W3C

The Web Platform Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of HTML 5.1. In this version of the 5th major version of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the core language of the World Wide Web, new features continue to be introduced to help Web application authors, new elements continue to be introduced based on research into prevailing authoring practices, and special attention continues to be given to defining clear conformance criteria for user agents in an effort to improve interoperability.

Please, read more about the group’s plans to establish a regular rhythm of publication and how the group is working toward an HTML 5.1 Recommendation later this year.

The Web Platform Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of WebIDL Level 1. This document defines an interface definition language, Web IDL, that can be used to describe interfaces that are intended to be implemented in web browsers. Web IDL is an IDL variant with a number of features that allow the behavior of common script objects in the web platform to be specified more readily. How interfaces described with Web IDL correspond to constructs within ECMAScript execution environments is also detailed in this document. It is expected that this document acts as a guide to implementors of already-published specifications, and that newly published specifications reference this document to ensure conforming implementations of interfaces are interoperable.

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of CSS Flexible Box Layout Module Level 1. This specification describes a CSS box model optimized for user interface design. In the flex layout model, the children of a flex container can be laid out in any direction, and can “flex” their sizes, either growing to fill unused space or shrinking to avoid overflowing the parent. Both horizontal and vertical alignment of the children can be easily manipulated. Nesting of these boxes (horizontal inside vertical, or vertical inside horizontal) can be used to build layouts in two dimensions.

The CSV on the Web Working Group has published 3 Group Notes:

• CSV on the Web: Use Cases and Requirements: A large percentage of the data published on the Web is tabular data, commonly published as comma separated values (CSV) files. The CSV on the Web Working Group aim is to specify technologies that provide greater interoperability for data dependent applications on the Web when working with tabular datasets comprising single or multiple files using CSV, or similar, format. This document lists the use cases compiled by the Working Group that are considered representative of how tabular data is commonly used within data dependent applications.
• Embedding Tabular Metadata in HTML: The Model for Tabular Data and Metadata on the Web describes mechanisms for extracting metadata from CSV documents starting with either a tabular data file, or a metadata description. In the case of starting with a CSV document, a procedure is followed to locate metadata describing that CSV. Alternatively, processing may begin with a metadata file directly, which references the tabular data file(s). However, in some cases, it is preferred to publish datasets using HTML rather than starting with either CSV or metadata files.
• CSV on the Web: A Primer: CSV is one of the most popular formats for publishing data on the web. It is concise, easy to understand by both humans and computers, and aligns nicely to the tabular nature of most data. The CSV on the Web Working Group has developed standard ways to express useful metadata about CSV files and other kinds of tabular data. This primer takes you through the ways in which these standards work together.