From Site5Wiki

Translating certain symbols, digits, glyphs, punctuation, and the like is necessary for proper rendering of webpages. The least problematic outcome is that the meaning of that page's content might be lost on the visitor; the most, that the page will not validate properly, and may even crash the visitor's browser.

Not only do Unicode characters assist browsers in the proper generation in punctuation, and other symbols (like hearts: ♥), but they also help in the correct rendering of world languages--their accents; their alphabets; their ideograms; and their particular, personal characters of expression. So Unicode usage not only assists in validation and accessibility, but also in localization of your website.

Contents 1 Fonts that properly render Unicode 2 Unicode Characters Replacement 2.1 Information and Usage 2.2 FAQs 2.3 Software 2.3.1 Web browser support 2.3.2 Cross-platform utilities 2.3.3 Linux/Unix/X11 utilities 2.3.4 Macintosh utilities 2.3.4.1 OSX 2.3.4.2 OS9 2.3.4.3 Windows utilities 3 Books We Recommend

[edit] Fonts that properly render Unicode

• Andika SIL font:

  Sans serif, Unicode-compliant font for literacy use.

• Bitstream Cyberbit
• Caslon Roman
• Charis SIL font:

  A serif, proportionally-spaced font optimized for readability in long printed documents.

• DejaVu font family: Sans; Sans Mono; Sans Condensed; DejaVu Serif; and DejaVu Serif Condensed
  • .pdf samples of this font family and .png sampler
• Doulos SIL font:

  A Unicode font with a comprehensive set of characters needed for almost any Roman- or Cyrillic-based writing system.

• SIL Encore Fonts:

  A library of nearly 1,600 phonetic characters and linguistic symbols that can be used to create customized, scalable TrueType fonts for Windows and Macintosh systems. The Encore library has a complete Roman-based glyph set for linguistic applications.

• FreeSerif, FreeSans, FreeMono
• Gentium SIL font:

  Supports a wide range of Latin-based alphabets and includes glyphs that correspond to all the Latin ranges of Unicode.

• GNU Unifont
• Linux Libertine

[edit] Unicode Characters Replacement

[edit] Information and Usage

• cheatsheet, thanks to Dave Child: downloadable in both .pdf and .png formats -- highly recommended download (see thumbnailed images at the top of this webpage)
• Character chart alternative
• Entity chart at webmaster-toolkit.com
• The Unicode Character Code Charts By Script at Unicode.org--individual charts downloadable in .pdf format
• ISO 8859-1 character set overview thanks to the Web Design Group

[edit] FAQs

• Unicode Glossary thanks to Unicode.org
• UTF-8 and Unicode FAQ for Unix/Linux
• Unicode resources and FAQs, thanks to the Non-Roman Script Initiative (NRSI) and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL)
• Setting up Macintosh OS9 Web Browsers for Multilingual and Unicode Support
• Setting up Windows Internet Explorer 5, 5.5 and 6 for Multilingual and Unicode Support

[edit] Software

[edit] Web browser support

• Opera

[edit] Cross-platform utilities

• vi
  • Learning the vi Editor, 6th edition, by Linda Lamb and Arnold Robbins ISBN 9781565924260

:

• Find this book at O'Reilly
• Find this book at Barnes & Noble
• Find this book at BooksPrice
• Find this book at InformIT
• Find this book at Powells' Books

• • vi Editor Pocket Reference, 1st edition, by Arnold Robbins ISBN 9781565924970

:

• Find this book at O'Reilly
• Find this book at Barnes & Noble
• Find this book at BooksPrice
• Find this book at InformIT
• Find this book at Powells' Books

• Vim, a clone of Vi:
  • O'Reilly: What Is Vim (It's Easier than You Think), by Matthew Russell
    • print version of this blog article
    • audio version of this blog article
  • vim tips and
  • scripts
  • Cream: revamping of Vim (my editor of choice for wiki editing) --Carla 19:07, 20 February 2007 (EST) for Windows, GNU/Linux, and FreeBSD, under active development since 2001
    • mailing lists: cream-announce for updates; and
    • cream-users for discussion

[edit] Linux/Unix/X11 utilities

• Unicode web browsers for Unix
• Emacs
• Unicode fonts and tools for X11
  • ...and even more
  • ...and more

[edit] Macintosh utilities

[edit] OSX

• Unicode web browsers for OSX
• Unicode and Multilingual File Conversion, Font and Keyboard Utilities
• Unicode and Multilingual Editors and Word Processors

• SIL Font Cache Extender:

  increases the size of the MacOS font cache to provide better reliability when using fonts that contain large amounts of font data, such as the SIL Greek and Hebrew fonts and many QuickDraw GX fonts.

• SILKey:

  SILKey is a suite of programs that can be used to modify the behavior of the Macintosh keyboard when typing in any standard Macintosh word processor or other text-editing program. Written by Jonathan Kew, it is very similar to, but is not based on, the KeyMan program for Windows (see below).

• Ukelele: alternative Macintosh keyboard tweaker for Unicode creation

• Dashboard widget, freeware:
  

Symbol Caddy, written by Brian Haslanger:

Dashboard widget keeps all those silly HTML entity codes at your fingertips. Just click the symbol to have the HTML code copied to your clipboard. On the back is an option to have the Dashboard automatically close after copy, making the workflow faster.

[edit] OS9

• Unicode web browsers for System 9
• Unicode and Multilingual File Conversion, Font and Keyboard Utilities
• Unicode and Multilingual Editors and Word Processors

[edit] Windows utilities

• Unicode web browsers for Windows:
  • Internet Explorer v. 5, v. 5.5 and v. 6
  • Internet Explorer v. 3 and v. 4 Internet Explorer 5, 5.5 and 6 for Windows
  • Netscape v. 3, v. 4, v. 6, and v. 7

• Many Windows utilities, outlined and reviewed

• Unicode and Multilingual Editors and Word Processors for Windows

• Keyman:

  Tavultesoft Keyman is a utility for creating and managing keyboard input methods. Keyman makes it practical to input many different languages in almost any Windows application. Keyman fully supports Unicode, as well as legacy codepage-based applications. Keyman includes features such as an on-screen keyboard, phonetic and visual-order input methods, and seamless integration with the Windows XP Language Bar.

• WorldPad: Unicode-friendly replacement for Windows' Notepad...and much more.
• Unicode Font Viewer

Note: All above fonts and software are licensed as freeware, donationware, or charityware.

[edit] Books We Recommend

Unicode Explained by [Jukka K. Korpela] ISBN 9780596101213 :

• Find this book at O'Reilly
• Find this book at Barnes & Noble
• Find this book at BooksPrice
• Find this book at InformIT
• Find this book at Powells' Books