Create Multilingual Web Sites with Windows Unicode Fonts | 2 | WebReference

Create Multilingual Web Sites with Windows Unicode Fonts | 2


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Create Multilingual Web Sites with Windows Unicode Fonts [con't]

When you press the APOSTROPHE key ( ' ), QUOTATION MARK key ( " ), ACCENT GRAVE key ( ` ), TILDE key ( ~ ), or ACCENT CIRCUMFLEX (or CARET) ( ^ ) key, nothing is displayed on the screen until you press a second key:

Press this key Then press this key Resulting character
'(APOSTROPHE) c, e, y, u, i, o, a ç, é, ý, ú, í, ó, á
"(QUOTATION MARK) e, y, u, i, o, a ë, ÿ, ü, ï, ö, ä
`(ACCENT GRAVE) e, u, i, o, a è, ù, ì, ò, à
~(TILDE) o, n, a õ, ñ, ã
^(CARET) e, u, i, o, a ê, û, î, ô, â

To activate the U.S. International keyboard on your desktop:

  1. Click Start, type "intl.cpl" in the Run box, and then press ENTER.
  2. On the Languages tab, click Details.
  3. Under Installed services, click Add.
  4. In the Input language list, click the language that you want. For example, English (United States).
  5. In the Keyboard layout/IME list, click United States-International, and then click OK.
  6. In the Select one of the installed input languages to use when you start your computer list, click Language name - United States-International (where Language name is the language that you selected in step 6), and then click OK.
  7. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, click OK.

    Notice that the Language bar appears on the taskbar. When you position the mouse pointer over it, a ToolTip appears that describes the active keyboard layout, namely United States-International appears.
  8. Click the Language bar, and then click United States-International on the shortcut menu that appears.

    The United States-International keyboard layout is now active.

Installing East Asian Language Files on Your Computer

The East Asian languages include Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Because Asian and Middle Eastern scripts differ from alphabets, they are considered "complex scripts" and may require additional utilities to be installed from a Windows System CD-ROM. Follow these steps to install them from the Windows disk:

  1. Open Regional and Language Options in Control Panel.
  2. On the Languages tab, under Supplemental language support, select the Install files for East Asian languages check box:

    Figure 2. Supplemental Language Support Tab

  3. Click OK or Apply. You will be prompted to insert the Windows CD-ROM or point to a network location where the files are located.
  4. After the files are installed, you must restart your computer.

The procedure for selecting a language to activate is similar to activating the U.S. International Keyboard above.

For more information on installing supplemental language support in XP, there is an excellent article on Microsoft's Development and Computing Portal

The Language Bar

The Language Bar utility allows you to easily switch between keyboards from your desktop. To display it:

  1. Click on Start " Settings " Control Panels to open the Control Panels window, and then click on the Regional and Language Options icon.
  2. In the Regional Options window, click on the Language tab on the top.
  3. Click the Details button to open the Settings window.
  4. In the Regional and Language Options dialog, select the Language Tab and click the Details... button. This brings up the Text Services and Input Languages dialog.
  5. Click on the Language Bar button at the bottom to open the Language Bar Settings dialog.

The Language Bar contains a number of options. Check the option "Show the Language bar on the desktop", then click OK to close the window. NOTE: You can click "Show Text Labels" to show the full label. Otherwise, only icons (e.g. for English) will be shown:

Figure 3. Language Bar Settings Dialog

After clicking OK to close all the dialogs, you should see a blue toolbar on the top of your desktop. The Language settings are displayed on the far left. Here is what my keyboard printed in MS Word after setting the input language to Swahili:

Figure 4. MS Word Sample in Swahili

I will follow today's topic up with Virtual Keyboards applications and determine whether they represent a boon or bane to multilingual web page creation.


Have an suggestion for an article topic? Do you have a product or service that you'd like reviewed? Email it to Rob .

Rob Gravelle combined his love of programming and music to become a software guru and accomplished guitar player. He created systems that are used by Canada Border Services, CSIS and other Intelligence-related organizations. As a software consultant, Rob has developed Web applications for many businesses and recently created a MooTools version of PHPFreechat for ViziMetrics. Musically, Rob recently embarked on a solo music career, after playing with Ivory Knight since 2000. That band was rated as one Canada's top bands by Brave Words magazine (issue #92) and released two CDs. Rob's latest, entitled KNIGHTFALL, was a collaboration between himself, the former Ivory Knight vocalist, and legendary guitarist/producer, Jeff Waters of Annihilator fame. Rob is available for short-term software projects and recording session work. to inquire, but note that, due to the volume of emails received, he cannot respond to every email. Potential jobs and praise receive highest priority!

Original: February 11, 2010


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