The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

of Right-to-Left Localization for Mobile Devices

By: Amr ZakiOperation Manager

Saudisoft Co. LtdAmr.zaki@saudisoft.com

June 2012

The Good•Mobile devices Market Data in Middle East•Why BIDI Languages Localization is important•What is Right to Left (Bi Directional = BIDI) ?The Bad•Arabic vs. Hebrew•BIDI Unicode Markers•BIDI Software EnablingThe Ugly•BIDI Challenges

AgendaAgenda

Mobile devices Market Data in Middle EastMobile devices Market Data in Middle East

A Survey done by Plus7 during Mobile Show for GCC countries, interviewed 4326 candidate

•90% of Saudi Arabia smartphone users preferred Arabic Ads•40% of UAE smartphone users preferred Arabic Ads

Source: http://mediame.com/news/digital_media/plus7_reveals_research_results_mobile_internet_consumption_habits_mobile_show

Percentage of online purchasing using smartphones:•33% in UAE, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia•25% in Oman•40% in BahrainSource: http://mediame.com/news/digital_media/plus7_reveals_research_results_mobile_internet_consumption_habits_mobile_show

Mobile devices Market Data in Middle East - Mobile devices Market Data in Middle East - ContinueContinue

• Consumers are using the mobile internet to access news, information, social networks and email

• In terms of attitudes towards eCommerce, more than half the respondents preferred cash on delivery over credit cards when making purchases via their mobile phones

Source: http://mediame.com/news/digital_media/plus7_reveals_research_results_mobile_internet_consumption_habits_mobile_show

Mobile devices Market Data in Middle East - Mobile devices Market Data in Middle East - ContinueContinue

• In KSA, the preferred method of accessing mobile information and news is via mobile sites.

• In the UAE, KSA and Egypt products purchased (or likely to be purchased) on the mobile are related to Entertainment, Technology and Travel

Mobile devices Market Data in Middle East - Mobile devices Market Data in Middle East - ContinueContinue

Why BIDI Languages Localization is importantWhy BIDI Languages Localization is important

• Big Market Share• Huge potential in new categories like Banking,

Healthcare, etc.• Social and news applications still have a way

to go.

What is Right to Left (BIDI) ?What is Right to Left (BIDI) ?

• There are 3 ways of writing scripts worldwide:– Left to Right– Right to Left– Vertical

– Arabic script is not used only in Middle East and Arabic countries but many for example:

Urdu Pakistan, Dari Afghanistan , Uygur (PRC) China, Persian Iran, Sindhi Pakistan, Panjabi Pakistan

Quiz

What is Right to Left (BIDI) ? - ContinueWhat is Right to Left (BIDI) ? - Continue

• Arabic & Hebrew characters are the only Right to Left languages.

Quiz

Arabic vs. HebrewArabic vs. HebrewArea English Arabic Hebrew

Question Mark

Percent

Units

Storage size

Comma

Acronyms

BIDI Unicode MarkersBIDI Unicode Markers

Unicode provides special, invisible formatting codes to set the base direction for or to override the bidirectional algorithm in plain text. These are the following:Unicode Marker Description

(LRE)U+202A LEFT-TO-RIGHT EMBEDDING

(RLE)U+202B RIGHT-TO-LEFT EMBEDDING

(LRO)U+202D LEFT-TO-RIGHT OVERRIDE

(RLO)U+202E RIGHT-TO-LEFT OVERRIDE

(PDF)U+202C POP DIRECTIONAL FORMATTING

BIDI Unicode Markers - ContinueBIDI Unicode Markers - ContinueBidirectional Character Types:

Character Type Example

StrongL / LRE / LRO / R / AL / RLE / RLO

Weak PDF / EN / ES / ET / AN / CS

Neutral WS / ON

BIDI Unicode Markers - ContinueBIDI Unicode Markers - Continue

RLM:

BIDI Unicode Markers - ContinueBIDI Unicode Markers - Continue

RLE & PDF:

BIDI Software EnablingBIDI Software Enabling• Enabling Software to work from right to left was a

complicated task but now with the new SDK’s and tools, it became easier

• There are 2 ways to enable applications to start from Right to Left:– Code– Resources

• Code enabling needs development to modify any API calls such as CreateWindow()

• Resources enabling works on resources level using Resource Editor which available in the market now.

BIDI Software Enabling - ContinueBIDI Software Enabling - Continue

BIDI ChallengesBIDI Challenges• Many devices don’t have Arabic / Hebrew Script

support.• Slower performance comparing to LTR• BIDI support can be implemented using external

development.

BIDI Challenges - Wrong DateBIDI Challenges - Wrong Date

BIDI Challenges – Wrong ControlBIDI Challenges – Wrong Control

BIDI Challenges – Controls & BIDI Challenges – Controls & ImagesImages

BIDI Challenges – Wrong Control BIDI Challenges – Wrong Control directiondirection

New Market, High revenue

The Good, The Bad and the UglyThe Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Full of constrains

Lots of Challenges and High technical experience required

Questions?Questions?