Widgets 1.0: Updated W3C Working Draft

Members of W3C's Web Application Formats Working Group have released
an updated Working Draft for the "Widgets 1.0" specification. The
document was produced as part of the Rich Web Clients Activity in the
W3C Interaction Domain. Widgets are written for users to run in their
Web browser environment. Specifically, widgets "are a class of
client-side web application for displaying and/or updating local or
remote data, packaged in a way to allow a single download and
installation on a client machine or device. Examples include clocks,
stock tickers, news casters, games and weather forecasters. The
Widgets 1.0 specification, when combined with other dependent
specifications, defines a software solution for Widgets, including:
(1) A packaging format defined in terms of the Zip File Format
Specification, to provide authors with an interoperable way to
encapsulate and distribute widgets. (2) An XML-based configuration
format and processing model, to allow authors to declare metadata
about a widget. (3) A model that allows a user-agent to automatically
start a widget. (4) An HTTP-based model for version control, to allow
user agents to automatically keep widgets up-to-date. (5) A set of
ECMAScript implementable DOM APIs and events, including an API to
allow instantiated widgets to communicate with one another. (6) A
model that leverages the XML-Signature Syntax and Processing
Specification to allow a widget to be digitally signed. (7) A security
model to reduce privacy risks and reduce the potential for damage to
an end-users machine or device. (8) A means for web browsers to
automatically "discover" widgets from within a HTML document. (9)
Accessibility requirements for user agents to ensure that perceptual
and interactive parts of widgets are accessible. More Information See also the supporting discussion list: Click Here