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The RDF Working Group and the JSON-LD Community Group have published two Last Call Working Drafts today:

• JSON-LD 1.0. JSON-LD harmonizes the representation of Linked Data in JSON by describing a common JSON representation format for expressing directed graphs; mixing both Linked Data and non-Linked Data in a single document. The syntax is designed to not disturb already deployed systems running on JSON, but provide a smooth upgrade path from JSON to JSON-LD. It is primarily intended to be a way to use Linked Data in Web-based programming environments, to build interoperable Linked Data Web services, and to store Linked Data in JSON-based storage engines. JSON-LD is capable of serializing any RDF graph or dataset and most, but not all, JSON-LD documents can be directly transformed to RDF.
• JSON-LD 1.0: Algorithms and API. The JSON-LD 1.0 Algorithms and API specification describes useful Algorithms for working with JSON-LD data. It also specifies an Application Programming Interface that can be used to transform JSON-LD documents in order to make them easier to work with in programming environments like JavaScript, Python, and Ruby.

This is a Last Call publication for both specifications. All substantive technical work on the specification is complete. Feedback on both specifications is encouraged and should be sent to public-rdf-comments@w3.org. The Last Call period will end in 4 weeks, on May 10th 2013

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity and W3C Community Groups.

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group has published an updated working draft of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0. The Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0 enhances the foundation to integrate automated processing of human language into core Web technologies. ITS 2.0 provides metadata to foster the adoption of the multilingual Web. The draft reflects changes since the last call publication 6 December 2012 and asks for feedback on the remaining open issues. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity.

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of Clipboard API and events. This document describes APIs for clipboard operations such as copy, cut and paste in web applications. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Web Storage. This specification defines an API for persistent data storage of key-value pair data in Web clients. Comments are welcome through 07 May. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

The RDF Working Group has published two Working Drafts today:

• RDF 1.1 Semantics. This document describes a precise semantics for the Resource Description Framework 1.1 and RDF Schema. It defines a number of distinct entailment regimes and corresponding systems of inference rules. It is part of a suite of documents which comprise the full specification of RDF 1.1.
• TriG. This document defines a textual syntax for RDF called TriG that allows an RDF dataset to be completely written in a compact and natural text form, with abbreviations for common usage patterns and datatypes. TriG is an extension of the Turtle format.

The RDF Working Group also published two Group Notes today:

• N-Triples. N-Triples is a line-based, plain text format for encoding an RDF graph.
• N-Quads. N-Quads is a line-based, plain text format for encoding an RDF dataset.

Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

The SVG Working Group has published a Working Draft of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2. This specification defines the features and syntax for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Version 2, a language for describing two-dimensional vector and mixed vector/raster graphics. Although an XML serialization is given, processing is defined in terms of a DOM. Learn more about the Graphics Activity.

W3C announced today two closely related workshops, part of the W3C headlights 2013 exercise on Digital Publishing:

• eBooks & i18n: Richer Internationalization for eBooks on 4 June 2013 in Tokyo, Japan. This workshop will investigate international functionality that needs to be added to the Open Web Platform; the goal is to make the various eBook reading platforms suitable for electronic books that use the printing and typesetting traditions of different cultures. If you are interested in participating, please submit a position paper by 30 April 2013.
• Publishing and the Open Web Platform on 16-17 September 2013 in Paris, France. This workshop will look at the "back-end" processing to make the Open Web Platform suitable for commercial publishing, especially in print, all the way from authoring through to delivering the printed product and beyond. If you are interested in participating, please submit a position paper by 1 July 2013.

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of Input Method Editor API. This specification defines an “IME API” that provides Web applications with scripted access to an IME (input-method editor) associated with a hosting user agent. This IME API includes: an InputMethodContext interface, which provides methods to retrieve detailed data from an in-progress IME composition, a Composition dictionary, which represents read-only attributes about the current composition, such as the actual text and its style. This API is designed to be used in conjunction with DOM events. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

The Device APIs Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Network Service Discovery. This specification defines a mechanism for an HTML document to discover and subsequently communicate with HTTP-based services advertised via common discovery protocols within the current network. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group invites implementation of two Candidate Recommendations:

• CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 3. This module contains the features of CSS for conditional processing of parts of style sheets, conditioned on capabilities of the processor or the document the style sheet is being applied to. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2], which builds on CSS level 1. The main extensions compared to level 2 are allowing nesting of certain at-rules inside ‘@media’, and the addition of the ‘@supports’ rule for conditional processing.
• CSS Values and Units Module Level 3. This CSS3 module describes the common values and units that CSS properties accept and the syntax used for describing them in CSS property definitions. This is an update that clarifies that the viewport size used by the 'vw' and 'vh' units includes the size of any scrollbars only when the scrollbars are “automatic” (CSS rule 'overflow: auto'), and that the corresponding definition of viewport size for paged media is *not* part of this module.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published a Working Draft of CSS Grid Layout. This CSS module defines a two-dimensional grid-based layout system, optimized for user interface design. In the grid layout model, the children of a grid container can be positioned into arbitrary slots in a flexible or fixed predefined layout grid. Learn more about the Style Activity.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) today announced the Workshop on Referencing and Applying WCAG 2.0 in Different Contexts on 23 May 2013 in Brussels, Belgium. Participants will explore approaches for using Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and its supporting resources in different policy settings and contexts. The Workshop is open to policy-makers, users, developers, accessibility experts, researchers, and others interested in adopting, referencing, and applying WCAG 2.0. If you are interested in participating, please submit a statement of interest by 23 April 2013. Learn more about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

The Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG) published Role Attribute as a W3C Recommendation. Role Attribute is an XML attribute that allows authors to add semantic information to documents. Role Attribute supports WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications technical specification for making dynamic, interactive web content accessible to people with disabilities. Learn about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

The XSLT Working Group and the XML Query Working Group have published a Candidate Recommendation of XSLT and XQuery Serialization 3.0. This document defines serialization of an instance of the data model as defined in XQuery and XPath Data Model (XDM) 3.0 into a sequence of octets. Serialization is designed to be a component that can be used by other specifications such as XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 3.0 or XQuery 3.0: An XML Query Language. Learn more about the XML Activity.

The Device APIs Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of HTML Media Capture. The HTML Media Capture specification defines an HTML form extension that facilitates user access to a device's media capture mechanism, such as a camera, or microphone, from within a file upload control. Comments are welcome through 19 April. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

The SPARQL Working Group has completed development of its full-featured system for querying and managing data using the flexible RDF data model. It has now published eleven Recommendations for SPARQL 1.1, detailed in SPARQL 1.1 Overview. SPARQL 1.1 extends the 2008 Recommendation for SPARQL 1.0 by adding features to the query language such as aggregates, subqueries, negation, property paths, and an expanded set of functions and operators. Beyond the query language, SPARQL 1.1 adds other features that were widely requested, including update, service description, a JSON results format, and support for entailment reasoning. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

The System Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of Runtime and Security Model for Web Applications. This document specifies a runtime and security model for Web Applications. It describes how an application is defined through an application manifest, and how it can be installed, updated and packaged. It also specifies how such an application can put into the background, put back in the foreground or woken up. Finally, the document describes the security model for such applications. This includes the permission model and the different security rules that would apply. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity.

The Royal Academy of Engineering announced today that Tim Berners-Lee, Marc Andreessen, Vinton Cerf, Robert Kahn, and Louis Pouzin are the recipients of the new Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which recognizes "outstanding advances in engineering that have changed the world and benefited humanity." The award is shared by Berners-Lee for his invention of the Web, Andreessen for his work on the Mosaic browser, and Pouzin, Cerf, and Kahn for their pioneering work on fundamental Internet protocols.

"The prize recognises what has been a roller-coaster ride of wonderful international collaboration," said Berners-Lee. "Bob and Vint’s work on building the internet was re-enforced by Louis’ work on datagrams and that enabled me to invent the Web. Marc’s determined and perceptive work built on these platforms a product which became widely deployed across nations and computing platforms. I am honoured to receive this accolade and humbled to share it with them. I want the Web to inspire and empower new generations of engineers --boys and, especially, girls-- who will build, in turn, their own platforms, to improve our global society. I hope the message behind this award, along with the work we are doing with the World Wide Web Foundation and W3C, will assist in achieving the vision of a web that is open, accessible and of value to all."

Learn more about how the Web is expanding into a full-fledged programming environment for rich applications, documents, and data: the Open Web Platform.

The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group has published two documents today:

• A Working Draft of CSS Paged Media Module Level 3. This module describes the page model that partitions a flow into pages. It builds on the Box model module and introduces and defines the page model and paged media. It adds functionality for pagination, page margins, page size and orientation, headers and footers, widows and orphans, and image orientation. Finally it extends generated content to enable page numbering and running headers / footers.
• A Group Note of CSS Print Profile. This specification defines a subset of Cascading Style Sheets Level 2, revision 1 and CSS Paged Media Level 3 for printing across multiple devices and media types. It is designed for printing in situations where it is not feasible or desirable to install a printer-specific driver, and for situations were some variability in the output is acceptable. This profile is designed to work in conjunction with XHTML-Print and defines a minimum level of conformance as well as an extension set that provides stronger layout control for the printing of mixed text and images, tables and image collections.

Learn more about the Style Activity.

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.