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color:#FFFFFF; padding:10 0 0 0; margin:0 0 0 0">Computers & Writing Systems</p> </div> <div style="padding:0 0 0 0; background-color:#000000; color:#FFFFFF"> <table width='100%'> <tr> <td style="padding: 0 0 0 25px"><a class="GlobalNavLink" href="http://www.sil.org/">SIL HOME</a> | <a class="GlobalNavLink" href="https://software.sil.org/products/">SIL SOFTWARE</a> | <a class="GlobalNavLink" href="/support.html">SUPPORT</a> | <a class="GlobalNavLink" href="https://www.givedirect.org/donate/?cid=13536">DONATE</a> | <a class="GlobalNavLink" href="/privacy-policy.html">PRIVACY POLICY</a> </td> <td align='right' width='20%'> <script async src="https://cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=0760bf09a6bff4b0c"></script><style>.gsc-control-cse {padding: 0.6em; min-width: 10em; width: 18em; max-width: 20em} form.gsc-search-box {display: unset;}</style><div class="gcse-search"></div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div style="padding:0 25 25 25"> <p class='CategoryPath'>You are here: <a class='CategoryPath' href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dgeneral%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>General</a> > <a class='CategoryPath' href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>WSI Guidelines</a><br> Short URL: <a href='/wsi_guidelines.html'>https://scripts.sil.org/WSI_Guidelines</a></p>   <h1>Guidelines for Writing System Support </h1> <p> <span class='author_date_hits'>Victor Gaultney, 2003-10-31</span></p><div class='Sidebar'><p><span class='Runin'>UNESCO project Initiative B@bel</span></p> <p>A complete index of all SIL's contributions to UNESCO‘s project Initiative B@bel can be found <a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dbabel%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>here</a>.</p> </div><p></p> <p>From January to October of 2003, SIL International was engaged in a cooperative project with <a href='http://www.unesco.org' target='_blank'><img src='/cms/assets/icons/offsite_link.png'> UNESCO</a> as part of UNESCO’s <a href='http://webworld.unesco.org/imld/babel_en.html' target='_blank'><img src='/cms/assets/icons/offsite_link.png'> Initiative B@bel</a> effort. The goal was to enable the development of complex script support in information and communication technologies (ICTs). This was done through preparation of documents to guide development, technical tools for complex script support, and two example script implementations. All of these are available from a general <a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dbabel%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>UNESCO page</a>.</p> <p>This is the primary document of the project, and describes the key issues around supporting complex scripts in ICTs. It is intended as a guide to the planning and development of writing system implementations. It introduces a model for writing system implementations, outlines the development process, and highlights keys to project success.</p> <p>These Guidelines are written primarily for policy makers and professionals, but includes introductory technical material in later sections. This covers important topics regarding encoding, keyboarding and rendering. It gives specific guidance on working with Unicode™, including how to propose new characters for submission.</p> <p>The complete document is available on these pages, but can also be downloaded in both Word and PDF formats:</p> <table border='0' cellpadding='8' cellspacing='0'><tr><td align='left' valign='top'><img src='/cms/assets/icons/type-zip.gif' border='0' width='32' height='32' style='margin:1px 5px 0 0'></td><td align='left' valign='top'><small><b>Guidelines for Writing System Support - Word</b><br>Victor Gaultney, 2003-10-31<br><a href='/cms/sites/nrsi/download/guidelines_word/Guidelines_Word.zip'>Download "Guidelines_Word.zip"</a>, ZIP archive, 1MB [7959 downloads] </small></td></tr></table><table border='0' cellpadding='8' cellspacing='0'><tr><td align='left' valign='top'><img src='/cms/assets/icons/type-pdf.gif' border='0' width='32' height='32' style='margin:1px 5px 0 0'></td><td align='left' valign='top'><small><b>Guidelines for Writing System Support - PDF</b><br>Victor Gaultney, 2003-10-31<br><a href='/cms/sites/nrsi/download/guidelines_pdf/guidelines_pdf.pdf'>Download "guidelines_pdf.pdf"</a>, Acrobat PDF document, 2MB [18161 downloads] </small></td></tr></table><a name='976ea265'></a> <h2>Introductory sections</h2> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_1%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 1: Components of a Writing System Implementation</a></p> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_2%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 2: The Process of WSI Development</a></p> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_3%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 3: Roles and Actors</a></p> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_4%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 4: Keys to Success</a></p> <a name='24d5cf04'></a> <h2>Technical sections</h2> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_5_1%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 5: Technical Details: Characters, Codepoints, Glyphs</a></p> <ul class='dListUnordered'> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_5_1%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 1: Characters</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_5_2%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 2: Codepoints and Glyphs</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_5_3%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 3: Keystrokes and Codepoints</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_5_4%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 4: Further Reading</a></li> </ul> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_6_1%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 6: Technical Details: Encoding and Unicode</a></p> <ul class='dListUnordered'> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_6_1%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 1: An Introduction to Encodings</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_6_2%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 2: An Introduction to Unicode</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_6_3%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 3: Adding New Characters and Scripts to Unicode</a></li> </ul> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_7%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 7: Technical Details: Data Entry and Editing</a></p> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_8%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 8: Technical Details: Glyph Design</a></p> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_9_1%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Section 9: Technical Details: Smart Rendering</a></p> <ul class='dListUnordered'> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_9_1%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 1: The Rendering Process</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_9_2%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 2: Glyph Processing — Dumb Fonts</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_9_3%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 3: Glyph Processing — Smart Fonts</a></li> <li><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_sec_9_4%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Part 4: User Interaction</a></li> </ul> <a name='f5de568e'></a> <h2>End matter</h2> <p><a href='/cms/scripts/page.php%3Fid%3Dwsi_guidelines_glossary%26site_id%3Dnrsi.html'>Glossary</a></p> <p>The Word and PDF versions also include a comprehensive Index.</p> <div class='Note'><p class='Note_heading'>Copyright notice</p><p>(c) Copyright 2003 UNESCO and SIL International Inc.</p> </div> <hr> <p><small>© 2003-2024 <a href='http://www.sil.org/' target='_blank'>SIL International</a>, all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted elsewhere on this page.<br> Provided by SIL's Writing Systems Technology team (formerly known as NRSI). Read our <a href="/privacy-policy.html">Privacy Policy</a>. <a href='/support.html'>Contact us here.</a></small></p> </div> </td> </table> </body> </html>