Icann't

Standards for local language Web-fonts need to evolve

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) is launching a fast-track process for “internationalised domain names”. Put simply, this will enable website domain names and extensions in characters in various languages that have non-Latin scripts. Finally, Indians would be able to create and visit websites by using any Indian language. The Internet will no longer be limited to only those who can read and type in English. While international organisations and technologies evolve to enable greater inclusiveness in electronic domains, we find that India lags far behind in looking after the interests of its own citizens. PCs were sold in India for many years without a standardised set of Indian language fonts and scripts preloaded. By the time they finally were, private operators had developed and popularised hundreds of electronic fonts — most of them could not be read by conventional programs and Web browsers.

 

As a result, for instance, a Hindi website developed in one font could not be read by someone who did not have access to that font, or content written in one font could not be displayed on a website that used some other font. This mess is no doubt reducing as Unicode is slowly being accepted as an international and national standard. But a lack of coordinated action among the government, industry and content developers has created unnecessary technological fractures in the industry. And this has contributed significantly to the slow growth of Internet usage in India. Moreover, it has ensured that those not familiar with the English language are deprived of the great benefits that accrue from the Net.

What occurred on the Internet is occurring in the mobile space as well. Many mobile phones are not Indian language-friendly; SMS and other value added services are difficult to provide universally in Indian languages. In this case as well, handset manufacturers, importers, content and value added service providers — and the government — should take a coordinated approach over certain minimum standards that all instruments sold in India need to have.

No doubt market forces will eventually lead to a common standard, and these forces will also eventually force all stakeholders to build in Indian language abilities in their products and services. But market forces will take some time to play out. Meanwhile, the lack of standardisation and the inability of many mobile screens to display content in Indian languages will delay introduction of new services for the masses, make mobile content and service development much costlier, and prevent the entry of good quality service providers in the industry. Hence, whether it is mobile banking or social networking, the poorest who are typically not conversant with English characters would be deprived the most. The solution is simple. Various stakeholders need to agree on, one, standardised fonts in Indian languages, and two, ensuring that all instruments (whether it is the PC or the mobile handset) automatically display all content in Indian languages, without the need to download and load specific fonts and characters. Icann has, in a sense, thrown the gauntlet by putting Indian languages on the fast track. For India to pick it up, it doesn’t require any new investments or development of new technologies — a coordinated approach is all that is needed.