebApps) Working Group has published today a Proposed Recommendation of Progress Events. The 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. The deadline for review and comments is 17 January 2014. Learn more about the Rich Web Clients Activity.

The XSLT Working Group has published today a Last Call 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. A transformation in the XSLT language is expressed in the form of a stylesheet, whose syntax is well-formed XML. Comments are welcome by 10 February 2014. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

Today W3C launched a new Data Activity to lead the Web to a new level of data interoperability. The Activity includes two new groups:

• CSV on the Web Working Group, whose mission is to provide technologies whereby data dependent applications on the Web can provide higher interoperability when working with datasets using the CSV (Comma-Separated Values) or similar formats.
• Data on the Web Best Practices Working Group, whose mission is (1) to develop the open data ecosystem, facilitating better communication between developers and publishers; (2) to provide guidance to publishers that will improve consistency in the way data is managed, thus promoting the re-use of data; (3) to foster trust in the data among developers, whatever technology they choose to use, increasing the potential for genuine innovation.

The Data Activity subsumes and expands upon the work done in the Semantic Web and eGovernment Activities. W3C will continue to complete and enhance the Semantic Web in the light of growing real-world experience and demands.

Learn more about the Data Activity.

W3C is pleased to announce new leadership for the following activities:

• Wendy Seltzer will be the Technology and Society Domain Lead, focused on Privacy, Security, and potential work around Social Web and Digital Marketing. Wendy will also continue her legal and policy work.
• Ralph Swick will be the Information and Knowledge Domain Lead, focused on data, semantic web technologies, digital publishing, and XML. Ralph will also continue as W3C’s Chief Operating Officer.

Read about W3C’s Activities, and Management Team.

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Last Call 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. Comments are welcome by 7 January 2014. Learn more about the Rich Web Clients Activity.

Registration is now open for the online symposium on Accessible E-Learning to be held on 16 December 2013. Researchers, tutors and trainers, providers of online learning, developers of Learning Content Management System (LCMS), users with disabilities, and others are invited to participate. Symposium participants will share e-learning experiences and research; discuss different approaches to address accessibility issues in e-learning contexts; and explore next steps to advance accessibility in e-learning environments, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). For details and registration, see Accessible E-Learning: Online Symposium. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).