SVGää

SVGää is a proposed extension of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format, conceived to address multilingual typography, accessibility, and modular authoring within vector graphics. Emerging from discussions in open web graphics communities in the 2020s, SVGää aims to complement the core SVG specification by adding capabilities that improve text layout, metadata accessibility, and compositional layering while preserving SVG’s scalable rendering and compact syntax.

Key features associated with SVGää include enhanced text shaping for languages with complex diacritics and scripts, explicit accessibility metadata tied to graphical elements, and a modular extension framework that allows optional features such as layered compositions, embedded font data, and richer animation controls. The design emphasizes backward compatibility, so standard SVG renderers can still render SVGää documents in a compatibility mode by ignoring non-critical extensions.

Technical approach and file handling consider SVGää as XML-based, operating primarily within the SVG ecosystem. A proposed file extension for SVGää documents is .svgää, and documents are intended to be valid SVG files with additional, namespaced extensions that can be opt-in by authoring tools and runtimes.

Status and adoption remain provisional. As of writing, SVGää exists as a community proposal with experimental drafts and no formal standard. Browser and tool support is limited to experimental editors and polyfills, with mainstream uptake contingent on formal specification, interoperability testing, and community consensus. See also SVG, SVG 2.0, and vector graphics standards.