web i18n minimum

I am writing advice for people that want to be internationally compliant
without going whole hog.

Suppose you may do only one language at the moment, might do more later, and
simply want the framework right, but aren't going to address actual
localization, formatting etc. issues until later.

Here is my list of the things that you MUST do to have internationalized web
pages, and be PREPARED for later localization.

I would be glad for your comments or thoughts on this.

I had bidi issues on the list, but if the initial language is not bidi, I think
there isn't much that one must do up front and so took it off.

I also thought about tagging elements that will be localized with unique ids
for better translation memory usage, etc. and decided that shouldn't be part of
the first cut.

Anything else? Anything you would remove?

1) Charset
choose encoding that maximizes representation of characters you use.
utf-8 recommended.
label encodings in html, xhtml, css. Set http. Also form accept-charset.
Don't label anchors and links with encoding.

2) language
Label language of your pages. (lang, xml:lang)

3) Styling
Use CSS, don't embed fonts etc. in html.
Use serif, sans-serif font fallbacks.
Use logical not presentational names
Use before and after, not right and left names.

Use resizable layouts and relative sizing and positioning. 
(consider div instead of tables)
Don't use absolute font sizes.

Don't use css language selectors, they don't work on all browsers.
For styles that are specific to a language, and need to coexist with other
languages in a common stylesheet and web page, use language id as part of the
style name.

4) web site Organization
directory and filenaming recommendations...
language selection recommendations
acquiring international domain names

==============
OK, the last 2 language selection and acquiring domains are probably deferable.

I find the hardest thing on the list to be "resizable" layouts.
I see many tricks and example code offered on the web and in books that
hardwires font-size and/or widths.
I find resizing very difficult on my own pages.
I'd like to develop a page of techniques and tips for this.
Suggestions or places to point at?

tex
-- 
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Tex Texin   cell: +1 781 789 1898   mailto:Tex@XenCraft.com
Xen Master                          http://www.i18nGuy.com
                         
XenCraft		            http://www.XenCraft.com
Making e-Business Work Around the World
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Received on Sunday, 28 September 2003 18:18:39 UTC