W3C

The Provenance Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of The PROV Data Model and Abstract Syntax Notation. PROV-DM is a core data model for provenance for building representations of the entities, people and processes involved in producing a piece of data or thing in the world. PROV-DM is domain-agnostic but with well-defined extensibility points allowing further domain-specific and application-specific extensions to be defined. It is accompanied by PROV-ASN, a technology-independent abstract syntax notation, which allows serializations of PROV-DM instances to be created for human consumption, which facilitates its mapping to concrete syntax, and which is used as the basis for a formal semantics. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

W3C announces today the new Model-Based User Interfaces (MBUI) Working Group. The mission of the Model-Based UI Working Group is to develop standards as a basis for interoperability across authoring tools for context aware user interfaces for Web-based interactive applications. Application developers face increasing difficulties due to wide variations in device capabilities, in the details of the standards they support, the need to support assistive technologies for accessibility, the demand for richer user interfaces, the suites of programming languages and libraries, and the need to contain costs and meet challenging schedules during the development and maintenance of applications. The Model-Based UI Working Group will start from extensive experience with model-based user interface design solutions, and will provide a strong basis for interoperable authoring tools for interactive application front ends, with HTML5 as a key delivery platform. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

W3C announces the launch of a new Web Testing Activity. For years, W3C has been testing technologies independently in a variety of Working Groups. Each specification follows its own methods for testing the underlying technology and there has been minimal coordination between Working Groups on testing methods. Technologies such as HTML, CSS, and APIs must be tested in the same user agents, at times in combination. Therefore, as the number of technologies and the number of devices using them increase, it has become vital to quality on the Web that W3C take a broader view of testing. To this end, W3C has launched two groups. The Browser Testing and Tools Working Group will produce technologies for use in testing, debugging, and troubleshooting of Web applications running in Web browsers. The Web Testing Interest Group will develop and deploy testing mechanisms and collateral materials for testing of Web technologies across different devices (desktops, mobile, TV, etc.).

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) has updated the Before and After Demonstration (BAD). BAD shows an inaccessible website and a retrofitted version of the same website with the accessibility barriers fixed. Read the call for review e-mail, learn about Accessibility, and visit the WAI home page.

W3C is pleased to announce its newest online course dedicated to "Game Development in HTML5". Developed and taught by Michal Budzynski, who recently ran onGameStart, where W3C/OpenMedia explored standardization needs around games with the Web games community. This course will last 4 weeks from 31 Oct. to 27 Nov. 2011. Through this course, students will create browser based multiplayer games by using open Web technologies such as HTML5 Canvas, CSS Transitions, Timing control for script-based animations, Web Sockets and other JavaScript APIs. The full price of the course is €225 but we have a limited number of seats available at the early bird rate of €145, open until 22 October 2011. Register today!