Internationalization Techniques:
Authoring HTML & CSS

Background information

• Character encodings for beginners article

  What is a character encoding, and why should I care?

• Introducing character sets and encodings getting started article

  A brief introduction to some of the concepts associated with character sets and encodings and the Web, with pointers to various techniques sections.

• Essential definitions related to character encodings article

  Basic introductions to Unicode, character sets, coded character sets, character encodings, the document character set, character escapes, xhtml & mime types, and standards vs quirks modes.

• Character encodings article

  Brief overview of encoding declarations.

• Quick tips: Encoding quick tips

  One of the 10 quick tips for internationalization.

• Quick tips: Escapes quick tips

  One of the 10 quick tips for internationalization.

How to's

• Choosing & applying a character encoding article

  Which character encoding should I use for my content, and how do I apply it to my content?

• Migrating to Unicode article

  Detailed guidelines for the migration of software and data to Unicode.

• Setting encoding in web authoring applications article

  How do I set character encoding in my web authoring application?

• HTML5 Markup, 4.02. Character encoding declaration specification

  Encodings to avoid when using HTML5.

• HTML5, 8.2.2.2 Character encodings specification

  Recommendations for support of particular encodings for browsers implementing HTML5.

Useful reference links

• IANA charset registrypage

  The official registry of character encoding names.

Background reading

• Document character set article

  What is the 'Document Character Set' for XML and HTML, and how does it relate to the encodings I use for my documents?

Other references

• Who uses Unicode? article

  Are corporate Web sites using Unicode right now?

• Character encoding declarations in HTML and CSS tutorial

  How should I declare the encoding of my HTML or CSS file?

How to's

• Changing an (X)HTML page encoding to UTF-8 article

  How do I change the encoding of my (X)HTML pages to UTF-8?

• Setting encoding in web authoring applications article

  How do I set character encoding in my web authoring application?

• Display problems caused by the UTF-8 BOM article

  When using UTF-8 encoded pages in some user agents, I get an extra line or unwanted characters at the top of my web page or included file. How do I remove them?

• Migrating to Unicode article

  Detailed guidelines for the migration of software and data to Unicode.

Background reading

• Document character set article

  What is the 'Document Character Set' for XML and HTML, and how does it relate to the encodings I use for my documents?

How to's

• Declaring character encodings in HTML article

  How should I declare the encoding of my HTML file? This page contains a quick reference section, followed by more detailed information.

Useful reference links

• IANA charset registrypage

  The official registry of character encoding names.

Background reading

• Serving HTML & XHTML article

  Introduces doctypes, mime-types, and the influence of standards- vs. quirks-mode on character encoding declarations.

Other links

• Handling character encodings in HTML and CSS tutorial

  Gathers together and organizes pointers to articles that, taken together, help you understand how to handle the essential aspects of authoring (X)HTML and CSS related to characters and character encodings.

• HTML: The Markup Language, 4.2. Character encoding declaration specification

  How to declare the character encoding in HTML5.

• HTML5, 2.1.6 Character encodings specification

  Information about preferred MIME names, ASCII compatible encodings, and Unicode characters.

• HTML5, 4.2.5.5 Specifying the document's character encoding specification

  How to use the meta element to declare the encoding.

• HTML5, 8.2.2 The input stream specification

  How HTML5 detects the character encoding of a page.

• XHTML 1.0, C.1. Processing Instructions and the XML Declaration specification

  Recommendation to avoid XML declaration for compatibility with HTML.

• XHTML 1.0, C.9. Character Encoding specification

  Recommendations on use of meta encoding declarations for HTML compatibility.

• Polyglot Markup: HTML-Compatible XHTML Documents, 3. Specifying a Document's Character Encoding specification

  How to specify the encoding of documents that work as both HTML5 and XHTML5.

• Polyglot Markup: HTML-Compatible XHTML Documents, 2. Processing Instructions and the XML Declaration specification

  The XML declaration is not allowed in documents that work as both HTML5 and XHTML5.

• XHTML 1.0, C.9. Character Encoding specification

  Using the meta element to declare encoding in XHTML 1.0.

• XHTML 1.0, C.1. Processing Instructions and the XML Declaration specification

  Use of the XML declaration in XHTML 1.0.

• Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0, 4.3.3 Character Encoding in Entities specification

  How to declare encodings in XML, with particular reference to the XML declaration.

• HTML 4.01, 5.2.2 Specifying the character encoding specification

  Character encoding information in the HTML 4.01 spec.

• Character Model for the World Wide Web, 4.4.1 Mandating a unique character encoding, C034 specification

  You should use encoding declarations that are available.

How to's

• CSS character encoding declarations article

  How do I declare the character encoding of a CSS style sheet?

Useful reference links

• IANA charset registry page

  The official registry of character encoding names.

Other links

• Character encoding declarations in HTML and CSS tutorial

  How should I declare the encoding of my HTML or CSS file?

• CSS 2.1, 4.4 CSS style sheet representation specification

  Character encoding information in the CSS 2.1 spec.

How to's

• Using character escapes in markup and CSS article

  How can I use character escapes in markup and CSS, and when should I use or not use them?

Useful reference links

• HTML 4.01, 24 Character entity references in HTML 4 specification

  List of character entity references supported by HTML 4 and XHTML 1.0.

Other links

• Character encoding declarations in HTML and CSS tutorial

  How should I declare the encoding of my HTML or CSS file?

• HTML 4.01, 5.3 Character references specification

  Numeric character references and character entity references described in the HTML4 spec.

• XHTML 1.0, C.12. Using Ampersands in Attribute Values (and Elsewhere) specification

  Advice on use of ampersands in href attributes in XHTML.

• XHTML 1.0, C.16. The Named Character Reference ' specification

  Advice to not use &apos in XHTML.

How to's

• Checking HTTP Headers article

  How can I check the character encoding information sent in the HTTP header of a web document?

• Checking the character encoding using the validator article

  How can I check that the character encoding of my document is correct using the W3C HTML Validator?

Useful reference links

• W3C Internationalization Checker page

  Shows the HTTP header information for a page, amongst other things. Shows whether it conficts with other encoding declarations.

• Rex Swain's HTTP Viewer page

  Shows the HTTP header information for a page .

• Delorie HTTP Header Viewer page

  Shows the HTTP header information for a page.

• Mozilla Web-sniffer page

  Shows the HTTP header information for a page.

How to's

• The byte-order mark (BOM) in HTML article

  What is the byte-order mark, and what do I need to know about it when creating HTML?

Useful reference links

• W3C Internationalization Checker page

  Tells you whether your page starts with a BOM, and whether there is a BOM later in the content.

• Perl script code for removing the BOM page

  External link .

• UTF-8 BOM tester page

  Tells you whether a page starts with a BOM.

Other links

• Handling character encodings in HTML and CSS tutorial

  Gathers together and organizes pointers to articles that, taken together, help you understand how to handle the essential aspects of authoring (X)HTML and CSS related to characters and character encodings.

• HTML5, 8.2.2 The input stream specification

  How HTML5 detects the character encoding of a page, and mentions how browsers should handle BOM detection.

• CSS 2.1, 4.4 CSS style sheet representation specification

  Character encoding information in the CSS 2.1 spec. Mentions how browsers should handle the BOM.

How to's

• Normalization in HTML and CSS article

  What are normalization forms, and why do I need to know about them when creating HTML and CSS content??

Useful reference links

• W3C Internationalization Checker page

  Tells you whether your HTML page contains non-NFC class names and ids.

How to's

• Characters or markup? article

  There are a range of control-like Unicode characters, some of which fulfill the same role as markup. Which should I use, and which should I avoid?

• Unicode in XML & Other Markup Languages? W3C note

  Guidelines on the use of the Unicode Standard in conjunction with markup languages such as XML.

• Unicode controls vs. markup for bidi support article

  To correctly format bidi text in (X)HTML or XML content, should I use Unicode control codes or markup?

• Using Unicode controls for bidi text article

  If I'm unable to use markup to correctly order bidirectional text, what can I do?

• HTML, XHTML, XML and Control Codes article

  How do I handle control codes (ie. the 'C0' U+0000-U+001F and 'C1' U+007F-U+009F ranges) in XML, XHTML and HTML?

Background reading

• An Introduction to Multilingual Web Addresses article

  How IDN and IRIs work, aimed at content authors and general users who want to understand the basics without too many gory technical details.

Useful reference links

• Internationalized country code top-level domain page

  Wikipedia article. Contains news about recent developments.

• Internationalized domain name page

  Wikipedia page.

• mod_fileiri: new Apache module under development page

  Martin Dürst's fileiri Apache module.

Other links

• Examples of registered IDNs page

  Lists of IDNs that work with links to the sites.

• RFC 3987 Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs) specification

  IETF Proposed Standard for handling of IRIs.

• Unicode Technical Report #36 Unicode Security Considerations specification

  Describes security issues related to phishing.

Background information

• Language on the Web article

  W3C Getting Started article.

• Working with language in HTML tutorial

  W3C tutorial.

• Language tags in HTML and XML article

  How to choose the right attribute values. W3C article.

• Quick tip: Language article

  W3C article.

• Why use the language attribute? article

  Why should I use the language attribute in web pages?

How to's

• Declaring Language in HTML article

  How should I set the language of the content in my HTML page?

• Specifying Language in XHTML & HTML Content, Using attributes to declare language techniques

  Recommendations on how to use language attributes for single and multiple language pages.

Background reading

• Why use the language attribute? article

  Why should I use the language attribute in web pages? A number of useful reasons.

• HTTP headers, meta elements and language information article

  For HTML, should we put language declarations in HTTP headers and meta elements, and how are they different from those in language attributes?

Other references

• Specifying the language of content: the lang attribute specification

  lang attribute definition in HTML 4.01 (in HTML 4.01 spec, section 8.1)

• Language Identification specification

  xml:lang attribute definition in XML 1.0. (in XML 1.0 spec, section 2.12)

• Clarify natural language usage specification

  Express natural language in a document. (in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Guideline 4)

• Identifying changes in language specification

  Use lang attribute when language changes in a document (in Web Content Accessibility Techniques for HTML, section 2.1)

• Identifying the primary language specification

  Use lang attribute on html tag (in Web Content Accessibility Techniques for HTML, section 2.2)

• The lang and xml:lang Attributes specification

  xml:lang and lang attribute definitions in XHTML 1.0 (section C.7)

• Content-Language specification

  Content-Language definition in HTTP 1.1 (section 14.12)

• Specifying the language of content: the lang attribute specification

  HTML on Content-Language, only says that the HTML language attribute has a higher precedence (in HTML 4.01 spec, section 8.1)

Tests

• Automatic font assignment for CJK text tests

  W3C test page

• Automatic font assignment for CJK text test restults

  W3C test results

• Language declarations tests

  W3C test page

• Document-level language declaration test results

  W3C test results

How to's

• Declaring Language in HTML article

  How should I set the language of the content in my HTML page?

• Using attributes to declare language techniques

  In W3C techniques document (Specifying Language in XHTML and HTML Content)

Background reading

• Why use the language attribute? article

  Why should I use the language attribute in web pages? A number of useful reasons.

Other references

• Specifying the language of content: the lang attribute specification

  lang attribute definition in HTML 4.01 (in HTML 4.01 spec, section 8.1)

• Language Identification specification

  xml:lang attribute definition in XML 1.0. (in XML 1.0 spec, section 2.12)

• Clarify natural language usage specification

  Express natural language in a document. (in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Guideline 4)

• Identifying changes in language specification

  Use lang attribute when language changes in a document (in Web Content Accessibility Techniques for HTML, section 2.1)

• The lang and xml:lang Attributes specification

  xml:lang and lang attribute definitions in XHTML 1.0 (section C.7)

How to's

• Choosing a Language Tag article

  Which language tag is right for me? How do I choose language and other subtags? Covers all the subtag types in the latest version of BCP47.

• Language tags in HTML and XML article

  A simple overview of the syntax for language tags in BCP 47.

• How to choose language values techniques

  Recommended techniques.

• Tagging text with no language article

  How do I use language markup in HTML or XML content when I don't know the language, or the content is non-linguistic?

• Two-letter or three-letter language codes article

  Should I use two-letter or three-letter ISO language codes in language tags? W3C article.

Useful reference links

• IANA Language Subtag Registry page

  This is the official location where you will find all subtags available for use in language tags.

• Language Subtag Lookup tool page

  User friendly interface to IANA's language tag registry by Richard Ishida. Provides for checking of subtags as well as lookup. Up-to-date with latest version of BCP 47.

• Internet-Draft: BCP 47 specification

  Points to a document containing both RFC 5646 (Tags for the Identification of Languages) and RFC 4647 (Matching Language Tags)

• RFC 5646 Tags for the Identification of Languages specification

  The specification that describes language tag syntax.

• RFC 4647 Matching of Language Tags specification

  The specification that describes alternative ways of matching language tags.

Other references

• specification Specifying the language of content: the lang attribute

  lang in the HTML 4.01 spec (section 8.1)

• Language Identification specification

  xml:lang in the XML spec (section 2.12)

• ISO 3166: Codes for Country Names page

  ISO country codes

• ISO 639: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages page

  ISO language codes

• RFC 4646 Tags for the Identification of Languages page

  [Of historic interest only] The specification that describes language tag syntax.

• RFC 3066 Tags for the Identification of Languages page

  [Of historic interest only] The previous IETF document that used to define how to use language tags to identify languages, now obsolete.

• Understanding the New Language Tags article

  [Of historic interest only] Overview of planned improvements for RFC3066bis by one of its authors.

How to's

• Declaring metadata about the language of the intended audience techniques

  In W3C techniques document (Specifying Language in XHTML and HTML Content)

Background reading

• HTTP headers, meta elements and language information article

  For HTML, should we put language declarations in HTTP headers and meta elements, and how are they different from those in language attributes?

Other references

• Content-Language specification

  Content-Language in the HTTP1.1 specification (section 14.12)

• Specifying the language of content: the lang attribute specification

  Content-Language in the HTML specification: only says that the html language attribute has a higher precedence (section 8.1)

How to's

• Declaring Language in HTML article

  How should I set the language of the content in my HTML page?

• HTTP headers, meta elements and language information article

  For HTML, should we put language declarations in HTTP headers and meta elements, and how are they different from those in language attributes?

• Mechanisms for declaring language in HTML techniques

  In W3C techniques document (Specifying Language in XHTML and HTML Content)

Background reading

• Why use the language attribute? article

  Why should I use the language attribute in web pages? A number of useful reasons.

Other references

• Content-Language specification

  Content-Language in the HTTP1.1 specification (section 14.12)

How to's

• How to indicate the language of a link destination techniques

  W3C techniques document (Specifying Language in XHTML & HTML Content)

• The :before and :after pseudo-elements specification

  :before and :after in the CSS 2.1 spec (section 12.1)

Other references

• The A element specification

  hreflang in the HTML spec (section 12.2)

Test data

• Hreflang content generation test

  W3C test page

• Hreflang content generation test results

  W3C test results

How to's

• Accept-Language used for locale setting article

  Is it a good idea to use the HTTP Accept-Language header to determine the locale of the user?

• Date formats, Option Three: Use the Accept-Language HTTP header article

  How do I prepare my web pages to display varying international date formats?

How to's

• HTML5, 3.2.3.3 The lang and xml:lang attributes specification

  Overview of lang and xml:lang in HTML5.

• HTML5, 4.2.5.3 Pragma directives specification

  How the pragma-set default language is determined.

• Polyglot markup, 7.2 Language Attributes specification

  Using lang and xml:lang in HTML5 polyglot documents.

• Polyglot markup, 6.5.1.1 Content-Language specification

  Content-Language and HTML5 polyglot documents.

• HTML 4.01, 8.1 Specifying the language of content: the lang attribute specification

  Overview of lang in HTML4.

• XHTML 1.0, C.7. The lang and xml:lang Attributes specification

  Use both lang and xml:lang.

• XHTML 1.1, 3. The XHTML 1.1 Document Type specification

  The 2nd edition introduced the lang attribute to go with the xml:lang attribute.

• XML 1.0, 2.12 Language Identification specification

  The definition of xml:lang in XML.

• Internet-Draft: BCP 47 specification

  The definition of xml:lang in XML.

Background information

• Quick tips: Presentation vs. content article

  W3C article.

• Quick tips: Text authoring article

  W3C article.

How to's

• Working with Composite Messages article

  W3C article.

• Re-using Strings in Scripted Content article

  W3C article.

Non-W3C references

• <Insert Title Here> (or, Variables in Interface Language) link

  Article by Chris Noessel illustrating a number of examples where composite messages can cause problems.

• Text Fragmentation and Reuse in User Interfaces link

  Composite messages and text-reuse in software user interfaces. The basis for articles in this section. (Multilingual Computing article)

• Globalization Step-by-Step, String Handling link

  Microsoft-specific article on handling composite messages in Win32 and .NET (Microsoft article)

How to's

• Ruby markup article

  Overview of the Ruby Annotation specification (in W3C tutorial, Ruby Markup and Styling)

Background reading

• Ruby article

  What is 'ruby'?

• CJKV Information Processing book

  Useful information about ruby in general (Ken Lunde's book, CJKV Information Processing, ISBN 1-56592-224-7, especially chapters 6 and 7)

Other references

• Ruby Annotation Recommendation specification

  W3C Recommendation

• CSS3 Ruby Module specification

  W3C Working Draft

• The XHTML 1.1 Document Type specification

  Ruby Annotation in XHTML 1.1 spec (section 3, bottom of the page)

• Implementing the Ruby Module link

  Sample module implementations of the Ruby Annotation Specification in several schemas (W3C Personal Note)

Test data

• Ruby markup tests

  W3C test pages

• Implementing ruby tutorial

  Description of support for ruby markup and styling in browsers (in W3C tutorial, Ruby Markup and Styling)

How to's

• Using <b> and <i> elements article

  Should I use <b> and <i> elements?

How to's

• HTML, XHTML, XML and Control Codes article

  How do I handle control codes (ie. the 'C0' U+0000-U+001F and 'C1' U+007F-U+009F ranges) in XML, XHTML and HTML?

How to's

• Missing characters and glyphs article

  What to do if a Unicode character or font glyph is missing.

Background information

• Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm basics

  A gentle introduction to how the bidi algorithm works.

• Creating HTML Pages in Arabic, Hebrew and Other Right-to-left Scripts

  A tutorial, that gathers together and organizes pointers to articles that, taken together, help you understand the essential aspects of how to work with languages in right-to-left scripts and bidirectional text when authoring HTML and CSS.

• Quick tips: Right-to-left text

  One of the top 10 quick tips for internationalization is about right-to-left text.

How to's

• Text direction and structural markup in HTML

  How to use the dir attribute and handle alignment. Includes:

  • Setting direction at the document level

    Using dir on the html tag to set the default direction of the document.

  • Working with browsers that change the browser chrome

    Workarounds if you don't want the browser to change the UI when dir is set on the html tag.

• Visual vs. logical ordering of text

  What is the difference between visual and logical ordering of text, and which should I use?

Spec links

• HTML5, 3.2.3.6 The dir attribute

Tests

• Bidi markup in HTML

• HTML browser chrome and bidi text

How to's

• Text direction and structural markup in HTML

  How to use the dir attribute and handle alignment. Includes:

  • Setting direction on block elements

    How to use the dir attribute and handle alignment.

  • Working with tables

    Particular advice for working with tables.

  • Handling content whose direction is not known in advance

    Besides form-related information, how to insert text into a page with the right base direction, using HTML5 features.

• Unicode controls vs. markup for bidi support

  To correctly format bidi text in (X)HTML or XML content, should I use Unicode control codes or markup?

• CSS vs. markup for bidi support

  Should I use CSS or markup to correctly format Unicode-based bidirectional (bidi) text in HTML and XML-based markup languages?

Spec links

• HTML5, 3.2.3.6 The dir attribute

Tests

• Bidi markup in HTML

How to's

• Text direction and structural markup in HTML

  How should I use the dir attribute to set text direction on structural elements in HTML? Includes:

  • Correcting display of opposite-direction text in the input element

    HTML5 techniques for getting the cursor and text to the right side of the input element.

  • Displaying bidi text in the textarea and pre elements

    Using dir=auto in HTML5 to assign direction to each paragraph independently.

  • Reporting direction to the server

    Using HTML5's dirname attribute to pass direction information to the server.

  • Setting direction on forms explicitly

    Keystrokes that make browsers set the direction of form entry fields.

• Using Unicode controls for bidi text

  If I'm unable to use markup to correctly order bidirectional text, what can I do?

Spec links

• HTML5, 3.2.3.6 The dir attribute

• HTML5, 4.10.7.3.2 The dirname attribute

Tests

• HTML5 bidi markup

How to's

• What you need to know about the bidi algorithm and inline markup

  How to use markup in HTML4 and new HTML5 features for inline bidirectional text. Introduces you gently to the bidi algorithm, if you need that. Includes:

  • Handling inline bidirectional text in HTML

    Brief steps for marking up any type of inline bidirectional text. Following sections give worked examples.

  • What if I can't use markup?

    Use Unicode control characters where markup isn't allowed.

• Bidi space loss

  Why does my browser collapse spaces between Latin and Arabic/Hebrew text?

• CSS vs. markup for bidi support

  Should I use CSS or markup to correctly format Unicode-based bidirectional (bidi) text in HTML and XML-based markup languages?

• Unicode controls vs. markup for bidi support

  To correctly format bidi text in (X)HTML or XML content, should I use Unicode control codes or markup?

• Using Unicode controls for bidi text

  If I'm unable to use markup to correctly order bidirectional text, what can I do?

Spec links

• HTML5, 3.2.3.6 The dir attribute

• HTML5, 4.6.23 The bdi element

Tests

• Bidi markup in HTML

• HTML5 bidi markup

How to's

• What you need to know about the bidi algorithm and inline markup

  How to use markup in HTML4 and new HTML5 features for inline bidirectional text. Introduces you gently to the bidi algorithm, if you need that. Includes:

  • Mirrored characters

    Understanding how parentheses and other mirroring characters work in bidirectional text.

How to's

• What you need to know about the bidi algorithm and inline markup

  How to use markup in HTML4 and new HTML5 features for inline bidirectional text. Introduces you gently to the bidi algorithm, if you need that. Includes:

  • Overriding the bidi algorithm

    How to disable the bidi algorithm, when needed.

Spec links

• HTML5, 4.6.24 The bdo element

Tests

• Bidi markup in HTML

Background information

• Quick tips: Presentation vs. content article

  W3C article.

How to's

• Background images that support localization article

  How can I ensure that when text expands in translation the background images will still work?

• Sliding Doors of CSS link

  How can I ensure that when text expands in translation the background images will still work?

Background reading

• Text size in translation article

  Overview of text expansion issues.

• Display capabilities article

  Do I need to worry because display capabilities (screen sizes, number of colors, etc.) of computers vary in other countries?

How to's

• Styling using the lang attribute article

  Compares :lang, lang |= and lang= selectors, and assesses current usability

Other references

• The language pseudo-class :lang specification

  CSS2 Specification (section 5.11.4)

• Attribute selectors specification

  CSS2 Specification (section 5.8)

• Class selectors specification

  CSS2 Specification (section 5.8.3)

• ID selectors specification

  CSS2 Specification (section 5.9)

Test data

• Language selectors tests

  W3C test results

• Language selectors tests

  W3C test page

Other references

• Lists article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

Test data

• List style type tests

  W3C test pages.

• Test results: list-style-type set to armenian test results

  W3C test results.

• Test results: list-style-type set to georgian test results

  W3C test results.

• Test results: list-style-type set to lower-greek test results

  W3C test results.

• Test results: list-style-type set to armenian test results

  W3C test results.

Other references

• Text direction article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

Other references

• Line breaking article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

Test data

• Line breaking tests

  W3C test pages.

• Line breaking and spaces test results

  W3C test results.

• Line breaking, opening & closing punctuation and non-starters test results

  W3C test results.

Other references

• Line breaking article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

• Text spacing article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

Test data

• Line breaking tests

  W3C test pages.

• Line breaking and spaces test results

  W3C test results.

• Line breaking, opening & closing punctuation and non-starters test results

  W3C test results.

How to's

• Ruby style article

  Introduction to styling ruby with CSS3 Ruby Module. In W3C article, Ruby Markup and Styling.

Background reading

• Ruby article

  What is 'ruby'?

• CJKV Information Processing book

  Useful information about ruby in general (Ken Lunde's book, CJKV Information Processing, ISBN 1-56592-224-7, especially chapters 6 and 7)

Other references

• Ruby styling article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

• CSS3 Ruby Module specification

  W3C Working Draft

Other references

• Document grids article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

• Kumimoji and warichu article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

• Emphasis article

  Preview of upcoming proposals for CSS3. In W3C article, CSS3 and International Text.

Background information

• Quick tips: Forms article

  W3C article.

How to's

• Multilingual forms article

  What is the best way to deal with encoding issues in forms that may use multiple languages and scripts?

How to's

• Personal names around the world article

  How do people's names differ around the world, and what are the implications of those differences on the design of forms, databases, ontologies, etc. for the Web?

How to's

• Text direction and structural markup in HTML

  How should I use the dir attribute to set text direction on structural elements in HTML? Includes:

  • Correcting display of opposite-direction text in the input element

    HTML5 techniques for getting the cursor and text to the right side of the input element.

  • Displaying bidi text in the textarea and pre elements

    Using dir=auto in HTML5 to assign direction to each paragraph independently.

  • Reporting direction to the server

    Using HTML5's dirname attribute to pass direction information to the server.

  • Setting direction on forms explicitly

    Keystrokes that make browsers set the direction of form entry fields.

• Using Unicode controls for bidi text

  If I'm unable to use markup to correctly order bidirectional text, what can I do?

Spec links

• HTML5, 3.2.3.6 The dir attribute

• HTML5, 4.10.7.3.2 The dirname attribute

Tests

• HTML5 bidi markup

How to's

• Sorting select options article

  As part of a form, I have a list of terms in a drop-down box. Why are they not correctly sorted when I translate the items in the list?

Background information

• Quick tips: Navigation article

  W3C article.

• Monolingual vs. multilingual web sites article

  What are the trade-offs between international sites that are monolingual vs. multilingual?

• International & multilingual web sites article

  What is an "international" or a "multilingual" web site?

How to's

• Using <select> to Link to Localized Content article

  What are the best practices for using pull-down menus based on the select element to direct visitors to localized content?

• Sorting select optionsarticle

  As part of a form, I have a list of terms in a drop-down box. Why are they not correctly sorted when I translate the items in the list?

Background information

• Monolingual vs. multilingual Web sites article

  W3C article.

How to's

• When to use language negotiation article

  Argues that content negotiation is always a good idea, but that it is not sufficient alone.

Background information

• Quick tips: Images, animations & examples article

  W3C article.

How to's

• Date formats article

  How do I prepare my web pages to display varying international date formats?

How to's

• Sorting select optionsarticle

  As part of a form, I have a list of terms in a drop-down box. Why are they not correctly sorted when I translate the items in the list?

How to's

• Potential issues with the UTF-8 BOM article

  When using UTF-8 encoded pages, I get an extra line or unwanted characters at the top of my web page or included file. I think it might be connected to the BOM (byte-order mark). How do I check this?

How to's

• Setting encoding in web authoring applications article

  How do I set character encoding in my web authoring application?

How to's

• Setting language preferences in a browser article

  How do I check or change the language settings of my browser?

How to's

• Bidi space loss article

  Why does my browser collapse spaces between Latin and Arabic/Hebrew text?

How to's

• Checking HTTP Headers article

  How can I check the character encoding information sent in the HTTP header of a web document?

• Checking the character encoding using the validator article

  How can I check that the character encoding of my document is correct using the W3C HTML Validator?

Links

• W3C Internationalization Checker link

  Gives information about character encoding in its Information panel. Include HTTP and internal declarations.

• Rex Swain's HTTP Viewer link

  External link.

• Delorie HTTP Header Viewer link

  External link .

• Mozilla Web-sniffer link

  External link.