This charter is written in accordance with section 4.2.2 of the W3C Process Document.
The mission of the Timed-Text Working Group (TTWG) is to develop an XML based format used for the representation of streamed text synchronized with some other timed media, like audio and video. A typical application being the real time captioning of movies on the Web (e.g. integrated in SMIL).
This Working Group is scheduled to last for 24 months, from April 2002 through March 2004.
The main criterion of success for TTWG is that:
A tentative schedule of face-to-face meetings and deliverables for 2002 is given here.
First f2f meeting
First Public Working Draft of Rationales, Requirements and Coordination activities
QA Implementation plan made public
First Public Working Draft of Timed-Text format
Second Public Working Draft of Timed-Text format
First Public version of QA tools available
The working group will operate in public.
It will have a public home page and a public mailing list on the W3C site.
The initial set of participants will be generated using the Timed-Text Task Force (www-tt-tf archives) list of participants, but everybody will have to reaffirm their participation commitement and sign up with an IPR statement.
@@Some words about relationship to:
HTML for text part
CSS for layout part
SMIL for integration and timing part
SVG for positioning part maybe
I18N overall
WAI overall
XML overall.
Outside W3C, these and other groups are working on Timed-Text formats.
@@ need to fill up with the list of organizations/format we already know of.
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
@@links below are not real yet
The archived public mailing list is www-tt-wg@w3.org is the primary means of discussion within the group.
The group maintains a public Home page
The TTWG meets bi-weekly or weekly as needed.
Face to face meetings will be arranged 2 to 3 times a year, rotating location between US West coast, East coast, Europe, and occasionally Pacific/Australia. Meeting details are made available on the W3C Member Calendar and from the TTWG home page.
The TTWG public home page will contain up to date information about the work in progress, and the mailing list will be available too.
The Group works by consensus. In the event of failure to achieve consensus, the Group may resort to a vote as described in the Process Document. Invited experts are allowed to vote.
Escalation: Appeals from Working Group decisions may be made first to the XX Coordination Group (through its chair) and then to the W3C team following the procedures established by the W3C Process Document (first the domain leader and then the director).
The TTWG welcomes participation from W3C Member organizations, and also invites experts from organizations working in the field of captioning, as well as accessibility organizations and research projects, government organizations, and others interested in promoting the development of a standard Web format for Timed-Text.
Participants are expected to observe the requirements of the Section 3.3.1: W3C Process for Working Groups. The following is an excerpt from that section:
Participation on an ongoing basis implies a serious commitment to the Working Group charter, including:
- attending most meetings of the Working Group.
- providing deliverables or drafts of deliverables in a timely fashion.
- being familiar with the relevant documents of the Working Group, including minutes of past meetings.
For this Working Group, the following commitment is expected:
@@mention who is/are the chair(s) of TTWG.
@@not a real link
Information about how to join the Working Group is available in a separate page.
@@may need to be changed
W3C promotes an open working environment. Whenever possible, technical decisions should be made unencumbered by intellectual property right (IPR) claims. W3C's policy for intellectual property is set out in section 2.2 of the W3C Process document.
Working Group members are expected to disclose any intellectual property they have in the area. This Working Group will work on a royalty-free basis, as defined in the W3C Current Patent Practice document. The Working Group is thus obliged to produce deliverables which rely only on intellectual property available on a royalty-free basis.
If it proves impossible to produce deliverables implementable on a royalty-free basis, then a Patent Advisory Group will be launched as described in the W3C Current Patent Practice document.
Working Group members disclose patent and other IPR claims by sending email to <patent-issues@w3.org> an archived mailing list that is readable by W3C Members and the W3C Team (see archive). Working Group members must disclose all IPR claims to this mailing list, but they may also copy other recipients. IPR disclosures are expected to be made public; Working Group members should specify if their disclosure is confidential.