W3C - News

• Four Group Notes published by the Decentralized Identifier Working Group

  The Decentralized Identifier Working Group has published the following four Group Notes:Decentralized Identifier Extensions: This document serves as a repository for all known global parameters, properties, and values used by the Decentralized Identifier ecosystem.DID Methods: This document serves as a collection of known DID Methods.DID Document Property Extensions: This document serves as a collection of known DID Document properties and property values.DID Resolution Extensions: This document serves as a collection of known DID Resolution and Dereferencing extensions.

• W3C opens Technical Architecture Group (TAG) election

  The W3C Advisory Committee, having nominated seven individuals, is invited today to vote until 10 December 2024 to fill four seats in the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG) election. Please, read the statements of the nominees.The TAG is a special working group within the W3C, chartered under the W3C Process Document, with stewardship of the Web architecture. Some aspects of its mission include:to document and build consensus around principles of Web architecture and to interpret and clarify these principles when necessary;to resolve issues involving general Web architecture brought to the TAG;to help coordinate cross-technology architecture developments inside and outside W3C.The Members of the TAG participate as individual contributors and not representatives of their organizations. TAG participants use their best judgment to find the best solutions for the Web, not just for any particular network, technology, vendor, or user.

• First Public Working Draft: Audio Session

  The Media Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Audio Session. This API defines an API surface for controlling how audio is rendered and interacts with other audio playing applications, allowing for better audio mixing or exclusive playback, depending on the context, to provide a more consistent and integrated media experience across devices.

• First Public Working Draft: Web Audio API 1.1

  The Audio Working Group has published a First Public Working Draft of Web Audio API 1.1. This specification describes a high-level Web API for processing and synthesizing audio in web applications. The primary paradigm is of an audio routing graph, where a number of AudioNode objects are connected together to define the overall audio rendering. The actual processing will primarily take place in the underlying implementation (typically optimized Assembly / C / C++ code), but direct script processing and synthesis is also supported.The Introduction section covers the motivation behind this specification.This API is designed to be used in conjunction with other APIs and elements on the web platform, notably: XMLHttpRequest [XHR] (using the responseType and response attributes). For games and interactive applications, it is anticipated to be used with the canvas 2D [2dcontext] and WebGL [WEBGL] 3D graphics APIs.

• Last Call for Review of Proposed Amendments: WebRTC: Real-Time Communication in Browsers

  The Web Real-Time Communications Working Group has proposed amendments, including both corrections and additions, to the W3C Recommendation of WebRTC: Real-Time Communication in Browsers. This document defines a set of ECMAScript APIs in WebIDL to allow media and generic application data to be sent to and received from another browser or device implementing the appropriate set of real-time protocols. This specification is being developed in conjunction with a protocol specification developed by the IETF RTCWEB group and an API specification to get access to local media devices. Proposed corrections and additions since the January 2021 Recommendation are listed in an appendix to the document. Comments, including implementation experience, are welcome via GitHub through 8 December 2024.

• WCAG2ICT Published as W3C Group Note

  The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) published Guidance on Applying WCAG 2 to Non-Web Information and Communications Technologies (WCAG2ICT) as a completed W3C Group Note. WCAG2ICT describes how Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) principles, guidelines, and success criteria can be applied to non-web information and communications technologies (ICT), specifically to non-web documents and software. The Note includes guidance for WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 success criteria and glossary terms. For an introduction, see: WCAG2ICT Overview.

• Consortium Members elect Board of Directors

  We are pleased to announce that W3C Consortium Members have elected the following seven people, listed in alphabetical order, to the World Wide Web Consortium, Inc. Board of Directors:Koichi MoriyamaChris NeedhamFlorian RivoalEric SiowLéonie WatsonChris WilsonHongru (Judy) ZhuThey join Directors appointed by our current Partners: Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, Chunming Hu, Jun Murai (respectively by ERCIM, France; Beihang University, China; and WCAP, Japan); Founding Director Tim Berners-Lee who acts as a non-voting Board member, and Gonzalo Camarillo who is board-elected.All Board terms are for two years, starting 26 September 2024 until 30 September 2026.We thank the 11 candidates who run in this election.The W3C Board of Directors is the governing body of the Consortium. The Board has ultimate authority on its strategic direction, has legal obligations and fiduciary responsibility over W3C as a whole. Directors are formally responsible for the correct running of the organization; this is generally characterized in three broad “fiduciary” duties: (1) a duty of care (to exercise good business judgment of a reasonable person with their experience); (2) duty of loyalty (to serve the best interest of the organization); and (3) a duty of obedience (in accordance with all applicable laws and rules). W3C Board of Directors seats are non-paid positions.Learn more about the W3C Board of Directors responsibilities.

• First Public Working Draft: CSS Grid Layout Module Level 3

  The CSS Working Group has published a First Public Working Draft of CSS Grid Layout Module Level 3. This module introduces masonry layout as an additional layout mode for CSS Grid containers.

• First Public Working Draft: CSS Values and Units Module Level 5

  The CSS Working Group has published a First Public Working Draft of CSS Values and Units Module Level 5. This CSS module describes the common values and units that CSS properties accept and the syntax used for describing them in CSS property definitions.

• W3C announces Sylvia Cadena as inaugural Chief Development Officer

  Sylvia Cadena, W3C Chief Development Officer The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is hiring an inaugural Chief Development Officer. Sylvia Cadena joins the Team full-time mid-September, working remotely from Brisbane, Australia.W3C became a public-interest incorporated not-for-profit organization in 2023, a pivotal evolution since our establishment in 1994 as a cooperation between four academic institutions, compelling us to adopt a new structure, diversify funding to be in a better position to succeed in our mission. Sylvia joins us at this decisive time to help us set direction and ensure the longevity of our organization by defining our vision for financial security and development, by planning and implementing strategies to secure donors, grants, and contributions in support of the organization, and by communicating effectively the organization’s philanthropic value proposition, thus accelerating growth and success of our development portfolio.Learn more about Sylvia's background and new role in our press release.