The first draft of the application design was only intended to support Web accessibility (WCAG) but we decided to keep going simply from the reaction of folks we told about the application. The result is you will be able to label Web sites to make claims about compliance to WCAG, MobileOk and Section 508.

It does not stop there. The application can also create content labels for Web Sites that use a Creative Commons license and we’ll be adding more standards and codes of conduct as they come down stream.

I spent the day on the phone to our partners, touching base to say Hi and that they can expect and update shortly. If I haven’t called you yet, don’t worry, I will. Feel free to get in touch anytime.

I was delighted to hear partners still being so positive towards Accessibility. We all know the many reason and benefits of why a Web site should be accessible and comply with Web Standards. We need to push it so that brand/product owners also understand those benefits.

We will be sending out an update very soon.

We currently have more than 50 partners across at least 10 countries and looking to scale this when we raise funding. To find out more about the programme and sign up to the Accessibility Partner Programme visit here.

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Visit the O2 Web site to see an example of our Trustmark. Clicking on the Trustmark invokes the Compliance Certificate. This is currently being redesigned also.

We’ve created a few varients to support different Web sites but we sometimes design one for specific brands when they feel the current selection detracts from their brand.

We’re now providing our Partners with the opportunity to promote themselves as a Segala Certified Partner using a logo for their own Web site.

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So, first up on the list of launches is a new Web site for Partners. We’d very much appreciate your help. If you sign up to help us test the site to ensure it user friendly, we’ll ensure you get on the list (if you want) for the long awaiting application that generates real Semantic data (Content Labels).

I’ll also throw in some free passes to my next Facebook conference in December.

Please email partner@segala.com or leave a message here.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon

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Can you help me better understand the number of potential partners Segala has in your country?

Thanks in advance.

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Glaxstar is a company run by a very good friend of mine, Ian Hayward. These guys have built what I believe to be the only 100% full proof way of protecting minors from inappropriate content on the Web. Their newly released product is called Glubble. I’ve known about this for a very long time but have been unable to blog about it.

These are the same guys behind Mozzilla’s bluechip extensions for companies such as Google, Yahoo! PayPal and more recently, eBay.

They’re also responsible for building Segala’s (Semantic) Firefox extension to enable more trust on the Web by reading Content Labels. Ian has asked me enough times for a roadmap of functionality changes so I better get on with it!

Actually, come to think of it, Glaxstar’s Firefox extension built to our requirements to read Content Labels is equally compelling as it adds more trust on the Web based on standards and codes of conduct.

You can read TechCrunch’s review here.

Check it out, it’s fantastic!!! http://glubble.com

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Here’s another go at explaining what Content Labels are. I’ll start by explaining what problem is being solved and then talk about how to accelerate the process of getting mass adoption by building an ecosystem.

Steve Clayton, Microsoft UK Partnerships CTO sums up what we’re doing quite nicely on Facebook.

Had a great chat with Paul Walsh this morning – he has some cool shit going on with Segala that need to be more widely seen!

What problem are we solving?

When conducting a search on the Web, search engines such as Google only display the title and description of Web sites. They do this by displaying the title as a hyperlink, followed by the description of the site. Search engines don’t provide information about the suitability of content to individuals.

What type of information about the suitability of content are users likely to demand in the future?

1. Parents will want to know which Web sites are appropriate/inappropriate for their children in their particular country
2. Disabled users will want to know which sites comply with specific W3C Web accessibility guidelines, to enable them browse the Web in comfort. This is now a legal requirement in countries such as the UK, US, Canada and Australia
3. Some users will want to know which sites have been independently verified by a medical authority so they can trust information which helps them make important decisions
4. Users (e.g. bloggers and journalists) may wish to know which sites permit them to reuse content such as copy, images and video
5. Consumers may wish to only buy from Web sites with privacy statements or follow a code of conduct for e-commerce.

Content Labels enable all of the above

1. Based on the Semantic Web, a Content Label is a file that contains metadata
2. Web site owners use Content Labels to promote their conformance and/or commitment to industry standards and codes of conduct
3. Content Labels are more flexible than any other solution. It is possible to make assertions about an entire Web site or specific Web pages. That is, pages abc are child friendly but the rest of the sites isn’t and the entire site is accessible apart from pages xyz. SSL and current identity certificates don’t support this level of flexibility
4. Search engines and browsers read Content Labels in order to provide more information about the suitabilty of content.

Reasons why mass adoption should be seamless

1. Content Labels (POWDER) will soon become a ratified W3C standard (hopefully by September 2007)
2. Content Labels is going to be proposed as a replacement for PICS; the outdated solution adopted by Internet Explorer today
3. Current implementations of trust use proprietary technology, prohibiting scalability across the entire Web. Why? Well, because unless Web site owners implement their solution and users download/use their plug-in or client software, you won’t be able to see which Web sites should be trusted from search results. In my opinion, they all act like vertical entities without due consideration for each other to help get mass adopt for trust across the Web. Implementers include Netscape Navigator, VeriSign, McAfee SiteAdvisor and GeoTrust etc.
4. The W3C Mobile Web Initiative trustmark (mobileOK) will come in the form of a Content Label. This demonstrates that the W3C see the benefit in using Content Labels for making conformance claims to standards
5. Segala’s Semantic Firefox extension reads Content Labels and alters Google search results. It can even filter out sponsored links. Our extension is being endorsed and promoted by the W3C Semantic Web Education and Outreach (SWEO) Special Interest Group.

Segala is helping to build the ecosystem

1. Segala recently launched a global partner programme to audit and certify Web sites for Web accessibility standards compliance (soon mobileOK amongst other standards in the future)
2. Partners have already started to certify and label Web sites such as Tesco Personal Finance and St. Paul’s, demonstrating scalability at opposite ends of the tail
3. Segala is certifying technology and product providers as ‘Accessibility-ready’. That is, tools that build Web sites which are automatically compliant with specific accessibility guidelines
4. Segala has created ContentLabel.org to provide an independent framework that enables new industry best practices and codes of conduct to be created by anyone, any association or any government agency in any country. Anyone can create a new code by using the inbuilt wiki
5. Segala is almost finished the build of a system that will be white labeled for other trust(mark) providers, including the aforementioned above. Our technology can also be used by new trust providers that want to launch new standards and codes of conduct anywhere in the world
6. Segala is helping mainstream browsers and search engines to better understand ‘how’ to make the simple changes required. We are doing this by providing the Firefox extension and soon, Internet Explorer plugin.

We are delighted to partner with Segala as we believe the Segala Trustmark provides excellent, highly credible recognition based on stringent best practice for accessibility. I am confident that our clients who attain the Trustmark certification will benefit from it.

- Emma Kirk, Strategic Director

How to get your Web site certified and labelled

Contact Segala to have your Web site audit and certified. We will also provide the Content Label to ensure your Web site is highlighted in future search results.

How you can certify and label your clients’ Web sites

Join the Seagla-certified partner programme and we will provide you with all the required tools that will enable you to sell and provide Web accessibility services.

Check out what current partners have to say.

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I still don’t like listening to myself as I find all the faults of slipping up on the ‘odd’ mispronunciation and of course, repetition, which I’m particularly good at. We covered quite a lot of (different) ground so Paul has split the interview into 3 episodes;

1. About Segala
2. About Content Labels and how they will improve search by enabling trust on the Web
3. Best practice guidelines for blogs, the positive spin

The third episode has not yet been published on Chilibean. I’ll post it as soon as it’s released (scheduled for next week).

You can also find a useful explanation about Content Labels in a previously written blog post.

Enjoy!

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I met some great people such as Rory Dennis from Bdirect, who indecently, will soon become a Segala-certified partner.

I also met Damon from Zebtab and of course, I bumped into my fellow-networking addict, Nicola Bryne from Benchmark Capital.

I was delighted when Stephen Hughes, Director of Northern Europe for Enterprise Ireland introduced himself and asked if we could meet up to discuss how to improve the ecosystem for startups in Dublin.

I give Enterprise Ireland a hard time from time to time but it’s only because I care and would like to see them get more involved. Overall they’re great for Ireland and have supported some great companies along the way. So, forever the optimist I’m very much looking forward to meeting Stephen to see what improvements and initiatives we can make happen. I’d be very happy to see both Dublin and London forge a presence on Europe’s centre stage – with a joint venture between them.

One of the highlights of the evening was meeting Claire O’Halloran from Microsoft. I knew straight away that we have enough in common to warrant a follow up meeting. I didn’t realise just how much we had in common though, until I read her blog and exchanged a few emails. So, we’re meeting up next week to go through ‘stuff’.

Conor has asked if I’d consider joining the IIBN’s committee, so I look forward to getting involved in future events. Clair and I have agreed to get the community Web site/blog up and running. I’m sure that means we’ll get our teams to work on the project.

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Viacom, owner of Paramount, studios and MTV says that Google has breached its copyright 1.5 billion times by allowing YouTube users to share video clips. And the outcome of the $1bn lawsuit may have a knock on effect for newspapers and blogs. So, newspapers such as the Guardian and Independent and bloggers such as TechCrunch, Robert Scoble, ReadWrite/Web and Vecosys better watch the outcome of this lawsuit.

Make sure you read beyond the quote as I go on to talk about *the* solution to this problem.

According to the Independent (original article)

The case, which accuses Google’s YouTube video-sharing site of building “a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others’ creative works”, has the potential to redefine how content is used on the internet. “If it goes to court, this will be the biggest case since Napster [the music-sharing website shut down by litigation in 2002],” says Edgar Forbes, senior lecturer in media law and intellectual property at Bournemouth University.

[snip]

Bloggers and websites increasingly use newspaper articles to attract users, provoke debate and sell advertising on their sites. “This is a big issue,” says Larry Kilman of the World Association of Newspapers. “If a company like Google is using content and selling advertisements around it, that is of concern to many newspapers and publishers.” The association, with partners including the global news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), Macmillan Publishers and Independent News & Media (parent group of The Independent on Sunday), is working to create an international protocol to regulate online use of newspaper content.

The Automated Content Access Protocol (Acap) would let owners of published content communicate permission information automatically in a form recognised by internet search engines. This would allow legitimate online users to comply easily and quickly with copyright law. Lawyers say such an international standard would be immensely useful. But making it work requires absolute clarity about what is protected by copyright and how it can be enforced.

Paul M. brought this to my attention because of the ACAP (Automated Content Access Protocol) connection. What ACAP is looking to achieve is exactly the type of use case that we have in mind for Content Labels .

In fact, I discussed this particular use case with Philip Hallam-Baker, Chief Scientist at VeriSign over dinner last year. Philip told me of their proposed (and very propritary) solution with Microsoft before the launch of IE7. I remember saying that what VeriSign could do to combat Phishing for $800 per certificate, Segala could do for $8 using Content Labels <g>

Jemima Kiss wrote an article about Content Labels, covering some of the major use cases in the Guardian today. Perhaps Jemima will write about Segala’s proposed solution for ACAP soon…

According to Acap’s homepage

ACAP will enable the providers of all types of content published on the World Wide Web to communicate permissions information (relating to access and use of that content) in a form that can be automatically recognized and interpreted, so that business partners can systematically comply with the publishers’ policies. In the first instance, ACAP will provide a framework that will allow any publisher, large or small, to express access and use policies in a language that search engines’ robot “spiders” can be taught to understand. It is anticipated that, in future, the scope of ACAP will be extended to other business relationships and other media types.

As a result, it will be possible for publishers to make more content available to users through the search engines, and to continue to innovate in the development of business models for network publishing.

I hope they’re not spending too much time and money on developing a new ‘standard’ for which there is a solution already, a solution that is going to be the standard for labelling content on the Web (and potentially for mobile and TV). In short, Content Labels does exactly what ACAP want to achieve.

Known within the W3C as POWDER (Protocol for Web Description Resources), Content Labels is moving onto a full recommendation track. This means our Content Labels are set to become the standard method for content classification on the Web. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is responsible for creating standards such as HTML and WAI Guidelines. This helps to ensure that our method of labelling content is (beyond) scalable and importantly free or low in cost.

Furthermore, Content Labels (I mean POWDER, sorry, I can’t get used to the new name), will be proposed as a replacement for PICS. PICS is the old/out dated W3C recommendation still in use by Internet Explorer for Site Advisor.

I came up with the idea of contentlabel.org to help organisations like ACAP adopt a system for its own code of conduct almost immediately and seamlessly. It also helps industry create new codes of conduct for which Content Labels will be created, as reported by the Guardian.

There are too many proprietary technologies and so-called standards looking to achieve the same goal. I’m not saying for a second that this is what ACAP is trying to do, but let’s not create another standard if it’s not necessary please. In fact, I’ve already been introduced (by email) to ACAP’s project coordinator and technical project manager and look forward to hearing from them.

I’ll write a separate post which looks at all the current attempts at enabling more trust on the Web using ‘a’ standard. For now, I must catch a train into an Internet People event.

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The article is entitled ‘Boost for Web Content Labelling’.

Technology firm Segala is spearheading an initiative to help internet users identify trusted web content through a comprehensive labelling system.

Irish-based Segala has been developing content labels for more than two years and is now in talks with major web organisations and publishers to roll out the service for a number of applications.

Different content labels could be developed for different uses, although three of the most significant applications could be for labelling sites that meet accessibility standards for web users with disabilities; blogs that have signed up to a set of agreed editorial standards; and adult content.

Sites that have signed up to agreed editorial standards would display a small logo in search results and different content labels would have different logos. The logo could also be displayed on the site itself.

To read the full article on the Guardian Web site you need to register, but it’s free!

As a side note, Vecosys has just reported about our recent partnership announcement with Terapad.

Please get in touch if you’re a trustmark provider, or want to know how to create a new code of conduct.

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