CWA 16108:2010

This CWA is aimed to assist in the preparation of functional multilingual extensions to European keyboard layouts. They are aimed to allow ordinary users and Public Authorities to input primarily Latin-script characters, especially in the light of current and potential future legal and common educational requirements. The CWA builds upon existing implementations of common official and de facto standards for national and regional computer keyboard layouts and related input methods. Based on this, practical guidance is given on handling multilingual data entry requirements, taking account of existing international standards in the field. Outside the scope of this CWA are the needs of specialist usage, such as the need to regularly and rapidly generate large volumes of text in a wide range of languages. Since the European single market allows for free movement of people and goods, one should be able to correctly enter the names of people, places, products, and companies and other legal entities in a consistent, easily comprehensible manner. This implies that the capability should exist in all kinds of applications, including those based on open source software that are traditionally based on freely available information. The CWA does not define any specific, let alone Pan-European, keyboard layout. Liaison has been established with ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35 to minimize the risk of further divergence between actual implementations and formal standards (ISO/IEC 9995 series and other relevant standards). Liaison has also been established with the Unicode Consortium.