- From: Najib Tounsi <tounsi@emi.ac.ma>
- Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 11:59:10 +0000
- To: Martin Duerst <duerst@w3.org>, "Arko, Phil" <phil.arko@scr.siemens.com>, "'public-i18n-geo@w3.org'" <public-i18n-geo@w3.org>
At 18:13 -0400 16/06/03, Martin Duerst wrote: >I think this is a very good start. > >But I think first we have to think about what "international web site" >means. It could be: > >- Site in one language, but for an international audience >- Multilingual site (and there are various ways a site can be > multilingual) >- Site in a language other than English (?) >- A 'secondary' site in that its content is translated/adapted from > another one Hi Martin, I think that Offices sites fall into (are close to) these two last cases. More over, those sites which use other alphabets, have non English-like languages and parts of their content is translated/adapted from W3C site. The last case may then be - A site (why secondary) where contents might be translated/adapted from another one. Regards Najib >- One of multiple sites with coordinated content in different languages > >The issues and considerations, and the answers, are different >for different cases. > >Regards, Martin. > >At 19:47 03/06/11 -0400, Arko, Phil wrote: > >>Below is the revised Q&A >> >>I have taken out references to codes and markup languages in the main >>sections of this Q&A. Because this is meant to act somewhat like an >>introduction to our area, I felt that it was important to include some >>mention of these in order to provide the reader with suggested next steps >>(those being to learn a little more about each of the standards mentioned). >>I discussed them briefly under "Further information." >> >>Thanks, >>Phil >> >> >>---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>- >>Questions & Answers: Initial considerations for international web sites >> >> >>Question >> >>What are some topics to consider when creating websites for an international >>audience? >> >> >>Background >> >>People from around the world can view your content on websites. Because much >>of what we find on the web is written with a specific demographic in mind, >>it is often the case that people outside of that demographic misunderstand >>what has actually been intended. The formatting and presentation of text has >>very specific regional and cultural requirements that need to be addressed >>if the content is to be properly understood. >> >> >>Answer >> >>A typical challenge is to ensure that characters display correctly for the >>end user. Web pages can easily accommodate English, Germanic, and Romance >>languages, but what happens when an occasional foreign word or name is used? >>In the past, a quick solution was to use an inline graphic to display the >>character. Another method was to copy and paste the desired character from >>another program into the web page. While the result might look correct for >>one user, there is no guarantee that every user will see the same text. >>There are many variables that might need to be considered, such as the font, >>operating system, browser software, etc. These concerns are becoming >>increasingly important as users move toward mobile and other non-standard >>browsing devices. >> >>As many languages read from right to left, the ability to include such >>content becomes an even greater challenge. In addition to identifying the >>proper characters, there also needs to be a method of properly handling this >>text. >> >>Some cultures use a comma as a thousands separator and a period as a decimal >>point, while other cultures use the period and comma, respectively. For >>example, 1,547 in Germany and 1.547 in the United States are actually the >>same number. While the only difference in this example is a single >>character, the difference in meaning is significant. >> >>The presentation of dates and times are a very typical example of something >>that causes confusion for the user. When using two digits each to represent >>year, month, and day, the actual date might not be obvious. A few examples >>from different cultures include DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY, and YY/MM/DD. A single >>date in the format "xx/xx/xx" could be interpreted as three different dates. >> >>There are many other concerns that should be addressed as well when creating >>an international-friendly site. This is only a sampling of some of these. >> >> >>By the way... >> >>In its simplest definition, "internationalization" refers to creating a site >>framework that allows for content to be presented in a way that is >>consistent with regional styles and cultural customs. "Localization" refers >>to the actual implementation of each specific region's content into the >>international framework. Internationalization is commonly referred to as >>"i18n" because there are 18 characters between the beginning "i" and >>concluding "n." Similarly, localization is commonly referred to as "l10n." >> >>When starting to create an internationalized site, one must first give >>consideration to the various locales that need to be considered. This will >>help to define the requirements for the international framework. It is >>highly recommended to work with native speaking people who are very familiar >>with the regions and cultures that are part of your user demographic. >> >>Most importantly, the end user must understand that a page has been >>localized. It is a good practice to indicate or imply that the content has >>been formatted for their local formats. This avoids questions and possible >>misinterpretations. >> >> >>Further information >> >>This Q&A provides only a few introductory points on this topic. There are >>many books devoted to the topics of internationalization and localization. >>Becoming familiar with the styles and customs of other regions and properly >>implementing these elements into a web site will ensure that content is >>available to -- and truly understandable by -- a larger audience. >> >>Some of the standards typically used to create internationalized web sites >>include the following: >> >>- XML [ www.w3.org/XML ] is the preferred markup language for defining >>content. In addition to identifying the actual content, it can also include >>attributes that further define aspects of the content (such as language, >>grammar style, and current format of the content). Other web languages (such >>as XHTML) use these attributes to deliver the localized page appropriate for >>the current user. >> >>- XHTML [ www.w3.org/MarkUp ] is the successor to HTML, and is a markup >>language used to define web pages and to properly format and display XML >>content within them. >> >>- Unicode [ www.unicode.org ] is a numbered collection of the characters of >>all of the languages in the world. Using this standard ensures that the >>correct character will be displayed, regardless of the browser or system. >> >>Properly utilizing these standards in a web site can ensure that the >>concerns mentioned above are properly handled. -- Najib TOUNSI (mailto:tounsi@w3.org) W3C Office in Morocco (http://www.w3c.org.ma) Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingenieurs, BP 765 Agdal-RABAT Maroc (Morocco) Phone: +212 (0) 37 68 71 74 Fax : +212 (0) 37 77 88 53 Mobile: +212 (0) 61 22 00 30
Received on Tuesday, 17 June 2003 08:21:26 UTC