Bidi for Translators
Abstract
This piece is intended for translators working with bidirectional text in plain text format. This case occurs in the domain of UI/UX translations. This article will delve into the concept of directionality and how they play out when combined. We will further understand how computers handle bidirectional text, what challenges they come across, and how we can help computers cope with their occasional shortcomings.
Directionality in Writing Systems
Individual writing systems make different assumptions about the arrangement of characters into lines and the arrangement of lines on a page or screen. We refer to these as the writing system’s directionality.