Unicode is essentially a map or catalogue where characters used by the languages of the world have been assigned a number. This number is unique for this character: ‘A’ is 41, ‘!’ is 21, and ‘ə’ is 259. Your computer does not deal internally with letters and punctuation, only these reference numbers.

The problem is that there are several competing cataloguing systems out there. Some of the earliest Latin-based catalogues (or code pages) were ASCII and ANSI. Each could only contain a maximum of 256 characters, obviously not enough for all of the world’s languages. But these two systems are still with us today; many older operating systems do not accomodate Unicode at all. Most Western European languages can be sufficiently typed in ANSI; thus many webpages and software applications do not bother with Unicode. For the majority of Native languages, using Unicode is essential. Cherokee and Syllabics language materials can not be consistently typed any other way, and ASCII/ANSI fonts do not allow for many of the characters found in Native languages, such as ƛ θ k̓ ʷ etc.

Because of the legacy of ASCII/ANSI, much web material and e-mail services use these older code pages as default. This isn’t a big deal if the text is in English or Icelandic, but most languages require characters outside ASCII/ANSI: the French ligatured ‘œ’ is unavailable.

The most obvious sign that your web browser is reading a Unicode page incorrectly is when you see this type of gobble-dee-gook:

a) “V̏ḿ”ᑲᔭᐘ뽀뽀해

b) ᏣᎳᎩᓀᐦ

c) ????????????????????????

d) empty boxes

The garbage in type a) means that your browser is reading Unicode characters as ASCII/ANSI. This can be fixed on your end. In the View drop-down menu in your browser, select (Character) Encoding. A list of possible encodings appears; it is probably already set for ‘Western European’. Change this to ‘Unicode’

Type b) means that the text was typed in software which is not Unicode compliant. I don’t know of a way to make this legible.

Type c) means that the text was typed in software which is not Unicode compliant. I don’t know of a way to make this legible.

Type d) indicates that the text was typed in Unicode, your browser is set properly for Unicode, but you are using a font which doesn’t contain the required characters. The solution is to install an appropriate font. Most Native languages can be viewed using a languagegeek font.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Microsoft Windows XP

Netscape

Opera

Microsoft Internet Explorer

• Download the stylesheet IE_Native.ccs.
• Go to Tools → Internet options → <Accessibility> → Format documents using my stylesheet. Check this box and browse to where you saved the stylesheet you just downloaded. Whenever the Format documents using my stylesheet box is checked, Internet Explorer will be forced to use the Unicode fonts “AbRomanSerif” and “Aboriginal Sans” which contain all of the letters necessary for Native languages. When you are doing regular English web-browsing, uncheck the Format documents using my stylesheet box.

OR

• Setting fonts so that you can read text in your language. In Internet Explorer...
• Tools → Internet options → <Fonts> → Latin based. Choose fonts which contain the Latin letters required by the language.
• Tools → Internet options → <Accessibility> → Ignore font styles specified on Web pages. Check this box to force the browser to use your language’s fonts. This checkbox can be turned on and off as needed.

Microsoft Windows XP

• Installing fonts.
• Control Panel → Fonts → File → Install new font.
• Find the folder which contains the font file you want to install in the Folders window.
• When that folder has been selected, a list of fonts should appear in the List of Fonts window. Highlight the fonts you want to install. <OK>

OR

• Control Panel → Fonts. This opens the Fonts folder. Drag and drop fonts into the Fonts folder to install.
• File/Folder names. When naming a file or folder in Windows, try to use only unaccented English letters, as some accents and non-English characters are unacceptable for Windows. You can often save your document with these characters, but you may not be able to retrieve it!
• Control Panel → System. Check to make sure that your version of XP is Service Pack 2 (indicated in the General tab). Service Pack 2 (SP2) allows Windows to read commands in some “OpenType” fonts which tell the computer where accents should be placed. If you are not using SP2, certain letters, like Ę́ will not look correct. If your system is not SP2, then you will have to install updates (should be automatic).
• Font Smoothing makes the fonts on screen clearer.

Netscape

• Setting fonts so that you can read text in your language.
• Edit → Preferences → Appearance → Fonts → Unicode. Choose fonts which contain the Latin letters required by the language. You will also have to change Edit → Preferences → Appearance → Fonts → Western to the same font as you did for Unicode.
• Edit → Preferences → Appearance → Fonts → Allow documents to use other fonts. Uncheck this box to force the browser to use your language’s fonts. This checkbox can be turned on and off as needed.

Opera

• Setting fonts so that you can read text in your language.
  • Tools → Preferences → Web Pages (tab). There are two buttons, Normal font and Monospace font. Choose fonts which contain the letters required by the language.
  • Tools → Preferences → Advanced → Fonts. There will be a window where you can choose which fonts you want to use in which situations. For Webpage normal text choose fonts which contain the Latin letters required by the language.