Open Web Platform Weekly Summary - 2011-02-28 - 2011-03-06

We are starting this week a weekly summary about the Open Web Platform. The intent is to give an overview of the discussions, proposals, decisions which have happened during the last week around the Open Web Platform with a focus on HTML5. This weekly summary covers events in multiple W3C groups, and some outside events as well. Feel free to chime in the comments and add information or ask for more details. This is an experiment; please send feedback to Karl Dubost or here in the comments.

HTML Working Group Decisions

• A poll has been closed on issue 124 on allowing noreferrer and nofollow on Link element
• A poll has been opened until March 10, 2011 on the issue 126 about requirement to break RFC 2616 compliance
• A poll on the issue 56 on how to define URIs in the HTML specification is opened until March 11, 2011.
• A poll on the issue 127 on "Simplify characterization of link types" is opened until March 11, 2011.

Decentralized extensibility - ISSUE-41

Decentralized extensibility is a mechanism to allow decentralized parties to create their own languages and exchange them in HTML5 text/html serializations. It has been a hot topic since the begining of the new HTML Working Group.Some extensions mechanisms already exist in HTML5 such as class or rel attributes. Different proposals have been made. Issue 41 contains the details of the actions. The W3C HTML Working Group chairs published the decision of the group this week. The arguments presented for decentralized extensibility were not compelling enough and then it has been decided to not have an entry point for incorporating foreign languages into HTML. SVG and MathML are the only languages supported directly into the specification. It is important to note that it relates to text/html serialization. Jirka Kosek has recorded a Formal Objection which would have to be addressed before entering Candidate Recommendation.

Authoring idioms - ISSUE-89

Often on mailing-lists, channels, authors are wondering about the correct ways to use some markup idioms. Some parts of the HTML5 specification suggest how to mark up, for example, footnotes or the main contents of a page. The issue 89 has been resolved. It has been decided by the HTML WG, that the authoring idioms suggestions could be kept in the specification as-is.

Broken Link Types - ISSUE-118

HTML5 draft includes definitions for particular link relations different than the definitions in previous version of HTML. For example, values of the attribute rel such as index, up, first, last, prev, next, start, top, toc, content, end. The support for these values in clients is scarse and the authoring tools use them inconsistently. An implementation table has listed the state of the art in terms of implementation of these values. Three proposals were made that you can discover in the decision made for issue 118. It has been finally decided to drop values for the rel attribute: index, up, first, last and their synonyms top, contents, toc, begin, start and end. Julian Reschke reminded that IANA had a repository for the Link Relations. Issue 119 about the value up has then been closed.

ARIA Mapping - ISSUE-129

ARIA is a technology which gives an additional layer of semantics in markup language for improving accessibility. There is a basic disagreement in the group as to whether or not the role attribute should be allowed to override rather than merely to refine the defaults provided by HTML elements, in particular elements other than <div> and <span>. The decision on the issue 129. Steve Faulkner has summarized the edits in a document. The chairs encouraged to report through the bug tracking system any further information that would help refine the decision. There was also a warning for the role attribute on the hgroup element which is still being discussed.

Accessibility and video element - ISSUE-9

This general issue 9 has been closed. More specific and targeted discussions are being addressed in other issues such as issue 142 and issue 152.

Conversations

Proposals

• <video> readyState/networkState coupling and event order
• DIAGRAM project and image descriptions helped to reopen the issue 30 about the attribute longdesc.
• Content positioning in Canvas fallback content feedback requested
• Henri Sivonen has opened a thread about Newly-created browsing contexts and about:blank. He is introducing his research about about:blank URIs in different browsing contexts.
• Lawrence Rosen has proposed a future license for HTML recommendations when published by W3C. This new license authorizes software and associated documentations but forbids any derivative work as a technical specification.
• Jörn Zaefferer (SoundCloud) has started a thread on Microphone Device API
• Tab Atkins proposed <canvas src> to allow images with structured fallback
• Aryeh Gregor introduced his work on an HTML editing commands (execCommand()) specification
• Edward Gerhold proposed Improvement of the Application Cache
• Dave Kok has written a proposal for session management. See the thread a bit messed up in the archives.
• The Origin Cookies specification written by Adam Barth has been accepted by IETF and will be soon properly published as an RFC.
• Microsoft has made a proposal for an HTML Speech API Proposal in the HTML Speech XG

Announcements

• Web Performance Working Group is looking at extending their charter to include more perf-related goodies.
• The CSS Working Group is wrapping up CSS 2.1. They are sorting the last issues/tests.
• New HTML WG bugs for the period 28 February and 6 March 2011.
• The Chinese community wanted to be able to discuss about HTML5 technologies and related in their own language. W3C has launched a HTML5 Chinese Interest Group. It follows the creation of the HTML5 Japanese Interest Group.
• HTML WG Minutes for March 3, 2011
• Bug 11984 - Simplify <video> for implementors and authors by ignoring the Content-Type HTTP header. See Maciej Stachowiak's mail
• Anne van Kesteren has written a change proposal for the issue 140 about version indicators and conformance to HTML.
• There is a call for comments from the Web Apps Working Group to stop working on a Programmable HTTP Caching and Serving specification. The deadline is March 10, 2011.

Hot Topics

• There is a very active discussion about Multitrack Media API captured in the issue 152
• There is a long thread going since February on separating script downloads and execution.
• Anne van Kesteren (Opera) has added events to the Dom Core. It created a few discussions in Web Apps WG. Doug Scheppers (W3C) is also writing a DOM Events specification. Anne is calling for feedback on his document. Eventually, the two editors will find a way to agree on the best way to proceed. Arthur Barstow, the chair, suggested to move the discussion to www-dom mailing list and to identify potential issues.
• Steve Faulkner has decided to tweak HTML5 for Web Authors

This column is written by Karl Dubost, working in the Developer Relations & Tools at Opera Software. Any views or summaries are those of the author.