L2/05-103 Date/Time: Wed Apr 27 03:40:02 CST 2005 Contact: Peter Kirk (peterkirk@qaya.org) Subject: Use of character names in user interfaces There seems to be some confusion on whether Unicode character names are suitable for use in user interfaces. I understand from discussions on the Unicode mailing list that the UTC does not recommend that these names are used in user interfaces (nor does it recommend against this). There are good reasons for not recommending this, not least that there are known errors in these names which cannot be corrected because of the Unicode stability policy. But there are some places in the text of TUS 4.0 which seem to suggest that Unicode charcater names are suitable for use in user interfaces, e.g. section 16.1, subsection "Aliases", p.415. The result is confusion among software developers about what is intended. Some current software presents the Unicode character names to users, including names which are obviously in error. This causes users to select inappropriate characters and to lose confidence in Unicode. My proposal is that the UTC should clarify the text of the standard to make it clear that Unicode character names are not intended for use in user interfaces, and to suggest that the names which should be used for this purpose are the localised names which will be supplied through CLDR, i.e. outside the formal scope of TUS.