The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Data Shapes Working Group has just released the First Public Working Draft (FPWD) of SHACL 1.2 Rules . This marks an exciting step forward for the Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL), extending its capabilities from pure data validation into the realm of inference and reasoning. For those working with RDF data—whether in knowledge graphs, linked data applications, or semantic web projects—this development could open up new possibilities for declarative data enrichment and automated reasoning. What is SHACL? SHACL (Shapes Constraint Language) is a W3C Recommendation (since 2017) designed to validate RDF graphs against a set of conditions defined in "shapes." Think of it as a schema language for RDF, similar to how XML Schema validates XML documents or JSON Schema validates JSON. Key features of SHACL include: Defining constraints on node types, property cardinalities, value ranges, datatypes, and patterns. Supporting complex logic via...

  The   CSS Working Group   has published a first public Draft Note of   CSS Snapshot 2022 . This document collects together into one definition all the specs that together form the current state of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) as of 2022. The primary audience is CSS implementers, not CSS authors, as this definition includes modules by specification stability, not Web browser adoption rate. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, etc.

  The   CSS Working Group   has published a Group Note of   CSS Snapshot 2021 . This document collects together into one definition all the specs that together form the current state of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) as of 2021. The primary audience is CSS implementers, not CSS authors, as this definition includes modules by specification stability, not Web browser adoption rate. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, etc

The  CSS Working Group  has published four First Public Working Drafts today: CSS Color Module Level 5  extends CSS Color [ css-color-4 ] to add color modification functions. Media Queries Level 5  allows authors to test and query values or features of the user agent or display device, independent of the document being rendered. They are used in the CSS @media rule to conditionally apply styles to a document, and in various other contexts and languages, such as HTML and JavaScript. CSS Transforms Module Level 2  allows elements styled with CSS to be transformed in two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. This spec adds new tranform functions and properties for three-dimensional transforms, and convenience functions for simple transforms. CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 4  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 applie...

The  CSS Working Group  has published two First Public Working Drafts today: Resize Observer : This specification describes an API for observing changes to Element’s size. CSS Scroll Anchoring Module Level 1 : Changes in DOM elements above the visible region of a  scrolling box  can result in the page moving while the user is in the middle of consuming the content. This spec proposes a mechanism to mitigate this jarring user experience by keeping track of the position of an anchor node and adjusting the scroll offset accordingly. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, etc.

4 December 2018 The CSS Working Group invites implementations of two updated Candidate Recommendations: Geometry Interfaces Module Level 1  provides basic geometric interfaces to represent points, rectangles, quadrilaterals and transformation matrices that can be used by other modules or specifications. CSS Fragmentation Module Level 3  describes the fragmentation model that partitions a flow into pages, columns, or regions. It builds on the Page model module and introduces and defines the fragmentation model. It adds functionality for pagination, breaking variable fragment size and orientation, widows and orphans. CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

The  CSS Working Group  invites implementations of  CSS Display Module Level 3  Candidate Recommendation. This module describes how the CSS formatting box tree is generated from the document element tree and defines the  ‘display’  property that controls it. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

The  CSS Working Group  invites implementations of two updated Candidate Recommendations of  CSS Cascading and Inheritance Level 3  and  CSS Cascading and Inheritance Level 4 . The CSS module defined in these documents describes how to collate style rules and assign values to all properties on all elements. By way of cascading and inheritance, values are propagated for all properties on all elements. New in the Level 4 are the  ‘revert’  keyword and  <supports-condition>  for the  ‘@import’  rule. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

21 June 2018 The  CSS Working Group  has published  CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 3 (CSS3 UI)  as a W3C Recommendation. This specification describes user interface related properties and values that are proposed for CSS level 3 to style HTML and XML (including XHTML). It includes and extends user interface related features from the properties and values of CSS level 2 revision 1. It uses various properties and values to style basic user interface elements in a document. This specification is implemented in all modern browsers. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

26 April 2018 The  Efficient eXtended Interchange (EXI) Working Group  has published a W3C Proposed Recommendation of  Canonical EXI , a specification that describes the method for generating a canonical form of an EXI document. The main application of this specification is to guarantee non-repudiation using XML Signature, while allowing certain flexibility for intermediaries to reconstitute the documents before they reach final destination without breaking the signatures. Comments are welcome through  24 May 2018 .

14 December 2017 The  CSS Working Group  invites implementations of three updated Candidates Recommendations: CSS Counter Styles Level 3 : This module introduces the  ‘@counter-style’  rule, which allows authors to define their own custom counter styles for use with CSS list-marker and generated-content counters  [CSS-LISTS-3] . It also predefines a set of common counter styles, including the ones present in CSS2 and CSS2.1. CSS Grid Layout Module Level 1 : 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 predefined flexible or fixed-size layout grid. CSS Scroll Snap Module Level 1 : This module contains features to control panning and scrolling behavior with “snap positions”. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on sc...

7 December 2017 The  CSS Working Group  invites implementations of an updated Candidate Recommendation of  CSS Writing Modes Level 3 . This document defines CSS support for various international writing modes, such as left-to-right (e.g. Latin or Indic), right-to-left (e.g. Hebrew or Arabic), bidirectional (e.g. mixed Latin and Arabic) and vertical (e.g. Asian scripts). Along with this updated Candidate Recommendation, the group also published a First Public Working Draft of  CSS Writing Modes Level 4 . The difference from the CSS Writing Modes Level 3 is the set of features that were deferred from Level 3 due to later implementation uptake. CSS  is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

18 April 2017  |  Archive The  XSLT Working Group  has published a Proposed Recommendation of  XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 3.0 . This specification defines the syntax and semantics of XSLT 3.0, a language designed primarily for transforming XML documents into other XML documents. XSLT 3.0 is a revised version of the XSLT 2.0 Recommendation published on 23 January 2007. The primary purpose of the changes in this version of the language is to enable transformations to be performed in streaming mode, where neither the source document nor the result document is ever held in memory in its entirety. Another important aim is to improve the modularity of large stylesheets, allowing stylesheets to be developed from independently-developed components with a high level of software engineering robustness. Comments are welcome through  19 May .

22 March 2017 The   XML Query Working Group   and the   XSLT Working Group   have published six documents as W3C Recommendations to strengthen JSON and Web Platform support through maps, arrays, new functions: XQuery 3.1: An XML Query Language XQueryX 3.1 XML Path Language (XPath) 3.1 XQuery and XPath Data Model 3.1 XPath and XQuery Functions and Operators 3.1 XSLT and XQuery Serialization 3.1 The 3.1 work extends XPath and XQuery with map and array data structures along with additional functions and operators for manipulating them; a primary motivation was to enhance JSON support. XPath is a domain-specific language for identifying and extracting nodes from a tree (typically) built from XML or JSON and defined by the XQuery and XPath Data Model) and also an expression language with typed tree nodes and functions among the first-class objects. XPath expressions can call functions and use operators defined in the Functions and Operators specificatio...

23 July 2015 The  XML Security Working Group  has published a Group Note of  XML Signature Syntax and Processing Version 2.0 . This informative W3C Working Group Note describes XML digital signature processing rules and syntax. XML Signatures provide integrity, message authentication, and/or signer authentication services for data of any type, whether located within the XML that includes the signature or elsewhere. Learn more about the  Security Activity . Introduction: Mastering Digital Growth in 2025—From SEO to Social Media and AI In 2025, digital success isn’t just about having an online presence—it’s about strategically connecting the dots between SEO, web design, content creation, and social media. For small businesses and marketers alike, staying ahead means embracing the latest tools and trends that shape how we rank, engage, and grow online. Whether you're aiming to  win local search  with cutting-edge  SEO for Small Business in 2025: H...

10 April 2014 The Math Working Group has published two W3C Recommendations today: XML Entity Definitions for Characters (2nd Edition) . This document defines several sets of names, so that to each name is assigned a Unicode character or sequence of characters. Each of these sets is expressed as a file of XML entity declarations. Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) Version 3.0 2nd Edition . This specification defines the Mathematical Markup Language, or MathML. MathML is a markup language for describing mathematical notation and capturing both its structure and content. The goal of MathML is to enable mathematics to be served, received, and processed on the World Wide Web, just as HTML has enabled this functionality for text. Learn more about the Math Activity .

11 February 2014 The Efficient XML Interchange Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Format 1.0 (Second Edition) . This document is the specification of the Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) format. EXI is a very compact representation for the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Information Set that is intended to simultaneously optimize performance and the utilization of computational resources. The EXI format uses a hybrid approach drawn from the information and formal language theories, plus practical techniques verified by measurements, for entropy encoding XML information. Using a relatively simple algorithm, which is amenable to fast and compact implementation, and a small set of datatype representations, it reliably produces efficient encodings of XML event streams. The grammar production system and format definition of EXI are presented. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Languag...

6 February 2014 The XML Processing Model Working Group has published a Working Group Note of XML processor profiles . This specification defines several XML processor profiles, each of which defines how any given XML document should be processed, both operationally and in terms of what information must be made available to applications. It is intended as a resource for other specifications, which can by a single normative reference establish precisely what input processing they require as well as what information they require. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity .

9 October 2013 The XML Core Working Group invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation of XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.1 . Many programming languages provide an inclusion mechanism to facilitate modularity. Markup languages also often have need of such a mechanism. This specification introduces a generic mechanism for merging XML documents (as represented by their information sets) for use by applications that need such a facility. The syntax leverages existing XML constructs – elements, attributes, and URI references. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity .

The MultilingualWeb-LT Working Group has published a Proposed Recommendation of Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 2.0 . The technology described in this document “Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) 2.0“ enhances the foundation to integrate automated processing of human language into core Web technologies. ITS 2.0 bears many commonalities with its predecessor, ITS 1.0 but provides additional concepts that are designed to foster the automated creation and processing of multilingual Web content. ITS 2.0 focuses on HTML, XML-based formats in general, and can leverage processing based on the XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF), as well as the Natural Language Processing Interchange Format (NIF). Comments are welcome through 22 October. Learn more about the Internationalization Activity .