July 9, 2018
On July 9, 2018, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) will launch the "Internationalization Initiative" program to further advance the internationalization of the Web.
W3C Internationalization (i18n) is an area W3C has worked on for many years. By enabling multilingual support, moving beyond situations where only a limited number of languages can be used, applications and specifications are designed and developed to be fully functional and easily adaptable for users of all cultures, regions, and languages.
The i18n activity, which began in early 1998, has been conducted through various activities to make the World Wide Web truly global and to enable universal access to the Web. As the Web evolves, W3C wishes to further strengthen these activities and is launching this program as a new initiative.
What is i18n?
i18n stands for Internationalization (18 letters between 'i' and 'n'). The mission of the i18n activity is to enable universal access to the World Wide Web by proposing and coordinating the adoption of methods, conventions, technologies, and designs that consider various languages, scripts, regions, and cultures. W3C pursues this mission's goal in various ways, including collaboration between W3C groups, coordination with other organizations, creation of tutorials, and technical work on various issues. The popular "i18n Checker" and widely used documents such as "Working with Time Zones," "Character Model for the World Wide Web 1.0: Fundamentals," and "Requirements for Japanese Text Layout" are highly regarded.
Expanding Core i18n Activities with the "Internationalization Initiative" Program
The "Internationalization Initiative" program will primarily focus on the following three aspects to continue i18n efforts.
Improving Language Enablement: The Web will be able to support local typesetting features familiar to users around the world, allowing them to interact with the Web in a way that aligns with long-standing print traditions.
Support for Developers: We will provide support to creators of specifications, system-level tools (browsers, printing), and user-level tools (editors) to understand and implement international specifications. We also plan to offer additional support, including methods for investigating whether new technologies and tools meet internationalization requirements.
Support for Authors: We will provide guidance on specifications and conduct outreach to people creating Web content in their own languages and to companies building or localizing large numbers of websites in many languages.
Key activities also include the following:
- Gap analysis and prioritization; documentation of requirements.
- Reviews; guidelines and checklists; architectural solutions.
- Tutorials; outreach; checker tools.
For more details, please see the press release (file: W3C(ワールド・ワイド・ウェブ・コンソーシアム) どの言語でもウェブの進化をさらに促し、世界に広めるための新プログラム 「国際化イニシアチブ (Internationalization Initiative)」を開始.pdf ). This press release has been distributed to the city news desks of various newspapers.
For inquiries regarding this matter:
W3C Office, Keio Research Institute at SFC, Keio University
E-mail: keio-contact@w3.org TEL: 03-3516-2504 FAX: 03-3516-0617
Distributed by:
Academic and Research Support, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) Office, Keio University
E-mail: kri-pr@sfc.keio.ac.jp TEL: 0466-49-3436 FAX: 0466-49-3594