Re: [OT] Markup in messages redux

["John C Barstow" <jbowtie amathaine com>]

> I recently brought up the problems of surrounding markup on the Helix
> translator list
>
(http://lists.helixcommunity.org/pipermail/player-l10n/2004-August/000032.html),
> where I learned that surrounding markup is important for asian
> languages.
> Is this the case? I'm no expert in rendering or asian scripts, so I
> wouldn't really know. Am I the only one feeling strongly about the
> claimed (mis)use of surrounding markup in translateable messages?
> 

Looking at the referenced message, it appears that the Helix developers
think this is important at small point sizes where markup may alter the
readability of the translation.

However, there are a couple of points worth noting:
(Most) translators are not going to know what point size the text will
render at; so they probably won't make the right decision - ESPECIALLY
on a string-by-string basis!
If the point size is being set by the system, the user can change/modify
themes to scale things up. After all, some users actually use the 'extra
large' themes because they can't read normal size text.
If the developers are ignoring system settings and deliberately setting
the point size small, they are breaking accessability for many users.

In other words, I think this argument highlights a flaw in their
presentation strategy. Markup should *not* be included, it causes
problems with reuse, accessability, and maintenance (what happens when
they want titles to be italic instead of bold? They break all the
existing translations!)

-- 
John C Barstow
GNOME Translation Project
Maori Language Co-ordinator