W3C Workshop on Publishing and the Open Web Platform

A representative from the IEEE-ISTO Printer Working Group (PWG) attended the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) "Publishing and the Open Web Platform" workshop in September 2013 and participated in the "Standards Bodies: Who does what?" panel.

This W3C Workshop on publishing workflow was the third in a series of industry consultation events on publishing using the Open Web Platform. The specific goal of this workshop was to identify difficulties faced by existing professional publishing organizations in using tools based on the Open Web platform, including the production of printed books, and to find ways to eliminate or ameliorate those difficulties. Some of the topics listed were print-on-demand, color management, ink control, specifying media, binding, trimming, and finishing, all areas of interest to the PWG. The conclusions of these workshops will be communicated to the applicable W3C workgroups, particularly the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) working group to address limitations in CSS design and implementation.

The PWG initially submitted a position paper prepared by Paul Tykodi. Once accepted, PWG representative Bill Wagner gave a presentation outlining PWG credentials as a printing standards body and the PWG position with respect to including PWG Print Job Ticket production specification elements along with content and format information in the Open Web publishing workflow.

The workshop identified areas needing attention that were within the purview of the W3C, possibly in conjunction with other organizations. However, it was observed that the schedule and plans of the CSS working group are very full and that their priorities are dictated by requirements identified by major user communities. Although no specific conclusions were drawn with respect to print production aspects, such as the PWG proposal, one resolution of the workshop was that:

"Liaisons should be established where needed with other standards bodies and industry organizations, and contact maintained in order to avoid duplication of effort or needless competition."

The PWG will support such contact with Digital Publishing Interest Group within the Digital Publishing Activity at W3C and the CSS working group.