W3C

The Provenance Working Group has published four Proposed Recommendation Documents along with corresponding supporting notes. You can find a complete list at the PROV Overview draft. These documents provide a framework for interchanging provenance on the Web. PROV enables one to represent and interchange provenance information using widely available formats such as RDF and XML. In addition, it provides definitions for accessing provenance information, validating it, and mapping to Dublin Core. Comments are welcome through 9 April 2013. Learn more about the Semantic Web.

The Browser Testing and Tools Working Group has published a Working Draft of WebDriver. The WebDriver API aims to provide a synchronous API that can be used for a variety of use cases, though it is primarily designed to support automated testing of web apps. This specification defines the WebDriver API, a platform and language-neutral interface and associated wire protocol that allows programs or scripts to introspect into, and control the behavior of a web browser. The WebDriver API is primarily intended to allow developers to write tests that automate a browser from a separate controlling process, but may also be implemented in such a way as to allow in-browser scripts to control a possibly separate browser. Learn more about the Web Testing Activity.

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Custom Properties for Cascading Variables Module Level 1. This module introduces cascading variables as a new primitive value type that is accepted by all CSS properties, and custom properties for defining them. Learn more about the Style Activity.

The Government Linked Data Working Group has published two Last Call Working Drafts today:

• The RDF Data Cube Vocabulary. This is an RDF vocabulary for publishing multidimensional data, particularly statistical data. It is compatible with the cube model that underlies SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange), a widely used ISO standard. The Data Cube Vocabulary brings essential SDMX elements to RDF, providing a standard way for governments to publish statistical information as Linked Data. Comments are welcome through 08 April.
• Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT). This is an RDF vocabulary for expressing the contents of data catalogs, such as government data portals. DCAT is for catalogs of all kinds of data (not just RDF data), but uses RDF to support easy aggregation of catalogs and construction of services which can search across many unrelated catalogs. Comments are welcome through 08 April.

Learn more about the eGovernment Activity.

The HTML Working Group today published HTML Image Description Extension as First Public Working Draft. This specification ("HTML-longdesc") enables web authors to provide longer text descriptions for complex images. It defines the "longdesc" attribute to link descriptions with images in HTML5 content. HTML-longdesc is an extension specification that is part of the HTML5 family of specifications, which enables it to evolve independently and be finalized more rapidly. It is developed by the HTML Accessibility Task Force in coordination with the HTML WG and the WAI Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG). HTML-longdesc is part of W3C's work to ensure that the Open Web Platform is accessible to people with disabilities. Please see important additional information in the call for review e-mail. Learn more about the HTML Activity and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).