An Overview of W3C’s work on XHTML, XForms & Voice Interaction

W3C: http://www.w3.org/

Dave Raggett, W3C/HP

W3C Device Independent Authoring Workshop, Bristol, 4th October 2000

Email: dsr@w3.org

W3C Activity Lead for Voice Browsers, XHTML and XForms

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XHTML — the future of HTML

See: http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/

• HTML started as an application of SGML

• Browsers and Authors played fast

• Interoperability and the browser wars

• W3C: HTML 3.2, HTML 4, and now XHTML

• XHTML is HTML reformulated in XML

• XHTML brings rigor and extensibility to HTML

• TV and Mobile standards building on XHTML

What’s the difference?

• Attribute values must be quoted

  • <p class=“warning”>

• End tags are required, e.g. <p>…</p>

• Empty tags are written as <empty />

• Namespaces allow for extensions, e.g. combining XHTML with MathML, SVG and SMIL, as well as non-W3C extensions

• HTML Tidy – automatic conversion from HTML

HTML working group

See: http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Group (W3C members only)

• XHTML 1.0 as reformulation of HTML 4.01

• XHTML Modularization

• XHTML Basic

• XHTML 1.1

• XHTML Event module

• Further work in progress on embedded objects and replacements for frames

XForms – the future of Web Forms

See: http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms

• Support for mobile, television, and desktop browsers, plus printers and scanners

• Richer user interface to meet the needs of business, consumer and device control applications

• Decoupled data, logic and presentation

• Improved internationalization

XForms - features

• Support for hierarchically nested forms

• Advanced forms logic based on expressions

• Lightweight representation for end-users

• XML Schema + annotations for experts

• Multiple forms per page & pages per form

• Suspend and Resume support

• Application to Multi-modal systems

XForms working group

See: http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/Group (W3C members only)

• Started as subgroup in HTML working group, and earlier this year spun off as independent working group

• Published drafts on requirements and data model

• On going work on support for XML Schema, UI, Data binding, and Protocols

Why Voice Interaction Is Valuable

• Access via any telephone

• Hands and eyes free operation

• Devices too small for displays and keyboards

• Cell phones

• Palm-top organizers

• Universal messaging

Anatomy of a Voice Interface

• Application and user take turns to speak

• Form filling metaphor

• Prompt user for each field in turn using synthetic speech and prerecorded audio

• Use speech grammars to interpret what user says

• Offer help as needed

• Submit completed form to back-end server

• Links to other “pages”

• Break out to scripting as needed

Voice Dialog Example

This example dialog proceeds sequentially:

C (computer): Welcome to the international weather service.
  What country?

H (human): Help

C: Please say the country for which you want the weather.

H: France

C: What city?

H: Antibes

C: I did not understand what you said. What city?

H: Cannes

C: The conditions in Cannes France are sunny and clear at 11 AM … 

Voice Dialog Markup

<form id="weather_info">       
  <block>Welcome to the international weather service.</block>       
  <field name=“country">       
    <prompt>What country?</prompt>       
    <grammar src=“country.gram" type="application/x-jsgf"/>       
    <catch event="help">       
      Please say the country for which you want the weather.       
    </catch>       
  </field>       
  <field name="city">       
    <prompt>What city?</prompt>       
    <grammar src="city.gram" type="application/x-jsgf"/>       
    <catch event="help">       
      Please say the city for which you want the weather.       
    </catch>       
  </field>       
  <block>       
    <submit next="/servlet/weather" namelist="city country"/>       
  </block>       
</form> 

W3C Voice Browser working group

See: http://www.w3.org/Voice/Group (W3C members only)

• Working Group formed in March 1999, following workshop in October 1998

• Public working drafts on requirements for:

  • Spoken dialogs

  • Reusable dialog components

  • Speech synthesis

  • Speech grammars

  • Natural language semantics

  • Multi-modal dialogs

  • Now working on drafting specifications

• Further info: http://www.w3.org/Voice