These tests check whether and how a user agent displays ruby markup in XHTML 1.0 that is served as text/html (without CSS help).

Tests were conducted on later versions of Firefox, Opera and Safari browsers, and the Firefox browser with a later version of the ruby add-on by Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven. The latter now passes all tests for simple and complex ruby as expected. There was no change for the three former browser setups.

The Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Interest Group, chaired by Yves Savourel (ENLASO Corporation), was launched today.
The ITS IG is a forum to foster a community of users of the Internationalization Tag Set (ITS), and aims to promote its adoption, and gather information on its further development. ITS defines data categories that may be used with schemas to support the internationalization and localization of XML-based documents.
Participation in the new ITS IG is open to W3C Members and the public.

Comments are being sought on this article prior to final release. Please send any comments to www-international@w3.org (subscribe). We expect to publish a final version in one to two weeks.

Thanks to Nataly Panchenko (Наталія Панченко) the FAQ-based article “Document character set” has now been translated into Ukrainian (language negotiated).

Thanks to Nataly Panchenko the article “Character encodings” has now been translated into Ukrainian (language negotiated). This is our first Ukrainian translation.

Thanks to Natalia Fabisz and Agata Bogacka the FAQ-based article “Setting charset information in .htaccess” has now been translated into Polish (language negotiated).

Thanks to Andrew Osobka and Kamil Wiśniewski the article “What you need to know about the bidi algorithm and inline markup” has now been translated into Polish (language negotiated).

The i18n Core Working Group is co-ordinating the Japanese Layout Taskforce (JLTF), a joint task force between the CSS, i18n Core, SVG and XSL groups. The goal of the JLTF task force is the creation of a document about requirements for Japanese layout realized with technologies like CSS, SVG or XSL-FO. Samples of KIHONHANMEN (one of the basic units of Japanese layout) have recently been made publicly available.

The task force is working mainly in Japanese, with mailing lists and translations into English for non-Japanese participants.

The Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Working Group has published the Working Group Note Best Practices for XML Internationalization. This document provides a set of guidelines for developing XML documents and schemas that are internationalized properly. Following the best practices describes here allow both the developer of XML applications, as well as the author of XML content to create material in different languages.

Editors: Yves Savourel, Jirka Kosek, Richard Ishida.

FAQ-based article: What is a character encoding, and why should I care?

This article is aimed at content authors, users, and anyone who is unsure about what a character encoding is, and wants a brief summary of how it affects them.

By Richard Ishida, W3C.