Is it possible to add new languages, and since we last announced this possibility (http://blog.icann.org/?p=290#more-290 ) we received requests for a few more.

For that reason ICANN announced yesterday that two additional languages have been added: Urdu and Thai. see the full announcement here (http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-05jun08-en.htm ), or go straight to the wiki via http://idn.icann.org or via one of the new access points:

Thai is internationalized on the fourth level and can be accessed via the following links:

http://ไทย.idn.icann.org

http://xn--o3cw4h.idn.icann.org

http://th.idn.icann.org

Urdu uses the same script as Persian and can therefore also be accessed through the Persian .test TLD.

http://نمونہ.آزمایشی

http://xn--hhbbbh02d.xn--hgbk6aj7f53bba

http://اردو.idn.icann.org

http://xn--mgbqf7g.idn.icann.org

http://ur.idn.icann.org

Clicking on the language names, or copying and pasting the Web addresses into the address line of a browser will lead to the new areas.

Although there currently are no plans for establishing further .test top-level domains, separate facets of IDNwiki can be established in additional languages. The first two such language extensions have just been made available:

• Amharic:
  • http://አማርኛ.idn.icann.org
  • http://am.idn.icann.org
    
• Hebrew:
  • http://עברית.idn.icann.org
  • http://he.idn.icann.org

Clicking on the language names, or copying and pasting the Web addresses into the address line of a browser will lead to the new areas. Further, in relation to the Hebrew addition, since there is a .test TLD label in Hebrew script, an additional address has been assigned to the Hebrew language facet of the IDNwiki — http://דוגמה.טעסט . (This is an alias for the evaluation domain and relies on the wiki server to identify the language area that is being sought.) Further details are provided in the article on Hebrew script.

If you are interested in adding any further languages to the wiki please contact me directly at tina.dam@icann.org.

The IDNwiki is managed by the greatly valued assistance of volunteer moderators for each of the available languages. As such, one main requirement for adding languages is to make a moderator available that can manage a new language area. He or she hence need to be fluent in the language, spend time with the wiki support team to localize the language area, and will also need to work with users that may need specific assistance in that particular language.

First some background and clarifying information. Having your script/language represented in the wiki is not a pre-requisite for eventually getting an IDN TLD in the root. These 11 languages/scripts are merely being used to evaluate usability of IDNs in applications. The “example.test” strings in the wiki were translated into the specified languages and then represented by the associated scripts.

There are no other strings but the one for “example” in each of the zones. To answer another question that often comes up — there are no registrations available and there is also no associated registration policies, nor are there variant tables. Variant tables across scripts can be quite a challenge to develop, especially when there are similarities with other scripts supported under the TLD (mixed or not). For more on this, see for example all the work related to Indian languages and scripts at http://del.icann.org/node/88 (the presentations will be posted asap).

What this all means is that having clear rules for how these tables and policies should be developed are very important factors as we move towards introduction of IDN TLDs. While the IDN Guidelines provide an initial overview of this, the details of it will be important in the implementation of the processes and policies related to the introduction of IDN TLDs (regardless of it being on the ccTLD or gTLD side).

So in other words, inclusion in the wiki does not indicate whether or not a script/language combination is safe to deploy and as such can be used directly in the root.

So back to the original question – what does the wiki then do? It is an online tool so all interested users can try out fully localized domain names (IDN both before and after the dot) in, for example, web addresses or email addresses. Interested users could be registrants, general users of domain names in some capacity, registries or companies that are thinking about becoming IDN TLD operators, application developers who either have or are going to implement IDNs for use in their products. As such there can be many different reasons for participating in the wiki. But in general it should provide a good overview of what IDNs solve and what the difficulties are around usage – the problems that users face. They will also help highlight other limitations in solutions (keyboards or software to type and also to display scripts, application support and difference in implementation, content, etc).

Historically, when new TLDs have been included in the DNS, there have been some cases with some usability problems. The hope is that the wiki in addition will demonstrate to any potential IDN TLD operator what some of the acceptance or usability problems are around IDNs. As such this will give a good up front indication of what user complaints may arise when the day comes that IDN registrations are purchased and moved into operation (under IDN TLDs).
The wiki provides some suggestions about how participants can test along with other IDN relevant IDN information. It can be accessed at http://idn.icann.org and functions like any wiki where you can set up an account and create pages and participate in discussion forums.

Note: while much of this work is related to IDN TLDs it is important to keep in mind that a lot of the experience and knowledge we have today to supply at the TLD level is coming from the implementations at the second level. IDN at second level have been around since 2001.

Right now both the GNSO and the ccNSO are taking a look at how IDNs can be introduced or delegated at the top-level – how you can get, say, all-Arabic-cahracters after the dot in a domain name. ICANN have processes for delgation of ccTLDs and there have been a couple of rounds in the past years for introduction of new gTLDs, but none of these included IDN TLDs.

For the GNSO this is a matter of the general process for introduction of new gTLDs. There is lots of information on this at: http://gnso.icann.org

The ccNSO is working on two processes right now – the overarching policy development process (PDP) for having IDN equivalents of the country-code top-level domains, and a fast-track process to find a way to introduce a limited number of “IDN ccTLDs” to represent territory identifications in characters from their their local languages in operation as ccTLDs as quickly as possible in the areas of highest need, without impacting the long-term policy process for the full implementation of IDNs.

The first draft report for the fast-track work has just been posted for public comments and will be discussed further during the ICANN meeting in Delhi. All IDN interested parties are urged to provide their comments on the report. The announcement and comment forum can be found here: http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-01feb08.htm

But back to the question. While both the fast-track and the process for introduction of new gTLDs are aiming at being available by mid- or late-2008, it will still take time to see IDN registrations because the next step will need to happen. IDN TLD operators need to step forward, get approved/delgatons need to take place, and start operating with registry operator going through any launch phase that they may have determined provides the best service to the community they are intending to serve.

Simply, even though processes are underway together with the rest of the IDN related work, it’s impossible to give a final or specific date for end users to get through all of those steps. That said, everyone working on this understands the incredible desire in the community and across the globe to have the first registrations under IDN TLDs. We are going to get there together.

Page Requests and Users:

The total page requests served are: 253.800

Divided among the language/script pages these divide as follows:

Browser vendors:

Several browser developers have provided information on the IDNwikis about how to use IDNs in their browser. If you have visted the IDNwiki (http://idn.icann.org) and carried out evaluations but not received the result you anticipated it could be because you need to make some local user configuration changes. The information provided by the browser developers will help you do so.

The top 10 browser vendors used by the wiki visitors:

Taking a closer look the browser choices of the IDNwiki visitors divide as follows: