Digitization
Encoding Expectations: How Long Does It Really Take?
We know that encoding new scripts is a time- and resource-intensive process. But how long does it take, exactly, and what factors can help or hinder the work? The Script Encoding Initiative at the University of California, Berkeley has been building a data set that seeks to answer these questions for previously-encoded scripts. We will share findings on the length of time it took a script to go from first contact to Unicode inclusion and illustrate how that number varies by script characteristics, community involvement, and more. This exploratory study can provide useful data points for those in the software internationalization industry to reflect on their work and set expectations with stakeholders.