This workshop is being organized by the W3C Device Independence Working Group, part of the W3C Device Independence Activity. It is included as part of a work item on authoring techniques under the current charter of the group.
The previous W3C Delivery Context Workshop, held in March 2002, focused on the capabilities of web presentation devices and how they could be conveyed and used as part of the delivery process. This workshop focuses on how web content and applications can be authored and adapted for such devices.
The objective of the workshop is to gather input, from practitioners and technology providers, of techniques that help authors create web content and applications for delivery across many kinds of presentation device.
The workshop aims to capture best practices for addressing the kind of problems that are described in a draft document on Authoring Scenarios recently produced by the W3C Device Independence Working Group. In particular, it is hoped to identify areas that may require further development of existing standards, or even new markup standards, to support greater device independence in authoring.
The range of devices that are able to access the web continues to grow. It is unreasonable to expect that a web application that has been developed for the PC screen can be delivered in an acceptable way to other kinds of devices such as printers, phones, PDAs, TVs, in-car systems or voice-oriented systems. To get an acceptable result, that takes into account the capabilities of the device, the application author may end up creating multiple versions of their content and code.
However, the cost of multiple authoring for each kind of device is high. The ideal, embodied in the original HTML markup for documents, might be that a single version of some content can be the basis for creating suitable presentations for many kinds of device. The 'single-authoring' ideal becomes a greater challenge given the increased complexity and scope of current interactive and multimedia websites. Many authors wish to maintain the quality of presentation of their application, and are prepared to provide customized designs for different kinds of device. The challenge is to develop authoring techniques that minimise authoring cost, maximise re-use of authored content, but still allow good quality adaptation to specific device capabilities.
The goals of this workshop are as follows.
The workshop will include discussions about the following.
Particpants are encouraged to report on their practical experience with device independent authoring and in developing device independent web applications.
We expect several groups to contribute to the workshop.
The results of the workshop, including submitted position statements, position papers, presentations and discussion notes, will be made public on the Web.
The workshop is an open event. Everybody interested in contributing to W3C's device independence work is welcome. However, space is limited to 50 participants. In order that a wide range of views can be heard, it may be necessary to limit attendance, including no more than two participants representing any one organization.
All participants must register to attend the workshop as described below, and submit a statement of their interest in the workshop which will be made public.
In addition, those who would like to be considered by the program committee to make a presentation must also submit a position paper as described below.
The cost of the workshop will be covered by the host organization. There will be no participation fee.
If you wish to attend the workshop you must:
Interest statements are required from every participant, including any invited experts and W3C staff. They consist of a brief (maximum 500 word) text description of the contribution you could make to the workshop, including the topics you wish to see discussed.
If you intend to submit a position paper, include an abstract as part of your interest statement.
Deadline for interest statements: 4 September 2002.
Preference will be given in filling the available places based on (1) no more that two participants per organization, (2) relevance of interest statement, and (3) being an employee of a W3C Member organization, in this order.
Confirmation of obtaining a place at the workshop will be sent on 6 September. After that, any remaining places may be filled at the discretion of the program committee.
Position papers will be reviewed by the program committee as a basis for selecting invited presentations to inform and initiate discussion at the workshop. Even if not selected for presentation, they provide valuable insights for participants, and will be made available on the workshop website.
Papers on practical experience of device independent authoring techniques will be particularly welcome.
A position paper is usually short, around 2 to 5 pages, and describes a point of view related to one of the topics listed above. It should include a summary of what would be presented if invited to do so by the program committee. They must be in standard HTML or XHTML format (with any images as PNG, GIF, or JPG) or in plain text format. Position papers should be submitted to w3c-di-ws-submit@w3.org.
Deadline for position papers: 6 September 2002.
Invitations to give a presentation will be sent on 16 September.
All submitted position papers and presentations slides (including screenshots of any demonstration given during a presentation) must be available for public distribution and will be published on the public website of the workshop. Submitting a position paper will be taken to imply acceptance of these terms for publication.
Abbie Barbir (Nortel Networks), Markus Lauff (SAP AG)
Stephane Boyera (W3C)
Abbie Barbir (Nortel Networks, Workshop Co-Chair)
Markus Lauff (SAP AG, Workshop Co-Chair)
Martin Gaedke (University of Karlsruhe)
Jason White (University of Melbourne, WAI contact)
Stephane Maes (IBM, also member of Multimodal Interaction WG)
Håkon Wium Lie (Opera Software, member of CSS WG)
Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer (Mozquito, co-chair of XForms WG)
Stephane Boyera (W3C DI WG Staff Contact)
Roger Gimson (HP, DI WG Chair)
The two-day workshop will begin at 9am and end at 5.30pm each day. Lunch and refreshments at breaks will be provided, thanks to SAP AG. A workshop dinner is planned for Wednesday evening at which it is currently expected participants will have to pay for their own meal.
An agenda showing the planned presentations and discussion sessions will be published approximately one week before the workshop.
SAP University, St. Leon-Rot, near Heidelberg, Germany
Raiffeisenring 45
68789 St. Leon-Rot
Baden-Württemberg
Germany
Further details are available on a separate page giving details of the location, transport and accommodation.