Welcome to the February 2008 newsletter from the Australian W3C Office. Your link to the latest Consortium news and events... 1. Events 2. XML is Ten! 3. Last Call: CSS Namespaces Module 4. Last Call: RDFa in XHTML: Syntax and Processing 5. Workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development (Call for Participation) 6. Call for Review: Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fifth Edition) Proposed Edited Recommendation 7. XMLHttpRequest Level 2: Comments Welcome on First Public Working Draft 8. CSSOM View Module: Comments Welcome on First Public Working Draft 9. Access Control for Cross-site Requests 10.W3C mobileOK Checker "Beta" Released for Mobile World Congress 11.WAI-ARIA for Accessible Rich Web Applications: First Public Working Drafts 12.Codecs, Metadata, and Addressing: Video on the Web Workshop Report 13.SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System Primer 14.Note: Best Practices for XML Internationalization 15.W3C Offices Program: Ten Years of International Outreach 1. Events - AusWeb08 5th-9th April 2008 The 14th Australasian World Wide Conference will be held at the Ballina Beach Resort, 5th-9th April 2008. We seek contributions via way of refereed papers, posters and short edited papers as well as suggestions for workshops, tutorials and special interest group sessions. AusWeb is the longest running regional Web conference in the world and seeks to provide reporting of research and projects and create discussion about all aspects of the Web development and Web applications. Conference Web site http://ausweb.scu.edu.au - Web Accessibility Benefits and Issues Canberra - 6 March 2008 (afternoon) This half-day workshop run by Vision Australia is targeted at policy makers, business managers and corporate communications or web development professionals who want an overview of why web accessibility is important. No knowledge of HTML or other web technologies is needed. This workshop provides an introduction to Web Accessibility. The focus is on how web accessibility can benefit organisations and their website users. A range of simulations are used to demonstrate how people with disabilities use the web. The workshop introduces the World Wide Web Consortium's Content Accessibility Guidelines and their implementation. Further information is at: Canberra: http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=1653&event=63 - Web Accessibility Techniques Workshops Canberra - 7 March 2008 This full-day workshop run by Vision Australia is targeted at web-development team leaders, corporate communications professionals along with content authors, web programmers and designers and web contract managers. A basic knowledge of HTML is helpful. This workshop provides a thorough overview of accessibility issues and the techniques used to address them. It covers the World Wide Web Consortium's Content Accessibility Guidelines and their implementation. Further information is at: Canberra: http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=1653&event=117 2. XML is Ten! Ten years ago, on 10 February 1998, W3C published "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0" as a W3C Recommendation. W3C is marking the ten-year anniversary of XML by celebrating "XML10" and extending thanks to the dedicated communities -- including people who have participated in W3C's XML groups and mailing lists, the SGML community, and xml-dev -- whose efforts have created a successful family of technologies based on the solid XML 1.0 foundation. The success of XML is a strong indicator of how dedicated individuals, working within the W3C Process, can engage with a larger community to produce industry-changing results. "Today we celebrate the success of open standards in preserving Web data from proprietary ownership," said Jon Bosak, who led the W3C Working Group that produced XML 1.0. Read the press release and testimonials. Send W3C a greeting and learn more about XML at W3C. http://www.w3.org/2008/xml10/ http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210 http://www.w3.org/2008/xml10/ http://www.w3.org/2008/xml10/xml10-pressrelease http://www.w3.org/2008/xml10/xml10-testimonial http://www.w3.org/2008/xml10/card/greeting-form http://www.w3.org/XML/ 3. Last Call: CSS Namespaces Module The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published the Last Call Working Draft of "CSS Namespaces Module." The CSS Namespaces module defines the syntax for using namespaces in CSS. It defines the @namespace rule for declaring the default namespace and binding namespaces to namespace prefixes, and it also defines a syntax that other specifications can adopt for using those prefixes in namespace-qualified names. Comments are welcome through 7 March. Learn more about the Style Activity. http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/members http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-css3-namespace-20080215/ http://www.w3.org/Style/ 4. Last Call: RDFa in XHTML: Syntax and Processing The Semantic Web Deployment Working Group and the XHTML 2 Working Group have published the Last Call Working Draft of "RDFa in XHTML: Syntax and Processing." RDFa is a specification for attributes to be used with languages such as HTML and XHTML to express structured data. When publishers can express structured data, and when tools can read it, a new world of user functionality becomes available, letting users transfer structured data between applications and web sites, and allowing browsing applications to improve the user experience. For example, a photo's creator, camera setting information, resolution, location and topic can be published as easily as the original photo itself, enabling structured search and sharing. With RDFa, the rendered, hypertext data of XHTML is reused, so that publishers don't need to repeat significant data in the document content. The RDFa specification explains use of the RDFa attributes with XHTML. Comments are welcome through 21 March. Learn more about XHTML and the Semantic Web Activity. http://www.w3.org/2006/07/SWD/ http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-rdfa-syntax-20080221/ http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Activity http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/ 5. Workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development (Call for Participation) Position papers are due 20 April for the W3C Workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development on 2-3 June 2008 in S‹o Paulo, Brazil. W3C thanks Workshop hosts NIC.br (Network Information Center), CGI.br Internet Steering Committee, and Institute CONIP. The goal of the Workshop is to understand specific challenges of using mobile phones and Web technologies to deliver services to underprivileged populations of Developing Countries. The Workshop scope includes: analysis of using mobile phones in development projects; strengths and weaknesses of SMS technology v. mobile Web v. voice technology; the challenges of integrating information and Communication Technologies in rural communities, and more. Read about W3C Workshops. http://www.w3.org/2008/02/MS4D_WS/ http://www.w3.org/2008/02/MS4D_WS/#Goal http://www.w3.org/2003/08/Workshops/ 6. Call for Review: Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fifth Edition) Proposed Edited Recommendation The XML Core Working Group has published the Proposed Edited Recommendation of "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fifth Edition)." This revision of XML 1.0 incorporates all known errata for XML 1.0 Fourth Edition; see the " diff-marked specification for changes." This version of the XML 1.0 specification contains one major change, to the definition of names, bringing one major benefit of XML 1.1 into XML 1.0; please read the background for this change as part of any review. Comments are welcome through 16 May. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. http://www.w3.org/XML/Core/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/PER-xml-20080205/ http://www.w3.org/XML/xml-V10-4e-errata http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/PER-xml-20080205/PER-xml-20080205-review.h tml http://www.w3.org/XML/2008/02/xml10_5th_edition_background.html http://www.w3.org/XML/ 7. XMLHttpRequest Level 2: Comments Welcome on First Public Working Draft The Web API Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of "XMLHttpRequest Level 2." XMLHttpRequest Level 2 enhances "XMLHttpRequest" with new features, such as cross-site requests, progress events, and the handling of byte streams for both sending and receiving. Learn more about the W3C Rich Web Client Activity. http://www.w3.org/2006/webapi/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-XMLHttpRequest2-20080225/ http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/ http://www.w3.org/2006/rwc/ 8. CSSOM View Module: Comments Welcome on First Public Working Draft The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of "CSSOM View Module." The APIs introduced by this specification provide authors with a way to inspect and manipulate the view information of a document. This includes getting the position of element layout boxes, obtaining the width of the viewport through script, and also scrolling an element. Learn more about the Style Activity. http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/members http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-cssom-view-20080222/ http://www.w3.org/Style/ 9. Access Control for Cross-site Requests The Web Application Formats Working Group has published the Working Draft of "Access Control for Cross-site Requests." Web application technologies commonly apply same-origin restrictions to network requests. These restrictions prevent a Web application running from one origin from obtaining data retrieved from another origin, and also limit the amount of unsafe HTTP requests that can be automatically launched toward destinations that differ from the running application's origin. This document defines a mechanism to enable client-side cross-site requests. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity. http://www.w3.org/2006/appformats/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-access-control-20080214/ http://www.w3.org/2006/rwc/ 10.W3C mobileOK Checker "Beta" Released for Mobile World Congress W3C invites Web content authors to run the beta release of the W3C mobileOK checker and make their content work on a broad range of mobile devices. This new version provides more accurate results and a more reliable experience. Visitors of the Mobile World Congress (in Barcelona, starting Monday, 11 February) are welcome to stop by the W3C Mobile Web Initiative booth (in Hall 7) to learn more about this tool for making Web sites mobile-friendly. http://validator.w3.org/mobile/ http://validator.w3.org/mobile/ http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/ http://www.w3.org/2008/02/MWC.html 11.WAI-ARIA for Accessible Rich Web Applications: First Public Working Drafts The Protocols and Formats Working Group published First Public Working Drafts of: * " Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) Version 1.0" combines the two previously-published ARIA draft specifications: WAI-ARIA Roles, and WAI-ARIA States and Properties. * " WAI-ARIA Primer" provides background on accessibility issues related to JavaScript, and introduces the technical approach used in WAI-ARIA. * " WAI-ARIA Best Practices" describes how Web content developers can develop accessible rich Web applications using WAI-ARIA. WAI-ARIA defines a way to make Web content and Web applications more accessible to people with disabilities. It especially helps with dynamic content and advanced user interface controls developed with Ajax, HTML, JavaScript, and related technologies. An updated " WAI-ARIA Roadmap" was also published. Additionally, the Education and Outreach Working Group published a new WAI-ARIA FAQ and updated WAI-ARIA Overview. Read the Call for Review: New WAI-ARIA Documents announcement and about the Web Accessibility Initiative. http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-wai-aria-20080204/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-wai-aria-primer-20080204/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-wai-aria-practices-20080204/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-wai-aria-roadmap-20080204/ http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/ http://www.w3.org/WAI/aria/faq http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2008JanMar/0023 http://www.w3.org/WAI/ 12.Codecs, Metadata, and Addressing: Video on the Web Workshop Report The report of the W3C Video on the Web Workshop is now available. Thirty-seven organizations discussed video and audio codecs, spatial and temporal addressing, metadata, digital rights management, accessibility, and other topics related to ensuring the success of video as a "first class citizen" of the Web. W3C thanks Cisco for hosting the Workshop, which took place 12-13 December 2007 simultaneously in San Jose, California and Brussels, Belgium. Read the forty-two position papers and Workshop minutes. W3C welcomes feedback on the Report and the topic of video on the Web at public-video-comments@w3.org (archive). http://www.w3.org/2007/08/video/report http://www.w3.org/2007/08/video/report http://www.w3.org/2007/08/video/ http://www.w3.org/2007/08/video/minutes#attendees http://www.w3.org/2007/08/video/papers http://www.w3.org/2007/08/video/minutes http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-video-comments/ 13.SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System Primer The Semantic Web Deployment Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of "SKOS Simple Knowledge Organization System Primer." SKOS provides a model for expressing the basic structure and content of concept schemes such as thesauri, classification schemes, subject heading lists, taxonomies, folksonomies, and other types of controlled vocabulary. SKOS has been designed to provide a low-cost migration path for porting existing organization systems to the Semantic Web. The primer is intended to help implementors who have a basic understanding of the Semantic Web to use the capabilities defined in "SKOS Reference" to represent and publish their concept schemes as SKOS data. The Primer aims to provide introductory examples and guidance in the use of SKOS vocabulary features. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. http://www.w3.org/2006/07/SWD/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-skos-primer-20080221/ http://www.w3.org/TR/skos-reference http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/ 14.Note: Best Practices for XML Internationalization The Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Working Group has published a Group Note of "Best Practices for XML Internationalization." This document provides a set of guidelines for developing XML documents and schemas that are internationalized properly. Following the best practices describes here allow both the developer of XML applications, as well as the author of XML content to create material in different languages. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity. http://www.w3.org/International/its/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/NOTE-xml-i18n-bp-20080213/ http://www.w3.org/International/ 15.W3C Offices Program: Ten Years of International Outreach Today representatives from W3C Offices, regional branches that promote W3C and interact with participants in local languages, celebrate ten years of the Offices program. Offices currently represent 17 regions around the globe, helping to organize meetings, recruit Members, translate materials, and find creative ways to encourage international participation in W3C work. Offices staff gather for a face-to-face meeting in Sophia-Antipolis France to review ten years of experience and to forge improvements to the program. At this occasion, W3C thanks the Offices staff past and present for all of their work! http://www.w3.org/2008/02/offices10l.jpg http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Offices/ http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Offices/staff.html ________________________________________________________________________ ____ For previous newsletters from the Australian W3C Office please visit http://w3c.org.au/newsletters/ If you are a W3C Member and would like to contribute relevant news please email us at w3c-australia@w3.org If you know of others who would like to receive this newsletter please direct them to http://w3.org.au ----------- Unsubscribe ----------- To unsubscribe send an email to w3c-news-request@w3c.org.au with the following command in the body of the email unsubscribe w3c-news your.email@address.org Replace the your.email@adddress.org with your real e-mail address. The subject line of the email is ignored, and can be left blank.