FAQ-based article: How can I ensure that when text expands in translation the background images will still work?

By Richard Ishida, W3C.

When text is translated from one language to another, the length of the source and translated text is likely to be different. This article provides background material that will briefly explore some of the systematic differences.

By Richard Ishida, W3C.

Planet i18n has just been launched by the I18n Core Working Group. It gathers together posts from various blogs that talk about internationalization (i18n). While it is hosted by the W3C Internationalization Activity, the content of the individual entries represent only the opinion of their respective authors and does not reflect the position of the Internationalization Activity.

If you own a blog with a focus on internationalization, and want to be added or removed from this aggregator, please get in touch with Richard Ishida at ishida@w3.org.

The Internationalization Tag Set Working Group published an updated Working Draft of Best Practices for XML Internationalization. These guidelines explain how XML application developers and XML content authors can create formats and content that enable use by speakers of a variety of languages and that facilitate the translation and localization process. The best practices are a complement to the International Tag Set Recommendation, but also address topics not covered by that document. [search key: tr-bp-xml-i18n]

Editors: Yves Savourel, ENLASO Corporation, Jirka Kosek, Invited Expert, Diane Stoick, Boeing Corporation.

Thanks to Gaston Valente and the Spanish Translation Team, Trusted Translations, Inc., the article “Language tags in HTML and XML” has now been translated into Spanish (language negotiated).

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.

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 Andrew Osobka and Natalia Fabisz the FAQ-based article “xml:lang in XML document schemas” has now been translated into Polish (language negotiated).

Richard Ishida gave a presentation entitled Designing for International Users: Practical Tips at the @media conferences in San Francisco, USA (24 May, 2007) and London, UK (7 June, 2007).

Program and slides

Audio recording

Photos

The Internationalization Core Working Group has published an updated Working Draft of this internationalization best practices document to show progress so far.

Part of a series designed for authors, the document will provide advice for the use of XHTML or HTML markup and CSS to create pages for languages that use right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic and Hebrew. It attempts to counter many of the misunderstandings or over-complexities that currently abound.

The title has been changed to reflect that these are ‘Best practices’ rather than ‘Techniques’, and the content and format has been substantially reworked.

Editor: Richard Ishida.