Artefacts
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.. _artefacts:

.. toctree::
   :caption: Artefacts

.. index:: Artefacts Documentation

Portable Open Badges (PNG)
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Badges in d-gree comply with the Open Badges v2 specification [1]_ in providing privacy-preserving, decentralised, portable and shareable records of achievement. They consist of a human-facing PNG image representation that typically informs of the year and achievement, but not the recipient. That way, all images are identical for all recipients of a course. Instead, the recipient identity and other details are kept as machine-readable PNG metadata (zTXt chunk). The identity can be an e-mail address, Internet Identity or potentially a government-provided identity, and is generally hashed to maintain the recipient's privacy.

PNG files can be shared on social networks to promote the achievements (e.g. LinkedIn although that ignores the metadata and therefore does not verify) or managed in backpacks such as Badgr and OpenBadge Passport. Backpacks verify the validity (i.e. whether a badge is expired or revoked) and the association to the identity. Through the badger component, badges can be imported and selectively shared with employers. In d-gree, recipients get a personalised badge management link pointing to all the sharing options. Such auxiliary documents are described below.

Human-readable Badge Webpages (HTML)
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As badge meta-data is meant to be machine-readable, a webpage with the same information formatted for human consumption can be rendered. In a pure setting, this would be a 1:1 metadata representation. However, as the purpose of the website is often to allow for fast and easy verification, for instance by future employers who might not be familiar with the details of re-applying the hash function used in the metadata, the webpage can contain additional, colour-encoded information that is derived from other sources. Primarily, this would be the recipient's full name and/or plain identity. Thus, the webpage constitutes information that is subject to data protection, and access to it should be limited to few subjects. Access protection works generally on a link-share basis to balance the need to protect and convey the information over a long time, as outlined in the access and privacy section in :ref:`concepts`.

Human-readable Confirmation Documents (PDF)
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Confirmation documents appear in two flavours: Confirmation of participation (attendance record), and confirmation of successful conclusion (achievement record). Both documents can be produced. Typically, the first is easier to obtain without assessment/claims and does not constitute a micro-credential. Hence, it might not be specifically secured. In contrast, the latter might have additional security measures such as electronic signatures.

These documents are portable and printable, meaning that they contribute to the physical triple safety as outlined in :ref:`concepts`. As such, they may embed further portable or linked artefacts, primarily in the form of URLs and QR codes that allow converting back from a physical representation into the digital equivalents. The achievement record document may indeed link back to both the hosted badge (or its human-readable website) and the hosted version of the document itself, whereas depending on the design, the badge may also link back to its hosted version.

Both document flavours contain extended meta-data about the course, including the lecturers. Meant for human consumption and conscious transmission to third parties such as future employers, they may also contain the recipient's full name, birth date and other identification information, in particular the identity which was used to produce the badge along with information on how to verify the badge. This is essential given the expected time span of multiple decades over which identifiers may change whereas an unchanged micro-credential may still be of relevance.

Auxiliary Files (Dynamic HTML, QR Codes, Badge Images, Signature Images, Competency Diagrams)
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In several steps of the production :ref:`workflows`, d-gree supports the automated production of auxiliary images that are embedded into other artefacts. This includes QR codes that give little space for customisation apart from perhaps placing a university logo in the middle, to other artefacts that adhere to the marketing and communication standards of an issuing institution. In d-gree, the following images are currently used, all of which are identical for all recipients and therefore do not require recipient-specific data protection.

* Badge images. Based on a template image as well as a configuration file describing font and colouring, the course name and year are placed automatically.
* Signature images. Used for electronic signatures on the confirmation documents in case signing is requested. They contain the signatory (usually lecturer) name, identity, and date.
* Competency diagrams. For courses that outline the achieved competences graphically, for instance, in a spider web diagram. These diagrams must be pre-produced and often fine-tuned, for which d-gree offers some support.

Beyond embedded images, there are representations that have the potential to become standardised artefacts on their own. The first is a dynamic webpage (DHTML) that represents a shareable micro-credential, with selective level of sharing, for instance concerning the claims that a recipient is willing to convey to a third party or to a group of people. The second is a self-contained QR code which does not encode a link to a badge, but a badge itself, minus the human-readable badge image, for instance, through the Comprehensive Learner Record [2]_. This code can be printed, stored and transmitted in physical form, as well as digitalised again in a lossless manner.
**Dynamic HTML and self-contained QR codes are subject to research concerning their usefulness and limitations.**

.. [1] Open Badges v2: https://www.imsglobal.org/sites/default/files/Badges/OBv2p0Final/index.html
.. [2] Comprehensive Learner Record v2: https://www.imsglobal.org/spec/clr/v2p0/