What we know:
- Is the application Unicode based?: ONION is fully Unicode based and supports the latest version of Unicode, so it is likely that it will support whatever scripts and languages are used in Albonistan
- What are the clients-devices for the application? The main ONION client is browser-based, using J2EE and DHTML. It also supports a range of other clients and devices like PDAs, Smartphone, Point-of-Sale terminals, and magnetic card readers. Some of the interfaces for the latter two are written in C++.
- Does the application have to be translated: ONION has already been translated into many languages; we know the texts that need to be translated, how to prepare them for translation, and how to build the localization packs afterwards.
What we do not know:
- The characteristics of the languages to be added:
- The languages of Albonistan.
- What scripts they use.
- The writing directions .
- If there are any special layout and rendering considerations
- If some of these languages more important or widely used than others then which therefore needs to be implemented first.
- What the ISO 3166 country code for Albonistan and the ISO 639 codes for the languages are.
- The quality of the communication infrastructure inside Albonistan, and between Albonistan and our data center atMachu Picchu?
- Can we easily get a broadband connection? How about wireless data connection?
- Do the clients and devices that we use support the Albonistan languages?
- Do the vendors provide technical support in Albonistan?
- If not, are there alternative vendors?
- What local conventions do we need to support?
- What is the currency?
- How do they usually represent date and time?
- How do they represent numbers?
- How is an address formatted? What are their time zones?
- Do they have CLDR entries?
- Can our existing translation vendors handle the languages?
- If not, do we know translation vendors in Albonistan who can do the translation?
- Can we get the equipments we need locally?
- If not, are there export/import regulations that will prevent us from bringing them in?
- Do we already have people in the country that can help answer some of these questions?
Decisions that need to be made in conjunction with other departments:
- What are the schedules:
- We will be implementing ONION over some time. Which functions need to be implemented first?
- Which functions will be needed in the second wave?
- And the third wave?
- Where will the data-centers be:
- Will we be putting a small data center there and send only the relevant data back to Machu Picchu, or will we control everything directly from there?
If the infrastructure supported Unicode we would have to further decide:
- Which components of ONION need to be enhanced.
- Who we will use to perform the translation and verify the result.
We had worked hard to build the activity map. It was our reference checklist. This would be a good opportunity to validate and improve it, hopefully by as little as possible.
We divided up the work to find answers to the checklist among the team. I retained the responsibility of working with other departments and determine the implementation plan.
Apart from the usual suspects, (Unicode, OpenI18N, Mozilla, ICU/Uniscribe, Adobe Typography, Palm, Keyboards, School of Translation, etc. ), someone suggested that we should check other web-sites (e.g. Ethnologue, The State Department, CIA World Factbook) to find out more information.
We decided to meet next evening at 4 to discuss our findings. |
