Mission
This task force provides advice on Southeast Asian script support, and may produce gap analysis and requirements documents related to the layout and presentation of text in languages that use Southeast Asian non-Latin scripts. The work supports Web standards and technologies such as HTML, CSS, Mobile Web, Digital Publications, and Unicode.
How to Join
We welcome participation requests from people who are interested in contributing to the work of the Task Force. There are two ways to get involved:
- Task force members are expert contributors who can provide and discuss information related to Southeast Asian scripts. Some of them may participate actively in producing the work of the group, regularly contributing text and advice to create the outputs, and participating in meetings. For more information about becoming a task force member contact Richard Ishida.
- It is also possible to follow and contribute to discussions without the commitment required in being an expert contributor. See the github home page for details
Organisation of the task force
The Southeast Asian Layout Task Force is part of the W3C Internationalization Interest Group (i18n IG). The W3C Internationalization Working Group (i18n WG) oversees the work of the task force, and publishes the task force's document to the TR space.
The chairs of the task force is Richard Ishida. The chair of the Interest Group is Martin Dürst.
Internationalization at W3C
You can access the resources and news for the W3C Internationalization work at http://www.w3.org/International/.
The output of the task force is pointed to by the International text layout and typography index, and sits alongside similar work for other writing systems.
For information about layout and typographic requirements work for other scripts, see the page Layout & typography.
See also the language matrix, which provides an overview of where users have problems using the local features of their script on the Web or in eBooks.
Work aims
The Southeast Asian Layout Task Force will not produce Recommendation-track deliverables but may produce Working Group Notes, published by the Internationalization Working Group.
To find and follow progress on deliverables, see the GitHub repo.
The task force is initial established in order to create a network of experts who can be called upon to provide advice about gaps and requirements for Web users in the non-Latin scripts of Southeast Asia.
In time, the task force may produce deliverables including the following:
- Gap analysis reports for several SEA languages/scripts
Template - Text Layout Requirements for several SEA scripts
Editor's draft
The group charter also allows review of draft specifications produced by other working groups, and provision of translations of relevant W3C specifications and resources. The group may also choose to produce other non-normative deliverables, such as test cases and error reports, under the terms of the Policies for Contribution of Test Cases to W3C, and in coordination with any relevant working groups.
Communication
Most of the technical discussion takes place in the GitHub issues list. If you want to raise an issue with the documents, this is the place to raise it.
To follow the work, you can 'Watch' the repository, or subscribe to the public-i18n-sea mailing list, which is notified once a day about changes to the repo. The www-international list is also notified daily. (Please use github issues rather than the mailing list to send feedback.) Meeting minutes are sent to public-i18n-sea.
The group uses the W3C Internationalization home page to disseminate public information about its activities.
There is also a public-sealreq-admin mailing list for internal and administrative use by the TF participants, for example for announcing teleconference agendas, new participants, preparing for publication, etc. or for discussing other non-technical, practical arrangements related to the group. Only participants in the task force are subscribed to that list.
The task force may at some point hold regular teleconference or face-to-face meetings at least once a month, with additional meetings as needed to enable discussion and review status of the work. At the moment, no teleconferences are held.
The #sealreq IRC channel may be used for supplementary communication and minute-taking during meetings. Instructions for use are sent out with the meeting agenda.