The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 specification as a W3C Recommendation, "representing cross-industry agreement on an XML-based language that allows authors to create two dimensional vector graphics. A W3C Recommendation indicates that a specification is stable, contributes to Web interoperability, and has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor its widespread adoption." From the W3C announcement: "Web designers have requirements for graphics formats which display well on a range of different devices, screen sizes, and printer resolutions. They need rich graphical capabilities, good internationalization, responsive animation and interactive behavior in a way that takes advantage of the growing XML infrastructure used in e-commerce, publishing, and business to business communication. [SVG brings] the XML advantage to vector graphics and benefits all industries which depend on rich graphics delivery -- advertising, electronic commerce, process control, mapping, financial services, and education. Web designers demand vendor-neutral, cross-platform interoperability. W3C's Extensible Markup Language (XML) has become the universal format for document and data interchange on the Web. SVG 1.0 enables the textual content of graphics -- from logos to diagrams -- to be searched, indexed, and displayed in multiple languages. This is a significant benefit for both accessibility and internationalization. SVG 1.0 builds on other W3C specifications such as the Document Object Model (DOM), which allows for easy server-side generation and dynamic, client-side modification of graphics and text. SVG 1.0 also benefits from W3C technologies such as CSS and XSL style sheets, RDF metadata, XML Linking, and SMIL Animation, which also advanced to Recommendation today."

From the Introduction: "SVG is a language for describing two-dimensional graphics in XML 1.0. SVG allows for three types of graphic objects: vector graphic shapes (e.g., paths consisting of straight lines and curves), images and text. Graphical objects can be grouped, styled, transformed and composited into previously rendered objects. The feature set includes nested transformations, clipping paths, alpha masks, filter effects and template objects. SVG drawings can be interactive and dynamic. Animations can be defined and triggered either declaratively (i.e., by embedding SVG animation elements in SVG content) or via scripting. Sophisticated applications of SVG are possible by use of a supplemental scripting language which accesses SVG Document Object Model (DOM), which provides complete access to all elements, attributes and properties. A rich set of event handlers such as onmouseover and onclick can be assigned to any SVG graphical object. Because of its compatibility and leveraging of other Web standards, features like scripting can be done on XHTML and SVG elements simultaneously within the same Web page. SVG is a language for rich graphical content. For accessibility reasons, if there is an original source document containing higher-level structure and semantics, it is recommended that the higher-level information be made available somehow, either by making the original source document available, or making an alternative version available in an alternative format which conveys the higher-level information, or by using SVG's facilities to include the higher-level information within the SVG content."

Bibliographic information: Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Specification. W3C Recommendation 04-September-2001. Version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-SVG-20010904/. Also available in PDF. Latest version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG/. Edited by Jon Ferraiolo (Adobe).