Comments about the about page

[xfq]

https://w3c.github.io/i18n-drafts/nav/about

Recording some thoughts when translating this article here.

---

Some features in a Web application may require special hardware (like neural network hardware accelerators, VR/AR devices, vehicles, gamepad devices, sensors... you name it), but the hardware devices may not be available in all countries. We might want to mention this (maybe in 'Cultural norms & expecations').

---

We probably want to mention that if a web page is translated into multiple languages, we should make sure that the UI has enough space for the text in all of these languages. In other words, web page layout is also an aspect to consider in localization.

---

And have you taken into account local regulatory and legal considerations in the various territories your application will reach to?

Should give some concrete examples such as GDPR or disability rights laws?

---

You'll also want to ensure that it's possible to easily swap in translations of any natural language text that will be read by humans (including error messages, JSON strings, etc.), but also carry metadata about the language and direction of that text. The language metadata is important to get the fonts right, and to allow for support of the different typographic styles used around the world (for things such as line-breaking, text justification, emphasis or other text decorations, text selection and units, etc.)

Besides fonts and typographic styles, should we mention the impact of language metadata on speech? For example, if the text is associated with language tags such as en-au, en-za, or en-gb, a virtual assistant application will read the text in the correct accent.

---

If working with monetization, you'll need to consider how to handle users who work with a range of currencies. In addition to deciding how to format and represent monetary data when displayed to the user, you also should consider how to put in place mechanisms to manage diverse currency systems. How will you develop pricing models for different countries, which may have large variations in standard of living? How will you convert subscriptions and payments from one currency to another?

Data type to use to store monetary data is also a consideration. For example, Japanese applications do not usually use denominations less than 1 yen, so integer variables are sufficient.