Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Drafts: Format, Best Practices, Primer

2007-12-19: The Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Working Group has published three documents: First Public Working Drafts of EXI Best Practices and EXI Primer, as well as a Working Draft of EXI Format 1.0. EXI is a very compact representation for the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Information Set that is intended to simultaneously optimize performance and the utilization of computational resources. Using a relatively simple algorithm, which is amenable to fast and compact implementation, and a small set of data types, it reliably produces efficient encodings of XML event streams. The primer and best practices documents complement the format specification. The best practices document also presents information suitable for the general reader interested in EXI's intended role in the expanding Web. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Talks in January

2008-01-03: Browse W3C presentations and events also available as an RSS channel. (Permalink)

• 23 January, San Francisco, CA, USA: Unifying a Fragmenting Market Through Standardisation to Encourage Mobile Web Industry Development.Matt Womer presents at Mobile Web USA.
• 23 January: eGovernment and the Web.José Manuel Alonso is at Virtual W3C Seminar.
• 30 January, Stockholm, Sweden: The Semantic Web.Olle Olsson presents at JFokus 2008.
• 31 January, Gijón, Spain: TIC y Gobernabilidad.José Manuel Alonso participates in a panel at Cooperación al desarrollo 2.0.
• View upcoming talks by country
• More talks...

Last Call: Selectors API; New Draft of DOM Level 3 Events

2007-12-21: The Web API Working Group has published the Last Call Working Draft of Selectors API. Selectors, which are widely used in CSS, are patterns that match against elements in a tree structure. The Selectors API specification defines methods for retrieving Element nodes from the Document Object Model (DOM) by matching against a group of selectors. Comments are welcome through 06 January 2008. The Working Group has also published a Working Draft of DOM Level 3 Events, a generic platform- and language-neutral event system which allows registration of event handlers, describes event flow through a tree structure, and provides basic contextual information for each event. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Invites Implementations of DCCI 1.0 (Candidate Recommendation); first draft of Delivery Context Ontology available

2007-12-21: The Ubiquitous Web Applications Working Group has published the Candidate Recommendation of Delivery Context: Client Interfaces (DCCI) 1.0. This document defines platform and language neutral programming interfaces that provide Web applications access to a hierarchy of dynamic properties representing device capabilities, configurations, user preferences and environmental conditions. In addition, the Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Delivery Context Ontology, which provides a formal model for the delivery context which other specifications can reference normatively. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity. (Permalink)

Last Call: SVG Print 1.2 Language, Primer

2007-12-21: The SVG Working Group has published Last Call Working Drafts of SVG Print 1.2, Part 2: Language and SVG Print 1.2, Part 1: Primer. The former defines features of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Language that are specifically for printing environments; the latter provides guidelines on how to use the print specification with SVG 1.2 Tiny and SVG 1.2 Full modules. Comments on both specifications are welcome through 08 February. Learn more about the Graphics Activity. (Permalink)

Device Description Repository Core Vocabulary

2007-12-21: The Mobile Web Initiative Device Description Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Device Description Repository Core Vocabulary. This document describes the Device Description Repository Core Vocabulary for Content Adaptation, that is, the properties that are considered essential for adaptation of content in the mobile Web. Its intended use is to define a baseline vocabulary for implementations of the Device Description Repository (DDR). Learn more about the Mobile Web Initiative Activity. (Permalink)

Public Virtual Seminar on Web Issues to be Organized by W3C Spain Office

2007-12-20: On 23 January 2008, the W3C Spain Office will hold a virtual seminar where W3C staff will discuss the latest news in Web topics such as e-Government, Video on the Web, and Mobile Web in developing countries; see the program for the full list of topics and speakers. The public is invited to participate over the Internet in the seminar, which will take place in English from 15:00 to 18:00 (UTC/GMT); see the participation instructions. The seminar, hosted by UPM, will also be broadcast online. Learn more about the W3C Spain Office. (Permalink)

W3C Invites Implementations of EMMA: Extensible MultiModal Annotation markup language (Candidate Recommendation)

2007-12-11: The Multimodal Interaction Working Group has published the Candidate Recommendation of EMMA: Extensible MultiModal Annotation markup language. Implementation feedback is welcome through 14 April 2008. EMMA is a data exchange format for the interface between input processors and interaction management systems within the Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces, and defines the means to annotate application specific data with information such as confidence scores, time stamps, input mode, alternative recognition hypotheses, and partial recognition results. Visit the Multimodal Interaction home page. (Permalink)

Cool URIs for the Semantic Web (First Public Draft)

2007-12-17: The Semantic Web Education and Outreach Interest Group has released a first Working Draft of a document explaining the effective use of URIs to enable the growth of the Semantic Web. URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) more simply called "Web addresses" are at the heart of the Web and also of the Semantic Web. Cool URIs for the Semantic Web discusses two strategies for choosing URIs for the Semantic Web, gives pointers to several Web sites that use these solutions, and briefly discusses why several other alternatives are less effective. Comments on this draft are requested by 21 January, to be integrated into a final document at the end of the Group's charter. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

Note: Device Description Repository Requirements 1.0

2007-12-17: The Mobile Web Initiative Device Description Working Group has published the Group Note of Device Description Repository Requirements 1.0. This document describes the use cases for a Device Description Repository (DDR). Each use case is analyzed in order to determine the behavior expected of a DDR in order to realize it. These expected behaviors are captured as high-level requirements, which when normalized across all use cases, lead to a discrete set of DDR requirements. Learn more about the Mobile Web Initiative Activity. (Permalink)

Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) Version 3.0; MathML for CSS profile; XML Entity definitions

2007-12-14: The Math Working Group has published three Working Drafts: Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) Version 3.0, A MathML for CSS profile, and the First Public Working Draft of XML Entity definitions for Characters. The first defines the Mathematical Markup Language (MathML), an XML application for describing mathematical notation and capturing both its structure and content, for publication on the Web. The second describes a profile of MathML 3.0 that admits formatting with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The third defines several sets of names which are assigned to Unicode characters. Learn more about the Math Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Invites Implementations of Pronunciation Lexicon Specification (PLS) Version 1.0; updates SSML 1.1 draft

2007-12-12: The Voice Browser Working Group has published the Candidate Recommendation of Pronunciation Lexicon Specification (PLS) Version 1.0. Implementation feedback is welcome through 11 April 2008; please see the PLS 1.0 Implementation Report Plan for more information. PLS provides the basis for describing pronunciation information for use in speech recognition and speech synthesis, for use in tuning applications, e.g. for proper names that have irregular pronunciations. The Working Group has also updated Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) Version 1.1. Changes from the previous draft include addition of new "type" attribute with value of "ruby", change of references to "pronunciation alphabet" to be "pronunciation scheme", and modified attribute's names of audio element. Visit the Voice Browser home page. (Permalink)

Industry Leaders Discuss Better Integration of Video on the Web

2007-12-12: Video on the Web is hot! That is why Adobe, Apple, Canon, CBS Interactive, Cisco, Comcast, Disney, Hitachi, Motorola, Mozilla, Nokia, Opera, RealNetworks, Samsung, Sony, Sun, Turner Broadcasting, Web3D Consortium, YouTube, and other industry leaders have chosen to meet in San Jose (California) at the W3C Video on the Web Workshop on 12-13 December 2007 to discuss the video landscape. More and more people are publishing high-quality video, social networks are sprouting up around Web-delivered media, and IPTV (Internet-based delivery of television programming) is maturing rapidly. These and other changes pose challenges to the underlying technologies and standards to support the platform-independent creation, authoring, encoding/decoding, and description of video. To ensure the success of video as a "first class citizen" of the Web, W3C has invited the community to explore how to build a solid architectural foundation that enables people to create, navigate, search, and distribute video, and to manage digital rights; see the full agenda. W3C thanks Cisco for hosting the Workshop and to all the participants who sent position papers. (Permalink)

Last Call: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Working Draft

2007-12-11: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group has released a second Last Call Working Draft of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, and Working Drafts of Understanding WCAG 2.0 and Techniques for WCAG 2.0. Following WCAG makes Web content more accessible to the vast majority of users, including people with disabilities and older users, using many different devices including a wide variety of assistive technologies. Comments are requested by 1 February 2008. Read the WCAG Overview, Call for Review, and about the Web Accessibility Initiative. (Permalink)

"Emergency Information Interoperability Framework" Focus of Incubator Group

2007-12-11: W3C is pleased to announce the creation of the Emergency Information Interoperability Framework Incubator Group, sponsored by W3C Members NICTA, Google, SICS, and IBM. The mission of this Incubator Group is to review and analyze the current state-of-the-art in vocabularies used in emergency management functions and to investigate the path forward via an emergency management systems information interoperability framework. Read about the Incubator Activity, an initiative to foster development of emerging Web-related technologies. (Permalink)