Input to BP 15 http://www.w3.org/International/its/techniques/its-techniques.html#AuthLang

Hi all,

I had a look at "Best Practice 15: Specify the language of the content".

Please find my high-level feedback below.

Cheers,
Christian
===

1. We do not mention what should be done in case “xml:lang” is not being
used. One recommendation which could apply in this case could be: “use
its:langRule”.

2. We may want to provide a note along the following lines:

Note: In many cases, a change in language poses challenges for translation.
Examples: The content where the language changes possibly must not be
translated. Accordingly, you may want to work with the ITS data categories
"translate" and/or "localization note".

3. We may want to mention that in many environments (especially if Content
Management Systems are involved) “xml:lang” for the root element is set
automatically.

4. Attributes also count

Quote> The elements without declaration inherit the language information
from their parents.

That’s only part of the story according to
"http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/#sec-lang-tag" which reads

--
The language specified by xml:lang applies to the element where it is
specified (including the values of its attributes), and to all elements in
its content unless overridden with another instance of xml:lang.
--

5. The example could be more explicit

Quote> In this example, the main content of the document is in English,
while a short citation is identified as being in French.

We could change and add as follows “…while a short citation (in the ‘q’
element) is identified as being in French. Thus, ‘xml:lang’ is set to ‘fr’.”

6. I guess an item related to localization would be good for "Why doing
this" part. Possibly, something like the note I suggest at 2. could work.

Christian Lieske
MultiLingual Technology Solutions (MLT)
SAP Language Services (SLS)
SAP Globalization Services
SAP AG
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Germany
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christian.lieske@sap.com
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