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Current chapter: Creating Globally Accessible HDML Services
Section 64 out of 67 total sections , Section 1 out of 3 sections in this chapter

Chapter 9: Creating Globally Accessible HDML Services

HDML 3.0 and the 3.0 UP.Link platform support a variety of languages and character sets. This chapter describes how to make your HDML service globally accessible.

Internationalization requires you to consider two principal issues:

Language handling.
The 3.0 UP.Link platform uses existing Web standards for language handling. The UP.Phone indicates its language preferences to the UP.Link server, which relays this information to the HDML service by setting the Accept-Language HTTP header. It is up to the HDML service to check the Accept-Language header and provide content that is localized for the specified language.
Character set handling.
The UP.Link platform follows existing Web standards for character set handling; it also removes most of the burden of character set handling from HDML services. When the UP.Link server relays data between an UP.Phone and an HDML service, it attempts to deliver the data in a character set that each one understands. If the UP.Phone and the HDML service use different character sets, the UP.Link server transcodes the data, mapping it from one character set to the other. To enable the UP.Link server to transcode data correctly, your service must correctly set the appropriate HTTP headers and HDML options.

The following sections discuss these issues in greater detail.

IMPORTANT Even if you don't intend to localize your HDML services to support multiple languages, you should read the section about character set handling. Even if UP.Phone subscribers use the same language as your service, their UP.Phones might use different character sets. If your service does not correctly use the appropriate HTTP headers and HDML options, it is possible that some UP.Phones (even in your own locale) might not be able to access it.