Tweaks to quicktips cards

Chaps,

We are running low on quick tips cards, but will be able to print more.  Before doing so, however, I'd like to improve on some of the text.


Here is the current text (see the format at http://www.w3.org/International/quicktips/quicktips.pdf ):

===================

W3C Internationalization Quick Tips for the Web

More at http://www.w3.org/International/quicktips/

Encoding. Use Unicode wherever possible for content, databases, etc. Always declare the encoding of content.

Escapes. Only use escapes (e.g.     or  ) in specific circumstances.

Language. Declare the text-processing language of documents and indicate any internal language changes.

Presentation vs. content. Use style sheets for presentational information. Restrict markup to semantics.

Images, animations & examples. Check for translatability and inappropriate cultural bias.

Forms. Use an appropriate encoding on both form and server. Support local formats of names/addresses, times/dates, etc.

Text authoring. Use simple, concise text. Do not compose sentences from multiple strings using scripting.

Navigation. On each page include clearly visible navigation to localized pages or sites. Use the target language.

Right-to-left text. For XHTML, add dir="rtl" to the html tag. Only re-use it to change directionality.

Check your work. Validate! Use techniques, tutorials, and articles at http://www.w3.org/International/ 

=========================


APPROACH 1: MINIMAL TWEAKS

I propose the following changes:

[1]
More at http://www.w3.org/International/quicktips/
>>
Details at http://www.w3.org/International/quicktips/


[2]
Escapes. Only use escapes (e.g.     or  ) in specific circumstances.
>>
Escapes. Use characters rather than escapes (e.g.     or  ) whenever you can.

[3]
Text authoring. Use simple, concise text. Do not compose sentences from multiple strings using scripting.
>>
Text authoring. Use simple, concise text. Use care when composing sentences from multiple strings.

[4]
Navigation. On each page include clearly visible navigation to localized pages or sites. Use the target language.
>>
Navigation. On each page include clearly visible navigation to localized pages or sites, using the target language.

[5]
Check your work. Validate! Use techniques, tutorials, and articles at http://www.w3.org/International/ 
>>
Check your work. Validate! Use best practises, tutorials, and articles at http://www.w3.org/International/ 






APPROACH 2: REWRITE USING QUESTIONS


Encoding. Use Unicode wherever possible for content, databases, etc. Always declare the encoding of content.
>>
Encoding. Did you use Unicode? Did you declare the character encoding of your content?


Escapes. Only use escapes (e.g.     or  ) in specific circumstances.
>>
Escapes. Did you avoid using escapes (e.g.     or  ) whenever possible?


Language. Declare the text-processing language of documents and indicate any internal language changes.
>>
Language. Did you declare the language of the text, and indicate any internal language changes?



Presentation vs. content. Use style sheets for presentational information. Restrict markup to semantics.
>>
Presentation vs. content. Are you using style sheets for presentational information, and restricting markup to semantics?


Images, animations & examples. Check for translatability and inappropriate cultural bias.
>>
Images, animations & examples. Have you checked for translatability and inappropriate cultural bias?


Forms. Use an appropriate encoding on both form and server. Support local formats of names/addresses, times/dates, etc.
>>
Forms. Are encodings compatible on both form and server? Do you support local formats for names/addresses, times/dates, etc?


Text authoring. Use simple, concise text. Do not compose sentences from multiple strings using scripting.
>>
Text authoring. Do you use simple, concise text? Are there issues due to composing sentences from multiple strings?


Navigation. On each page include clearly visible navigation to localized pages or sites. Use the target language.
>>
Navigation. Does each page include clearly visible navigation to localized pages or sites, and use the target language?


Right-to-left text. For XHTML, add dir="rtl" to the html tag. Only re-use it to change directionality.
>>
Right-to-left text. Did you add dir="rtl" to the html tag, and only re-use it to change directionality?


Check your work. Validate! Use techniques, tutorials, and articles at http://www.w3.org/International/ 
>>
Check your work. Does it validate? Did you check out best practises, tutorials, and articles at http://www.w3.org/International/?



Some parts seem to work as questions, but I'm not absolutely convinced that it's a good change throughout - plus these become no longer 'quick tips', more like 'quick checklist'.

Thoughts please.

RI



============
Richard Ishida
Internationalization Lead
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
 
http://www.w3.org/People/Ishida/
http://www.w3.org/International/
http://people.w3.org/rishida/blog/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ishida/
 

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Received on Wednesday, 14 February 2007 13:05:54 UTC