Adapt i18n to support local web needs: W3C

Bangalore, Aug 24: Internationalisation (i18n), a process of designing an application that can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes, can help the Web designers in India enable technologies that support the local needs, i18n Head of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Richard Ishida said today.

Speaking at a 'Summit on Internationalistation of Web', organised by W3C and Union Communication and IT Ministry, he said i18n, based on Unicode, was not just an engine that enabled translation, but a standard baseline that facilitated technologies to support local needs.

Concept developers and mangers should use Unicode standards, that added new characters all the time, for broadbased applications, he added.

Mr Ishida said W3C was looking towards India to create web standards and achieve its mission of leading the Web to its full potential. The country should make its presence felt in i18n of WWW.

With 22 official languages and many more local dialects being spoken in the country, Indian web designers should fervently advocate the need for considering multiple languages and scripts when developing Web technologies of any kind, he said.

W3C works with a mission to develop technologies, which included specifications, guidelines, software and tools that would create a forum for information, commerce, inspiration, independent thought and collective understanding in operating principles.

UNI