[w3c/payment-request] Add candidate corrections for two strings that lack language/direction. (#971)

The Internationalization Working Group has raised concerns about lack of Internationalization support for two strings in the specification (see issues #948 and #951). 

I agree that the specification should support internationalization.

I believe the following is deployment reality:

* In most cases, language context from the document will suffice for the proper representation of the two strings. That is: I believe that explicit metadata for these strings will rarely be needed.
* These strings are either rendered in the browser "sheet" or in "first party" payment apps (e.g., Google Pay and Apple Pay). These strings are not passed to Web-based payment handlers (through Payment Handler API) and, I believe, not passed to "third party" Android native payment handlers.  (There are no third party payment apps with Safari.)
* I also believe that most real-world uses of payment request API involve "skipping" the sheet. That is: calls to Payment Request API involve a single payment method and a single payment app matches, so the browser launches the payment app directly without displaying the sheet. Thus, in practice, rendering these strings in the sheet is rare. 
* In Chrome the sheet has been used as part of built-in support for Basic Card. However, Chrome has signaled that they plan to deprecate their built-in support for Basic Card, so that use of the sheet is likely to go away. The Web Payments Working Group has also retired the Basic Card payment method specification.

Summary: In practice these strings are used almost exclusively used by the Google Pay and Apple Pay native apps. 

Other observations:

* The Web community is working on a platform-wide solution ("Localizable").
* I believe that browser vendors will consider it a low priority to add support for features that will be rarely necessary and for strings that are not directly handled in the browser (but are passed to a small number of native applications).

Given this context, the current pull request seeks a balance:

* Recognize more visibly the need for internationalization support in this specification. Indicate via Candidate Corrections [1] that two dictionaries lack "language" and "direction" members. We can continue to work with Google and Apple on support for these features in Google Pay and Apple Pay.
* Indicate that the Working Group is monitoring the Localizable discussion. It may turn out that a platform-wide solution is preferable to a one-off solution; we don't know yet. We have to consider both backward and forward compatibility in determining how to modify the spec in the future.
* Because these features are expected to be used rarely in the near term, allow the specification to advance to Recommendation with the Candidate Corrections. 

I look forward to feedback from @aphillips, @r12a, and the Internationalization Working Group, as well as @marcoscaceres, @stephenmcgruer, @rsolomakhin, and @nickjshearer.

[1] https://www.w3.org/2020/Process-20200915/#candidate-correction


The following tasks have been completed:

 * [✅] Confirmed there are no ReSpec errors/warnings.
 * [ ] Modified Web platform tests (link)
 * [ ] Modified MDN Docs (link)
 
Implementation commitment:

 * [ ] Safari (link to issue)
 * [ ] Chrome (link to issue)
 * [ ] Firefox (link to issue)
 * [ ] Edge (public signal)

You can view, comment on, or merge this pull request online at:

  https://github.com/w3c/payment-request/pull/971


-- Commit Summary --

  * <a href="https://github.com/w3c/payment-request/pull/971/commits/754ba9658b792288e9eadcc1a32a2586157b7951">add candidate corrections for two strings that lack language/direction.</a>

-- File Changes --

    M index.html (25)

-- Patch Links --

https://github.com/w3c/payment-request/pull/971.patch

https://github.com/w3c/payment-request/pull/971.diff


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Received on Wednesday, 6 October 2021 03:25:41 UTC