Subject |
have localization issues |
have problems |
see also |
is a kind of |
have |
have advantages |
has definition |
address format | - You should almost never require a specific format for these items since they differ so widely and can change at any time
- Allow free-form input of whatever the user wants to type
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
calendar | - although international business is based on the Gregorian calendar, the calendars of certain cultures and religions are also used in some places
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
character set | - Unicode can handle most world character sets, but you also have to ensure that appropriate fonts are available
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
collating sequence | - Some languages place accented versions of characters at the end of an alphabet, whereas others consider that they should appear in the same place as unaccented characters in the sort order
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | The order in which the letters of the alphabet are sorted |
credit card number format | - You should almost never require a specific format for these items since they differ so widely and can change at any time
- Allow free-form input of whatever the user wants to type
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
currency | - Users may be using more than one currency at once
- The number of decimal places and the magnitude of values may differ dramatically
- The currency symbol itself may come before or after the numeric value
- The language somebody is using does not necessarily dictate the currency they are using; they may be visiting a foreign country or residing in one of several countries that use the same language
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
date format | - There are many ways of writing dates. Even though the international standard is YYYY/MM/DD, this is often not followed
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
direction for reading text | - Text in some languages runs left to right or top to bottom. Laying out screens so they can automatically accommodate this is a challenge
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
font | - Unicode can handle most world character sets, but you also have to ensure that appropriate fonts are available
| - using too many fonts results in confusion and a cluttered appearance
- decorative or unusual fonts can be distracting
| | locale-dependent feature | | it adds emphasis to text, and reinforces its structure, thus simplifying the information | |
holiday | - although international business is based on the Gregorian calendar, the calendars of certain cultures and religions are also used in some places
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
human language | - Different languages will require different amounts of space to say the same thing, so do not rely on screen layouts to remain the same
- The order of parts of a sentence may change, so do not rely on constructing text by putting together substrings
- Employ a skilled technical translator to translate text, and ensure he or she actually runs the system in both languages to verify it
| | language^2 | locale-dependent feature | | | |
icon | - can invoke different impressions in people of different cultures
| - notoriously difficult for users to interpret or distinguish
- unusable by blind people
| | locale-dependent feature | a label if its meaning is not obvious, using a caption or pop-up label that appears when the user moves the mouse over it | - allows many commands or objects to be listed in much less space than is possible with text
- users can scan the screen to find an icon faster than they can scan to find particular words of text
| |
law | - Many applications will have to accommodate different ways that taxes are calculated, accounting is performed, or records are kept
- The use of cryptography might be restricted
- Patents, trademarks and copyrights might place restrictions on designs
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
metaphor | - can invoke different impressions in people of different cultures
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
number format | | | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
person's name | - Family name comes first in some cultures, last in others and is non-existent in others
- In some cultures a person's legal name differs from their commonly-used name
- Salutations such as Mr. and Dr. can vary widely. In some cultures it is expected that people will have multiple salutations, all used at once
| | | name | | | |
postal code format | - You should almost never require a specific format for these items since they differ so widely and can change at any time
- Allow free-form input of whatever the user wants to type
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
telephone number format | - You should almost never require a specific format for these items since they differ so widely and can change at any time
- Allow free-form input of whatever the user wants to type
- A common error is to not allow enough characters, or to not allow extensions to be recorded for telephone numbers
| | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
time format | | | | locale-dependent feature | | | |
time zone | - Three-digit time-zone abbreviations can be re-used in different countries and languages; they should generally not be relied on
- Daylight savings time starts and ends on different dates in different places (or may not exist at all)
- All times should be relative to Universal Standard Time
| | TimeZone class | locale-dependent feature | | | |