New and Emerging Specs and Standards (August 2020)

What You'll Need to Know!

ISO 16175-1:2020 Information and documentation — Processes and functional requirements for software for managing records — Part 1: Functional requirements and associated guidance for any applications that manage digital records
Technical Committee: ISO/TC 46/SC 11 Archives/records management
"This document provides model, high-level functional requirements and associated guidance for software applications that are intended to manage digital records (including digital copies of analogue source records), either as the main purpose of the application or as a part of an application that is primarily intended to enable other business functions and processes."

ONIX Codelists Issue 50 released (EDItEUR)
"The fiftieth issue of the ONIX controlled vocabularies – the Codelists – was published in early July. Proposals for this issue were circulated to the ONIX National Groups around the world at the beginning of June, and Issue 50 was ratified by the ONIX International Steering Committee during its July online meeting. Issue 50 includes a number of additions and updates spread across 15 different codelists. [including…] clarification of how text font and size used in a book should be recorded. This is most important for large print, when font choice can be critical for readers with reduced eyesight. [and] addition of the ISCC (International Standard Content Code) as an option for identifying works and supporting resources. This is a unique code generated from the digital content of a data file. A document with the full set of changes is available from the EDItEUR website, together with the updated lists themselves in various formats."

New website for ISNI (EDItEUR)
"The ISNI International Agency has introduced a redesigned and rebuilt website. It will also allow ISNI to deliver its data as Linked Open Data, […] though this not available yet. Regular visitors will notice some differences in site navigation and the way that much of ISNI’s reference material is presented. Particularly popular options – like how to ‘Get an ISNI’ or ‘Search the ISNI Database’ are now more straightforward to use. More improvements are planned over the coming months, including steps to make the site more accessible to visually impaired users."

W3C: JSON-LD 1.1 Specifications are W3C Recommendations
Following a public review period which ended in June, "the JSON-LD Working Group has published the following specifications as W3C Recommendations:

• JSON-LD 1.1—This specification defines JSON-LD 1.1, a JSON-based format to serialize Linked Data. The syntax is designed to easily integrate into deployed systems that already use JSON, and provides a smooth upgrade path from JSON to JSON-LD. It is primarily intended to be a way to use Linked Data in Web-based programming environments, to build interoperable Web services, and to store Linked Data in JSON-based storage engines.
• JSON-LD 1.1 Processing Algorithms and API—This specification defines a set of algorithms for programmatic transformations of JSON-LD documents. Restructuring data according to the defined transformations often dramatically simplifies its usage. Furthermore, this document proposes an Application Programming Interface (API) for developers implementing the specified algorithms.
• JSON-LD 1.1 Framing—This specification allows developers to query by example and force a specific tree layout to a JSON-LD document."

W3C: For Wide Review: Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities
"The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) and the Accessible Platform Architectures (APA) Working Group request wide review of the Working Draft “Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities” from the Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Accessibility Task Force. We particularly request feedback on: Are any user needs or patterns missing or incorrect? and: Can any information be made easier to understand and implement? Comments are welcome through 4 September 2020."

W3C: Updated Working Draft: Challenges with Accessibility Guidelines Conformance and Testing, and Approaches for Mitigating Them
The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) has published an updated Working Draft of Challenges with Accessibility Guidelines Conformance and Testing, and Approaches for Mitigating Them. This document is part of work on future accessibility guidelines, including WCAG 3.0. It explores the challenges of evaluating a broad range of websites and applications for conformance to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and explores approaches for mitigating these challenges." More information is available at the blog post: Challenges with Accessibility Guidelines Conformance and Testing, and Approaches for Mitigating Them.

Revised version of the 2020-2021 Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement now available for public comment
"[The] Recommended Formats Statement identifies hierarchies of the physical and technical characteristics of creative formats, both analog and digital, which will best meet the needs of all concerned, maximizing the chances for survival and continued accessibility of creative content well into the future. The 2020-2021 version includes significant changes from the 2019-2020 version (which is still active until the review period is complete)."  More background is available at https://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/rfs/.