W3C Web Standard Defines Accessibility for Next Generation Web

2008-12-11: Today W3C announced a new standard that will help Web designers and developers create sites that better meet the needs of users with disabilities and older users. Drawing on extensive experience and community feedback, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 improve upon W3C's groundbreaking initial standard for accessible Web content, apply to more advanced technologies, and are more precisely testable. W3C also published supporting resources, including Understanding WCAG 2.0, Techniques for WCAG 2.0, and How to Meet WCAG 2.0: A Customizable Quick Reference. Read the press release, testimonials, announcement, and WCAG Overview. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative. (Permalink)

Call for Review: EMMA: Extensible MultiModal Annotation markup language Proposed Recommendation

2008-12-15: The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has published the Proposed Recommendation of EMMA: Extensible MultiModal Annotation markup language. This document is part of a set of specifications for multimodal systems, and provides details of an XML markup language for containing and annotating the interpretation of user input. The interpretation of the user's input is expected to be generated by signal interpretation processes, such as speech and ink recognition, semantic interpreters, and other types of processors for use by components that act on the user's inputs such as interaction managers. See the group's implementation report. Comments are welcome through 15 January. Learn more about the Multimodal Interaction Activity. (Permalink)

Minor Update to CSS Mobile Profile 2.0

2008-12-12: The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group updated the Candidate Recommendatino of CSS Mobile Profile 2.0. The specification defines in general a subset of CSS 2.1 [CSS21] that is to be considered a baseline for interoperability between implementations of CSS on constrained devices (e.g. mobile phones). Its intent is not to produce a profile of CSS incompatible with the complete specification, but rather to ensure that implementations that due to platform limitations cannot support the entire specification implement a common subset that is interoperable not only amongst constrained implementations but also with complete ones. This document is the same as the last working draft, except for editorial changes. Learn more about the Style Activity. (Permalink)

W3C launches Validator Donation and Sponsorship Campaign

2008-12-11: W3C launched a new initiative giving web developers and designers a chance to show their support for the W3C Validators. With millions of validations performed daily, the validator services are among the most popular applications on the web today. W3C appreciates the great work of the dedicated volunteers who have helped make the validator such a success. Donations and sponsorship from the community will help us fund hardware and staffing to build even better, faster and friendlier free tools, such as:

• Integrated the web quality checking with the central Unicorn framework
• A new generation of tools for CSS checking
• A multilingual, flexible and friendly Markup Validator
• New tools for SVG, accessibility, and more

We also welcome sponsorships from organizations that support Web Standards, and encourage Web Communities to spread the word about this campaign. Visit the Validator Donation page. (Permalink)

Device Description Repository Simple API Is a W3C Recommendation

2008-12-08: The Mobile Web Initiative Device Description Working Group has published the W3C Recommendation of Device Description Repository Simple API. Web content delivered to mobile devices usually benefits from being tailored to take into account a range of factors such as screen size, markup language support and image format support. Such information is stored in "Device Description Repositories" (DDRs). This document describes a simple API for access to DDRs, in order to ease and promote the development of Web content that adapts to its Delivery Context. The Working Group also published a Group Note of Device Description Structures, an expression language for the structured categorization of devices in content adaptation. Learn more about the Mobile Web Initiative Activity. (Permalink)

Mobile Web Made Easier with W3C mobileOK Tests Standard and Online Checker

2008-12-08: Today W3C made it easier to create content that will improve the user experience on a broad range of devices. The W3C mobileOK checker provides feedback on whether content is "mobileOK" and is based on the W3C Recommendation also published today, mobileOK Basic Tests 1.0. "Clean content offers a number of benefits to authors and users alike. The mobileOK checker does a nice job helping you improve your content one step at a time," said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. Read the press release, Member testimonials, and learn more about the Mobile Web Initiative. (Permalink)

CSS Marquee Module Level 3 Updated

2008-12-05: The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group updated today the Candidate Recommendation of CSS Marquee Module Level 3. CSS Marquee allows the designer to specify a "marquee" effect for the display of overflow content; the content is animated and moves automatically back and forth. Learn more about the Style Activity. (Permalink)

Five XQuery Drafts Published

2008-12-05: The XML Query Working Group published five Working Drafts today relating to the XQuery language for querying and processing structured information:

1. XQuery Scripting Extension 1.0, giving procedural assignment, blocks and synchronization to XQuery; together with the XQuery Scripting Extension 1.0 Use Cases;
2. XQuery 1.1, adding new features to XQuery including windowing and grouping, published together with XQuery 1.1 Use Cases and diffs from the previous draft;
3. XQueryX 1.1, giving a detailed XML representation of a parsed query. This is a First Public Working Draft.

Learn more about the XML Activity. (Permalink)

Minor Update of "Cool URIs for the Semantic Web"

2008-12-03: W3C updated the Interest Group Note Cool URIs for the Semantic Web to include a link to an errata page. (Permalink)

Eleven Publications Related to OWL 2

2008-12-02: The OWL Working Group published eleven documents today relating to the OWL 2 Web Ontology Language. OWL 2 extends OWL, a core standard of the Semantic Web, adding new features that users have requested and that software providers are prepared to implement. Six of these documents are last call drafts, indicating the Working Group believes the technical work in those areas is done. The documents are:

1. Structural Specification and Functional-Style Syntax (last call)
2. Direct Semantics (last call)
3. RDF-Based Semantics
4. Conformance and Test Cases (last call)
5. Mapping to RDF Graphs (last call)
6. XML Serialization (last call)
7. Profiles (last call)
8. Quick Reference Guide (first public working draft)
9. New Features and Rationale (first public working draft)
10. Manchester Syntax (first public working draft)
11. rdf:text: A Datatype for Internationalized Text (first public working draft)

The Manchester Syntax is an optional, alternative OWL serialization; this document is expected to become a Note. The XML datatype rdf:text was co-developed with the RIF Working Group for use with RDF data. Please send comments by 23 January. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

SMIL 3.0 Advances Standard for Synchronized Multimedia

2008-12-01: Today W3C announced a new standard to make it easier to author interactive multimedia presentations. Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 3.0) allows video, audio, images, text, and hypertext links to be combined into interactive presentations, with fine-grain control of layout and timing. "The importance of SMIL 3.0 is that it contains a set of user-requested features that provide exciting new functionality, while retaining all the advantages of a declarative (that is, without scripting) approach to building a multimedia presentation," said Dick Bulterman, chair of the Synchronized Multimedia Working Group, which published the specification. Read the full press release, testimonials, and learn more about the Synchronized Multimedia Activity. (Permalink)

Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 Fifth Edition Is a W3C Recommendation

2008-11-26: The XML Core Working Group has published the W3C Recommendation of Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fifth Edition). This fifth edition of the widely deployed standard XML incorporates corrections to errata found in previous versions. In particular, one correction relaxes the restrictions on element and attribute names, thereby providing in XML 1.0 the major end user benefit currently achievable only by using XML 1.1. As a consequence, many possible documents that were not well-formed according to previous editions of this specification are now well-formed, and previously invalid documents using the newly-allowed name characters in, for example, ID attributes, are now valid. XML has been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperability with both SGML and HTML. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Invites Implementations of XProc: An XML Pipeline Language

2008-11-26: The XML Processing Model Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of XProc: An XML Pipeline Language. This specification describes the syntax and semantics of XProc, a language for describing operations to be performed on XML documents. A pipeline consists of steps. Like pipelines, steps take zero or more XML documents as their inputs and produce zero or more XML documents as their outputs. The inputs of a step come from the web, from the pipeline document, from the inputs to the pipeline itself, or from the outputs of other steps in the pipeline. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)

Workshop in Mozambique Continues W3C Focus on Mobile Technologies in Fostering Development

2008-11-25: W3C announced a Workshop on Africa Perspective on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social and Economic Development, April 1-2 2009, in Maputo, Mozambique. Participants will explore ways to fulfill the potential of mobile phones as a platform for deploying development-oriented ICT services towards the poorest segments of populations in developing countries, with an emphasis on the African context. The Workshop is open to the public; learn how to participate. You may also become a Workshop Sponsor to help support the participation of those with expertise who might not otherwise be able to attend due to travel or other costs. The Workshop is hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of Mozambique and is organized as part of the Digital World Forum project (European Union's FP7). Read the press release and learn more about W3C's Mobile Web Initiative (MWI).(Permalink)

W3C Invites Implementations of Service Modeling Language, Version 1.1 and Service Modeling Language Interchange Format Version 1.1

2008-11-25: The Service Modeling Language Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendations of Service Modeling Language, Version 1.1 and Service Modeling Language Interchange Format Version 1.1. The former defines the Service Modeling Language, Version 1.1 (SML) used to model complex services and systems, including their structure, constraints, policies, and best practices. The latter defines the interchange format for SML 1.1 models. This format identifies the model being interchanged, distinguishes between model definition documents and model instance documents, and defines the binding of rule documents with other documents in the interchange model. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)

Last Call: W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD): Component Designators

2008-11-25: The XML Schema Working Group has published the Last Call Working Draft of W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD): Component Designators. XML Schema: Component Designators defines a scheme for identifying XML Schema components as specified by XML Schema Part 1: Structures and XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes. Comments are welcome through 19 January. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)

Incubator Group Report: Elements of an EmotionML 1.0

2008-11-25: The Emotion Markup Language Incubator Group published their final report. As the web is becoming ubiquitous, interactive, and multimodal, technology needs to deal increasingly with human factors, including emotions. The report provides elements for an Emotion Markup Language striking a balance between scientific well-foundedness and practical applicability. The language is conceived as a "plug-in" language suitable for use in three different areas: (1) manual annotation of data; (2) automatic recognition of emotion-related states from user behaviour; and (3) generation of emotion-related system behaviour. This publication is part of the Incubator Activity, a forum where W3C Members can innovate and experiment. This work is not on the W3C standards track. (Permalink)

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0: Updated Working Draft

2008-11-24: The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0. ATAG defines how authoring tools should help Web developers produce Web content that is accessible and conforms to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. ATAG also defines how to make authoring tools accessible so that people with disabilities can use them. Read the invitation to review the ATAG 2.0 Working Draft and about the Web Accessibility Initiative.(Permalink)

Last Call: SOAP over Java Message Service 1.0

2008-11-21: The SOAP-JMS Binding Working Group has published the Last Call Working Draft of SOAP over Java Message Service 1.0. This document specifies how SOAP should bind to a messaging system that supports the Java Message Service (JMS). The specification helps to ensure interoperability between the implementations of different Web services vendors. It should also enable customers to implement their own Web services for part of their infrastructure, and to have this interoperate with vendor provided Web services. Comments are welcome through 13 January. Learn more about the Web Services Activity.(Permalink)

Call for Review: Element Traversal Specification Proposed Recommendation

2008-11-19: The Web Applications Working Group has published the Proposed Recommendation of Element Traversal Specification. This specification defines the ElementTraversal interface, which allows script navigation of the elements of a DOM tree, excluding all other nodes in the DOM, such as text nodes. It also provides an attribute to expose the number of child elements of an element. It is intended to provide a more convenient alternative to existing DOM navigation interfaces, with a low implementation footprint. Comments are welcome through 15 December. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.(Permalink)

Call for Review: Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Tiny 1.2 Specification Proposed Recommendation

2008-11-19: The SVG Working Group has published the Proposed Recommendation of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Tiny 1.2 Specification.This specification defines the features and syntax for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Tiny, Version 1.2, a language for describing two-dimensional vector and mixed vector/raster graphics in XML. The specification enables the creation of graphical content, from static images to animations to interactive Web applications. SVG 1.2 Tiny is a profile of SVG intended for implementation on a range of devices, from cell phones and PDAs to desktop and laptop computers, and thus includes a subset of the features included in SVG 1.1 Full, along with new features to extend the capabilities of SVG. Comments are welcome through 15 December.(Permalink)