The Workshop abstract correctly notes that, although Unicode will be the
basic character
set in the next version of HTML, internationalization is more than just a
character
set.
For the past year or so I have been developing new Macintosh language kits
for South
and Southeast Asia. The scripts used in these regions present some of the
greatest
challenges for text presentation. They also clearly illustrate why the
original Unicode
text model assumed a sharp distinction between the content of text
(character) and
its form (glyph). Where complex scripts such as these are concerned, a
standard for
rich line layout that follows the Unicode text model will be necessary if
we are
to see the benefits of adopting Unicode on the web.
I am quite familar with Unicode, since I wrote the original Unicode
Principles
in 1989. I am less familiar with internationalization issues on the Web
and hope
to learn more.