Requirements for Myanmar text layout – Prompts

• Identifying boundaries of graphemes, words and larger groupings – Does the browser correctly apply functions to the basic units of text, be they characters, character sequences, syllables, or words? Are you able to select appropriate units, for example by double-clicking in the text, whether or not ‘words’ are separated by spaces? Should triple-clicking select a paragraph, etc.?
• Transforming characters – What transformations does your language need? For example, are you able to convert letters to uppercase, capitalised and lowercase alternatives according to your typographic needs? Are browsers able to convert between half-width and full-width presentation forms? Localised glyphs supported?
• Letter spacing – Many scripts create emphasis or other effects by spacing out the letters or syllables in a word. We know there are questions here about how this should work in Indic and SE Asian scripts, and in Arabic-based scripts. Can you provide information? Are there requirements for other scripts that we should add?
• Quotations – What is the expected behaviour for quotations marks, especially when nested? Should block quotes be indented or handled specially?
• Baselines & inline alignment – Does the specification accurately and comprehensively cover requirements for baseline alignment between mixed scripts and in general?
• Line decoration &ndash Some aspects related to the drawing of lines alongside or through text involve local typographic considerations. For example, underlines need to be broken in special ways for some scripts, and the height of strike-through may vary depending on the script. What about vertical text? Does this section cover your needs?
• Emphasis – Bold and italic are not always appropriate for expressing emphasis, and some scripts have their own unique ways of doing it, that are not in the Western tradition at all. Can you find what you need for your script in this section?
• Fonts – This CSS3 module describes how font properties are specified and how font resources are loaded dynamically. Are there things missing for your script?
• Line breaking – Does CSS capture the rules about the way text in your script wraps when it hits the end of a line? Note that there are some specific rules about Chinese and Japanese, but we know that more information is needed for Korean, and for other scripts.
• Line-end alignment and justification – Do the start and end values work (particularly useful for right-to-left scripts)? When text in a paragraph needs to have flush lines down both sides, does it follow the rules for your script? We know there are open questions here for scripts such as Korean, Arabic and Tibetan. Can you provide information?
• White space and wrapping in source code – Do the rules for transforming white space in the source text for display meet the requirements of your script? This is particularly relevant for Far Eastern and South East Asian scripts, that don’t use spaces between words.
• Counters, lists, etc – The CSS specification describes a limited set of simple and complex styles for counters to be used in list numbering, chapter heading numbering, etc. Are the details correct? We have another document that provides over 120 templates for user-defined counter styles in over 30 scripts. Are there more? Are there other aspects related to counters and lists that need to be addressed?
• Other paragraph features – Are the rules for indenting text at the start of a paragraph sufficient to support your language or script? Does your script allow punctuation to hang outside the text box at the start or end of a line? If so, does this section cover your needs?
• Initial letter styling – Does the browser or ereader correctly handle special styling of the initial letter of a line or paragraph, such as for drop caps?
• Notes, footnotes, etc – Does the browser or ereader provide support for notes, footnotes, endnotes or other necessary annotations of this kind in the way needed for your culture?
• Page numbering, running headers, etc &ndash Are there special conventions for page numbering, or the way that running headers and the like are handled in your culture?
• More page layout and pagination – Some cultures define page areas and page progression direction very differently from those in the West. Is this an issue for you? Are widows and orphans relevant? In what order do pages progress, RTL or LTR?
• Culture-specific features – Sometimes a script or language does things that are not common outside of it sphere of influence. This is a loose bag of additional items that weren’t previously mentioned.