[1.2T-LC] i18n comment 1: Explanation of ligatures

Comment from the i18n review of:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-SVGMobile12-20080915/

Comment 1
At http://www.w3.org/International/reviews/0810-svg-tiny/
Editorial/substantive: E
Tracked by: RI

Location in reviewed document:
10.2 [http://www.w3.org/TR/SVGMobile12/text.html#CharactersAndGlyphs]

Comment: 
"(Note that for proper rendering of some languages, ligatures are required for certain character combinations.)"

 
"Composite characters - In various situations"

 
"Some typography systems examine "

 
"In some languages, particular sequences of characters "

 
I would change 'some' and 'various' to 'many'. Ligatures are required in scripts all across Asia, and composite messages are even more common. Especially since this is SVG Tiny, and will therefore play a role in the mobile Web, I think it's important to make implementers consider support for complex script features. I did some testing of the font features and noted that OpenType features required for the Indic scripts I tested were not supported. This is a common scenario, and has been for a long time. I don't think implementers are actually aware of the fact that ligatures and such are not just frilly features for most languages throughout Asia. I'd generally like to see a little more emphasis on this in the document. (I'd have actually liked to see a graphical example of rendering in a complex script here - i may be able to provide one if you like.)

 

Received on Friday, 10 October 2008 19:41:02 UTC