[Tcadvisors] TC members participate on UA days

Hello advisors. TC members Adrian Schmidt and Mildred Weiss participated in the ICANN organized Universal Acceptance (UA) day held on March 28. What is this? UA Day is opportunity to rally local, regional, and global communities and organizations to spread Universal Acceptance (UA) awareness and to encourage UA adoption with key stakeholders. UA is a technical requirement that ensures all valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of script, language, or character length, can be equally used by all Internet-enabled applications, devices, and systems. (UA Day - Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) <https://uasg.tech/ua-day/>;. Below you find a summary of their presentations. Mildred presented on the subject of challenges and opportunities in revitalizing the Plains Cree language (nêhiyawêwin) in Alberta, Canada, particularly through the lens of Universal Acceptance. Adrian focused on the status of Universal Acceptance (UA) implementation, particularly in Latin America and Argentina. (I did not attach Spanish powerpoints mentioned. Will sent to anyone interested in these) Thanks to both of you for taking part in this opportunity and sharing your experiences with other communities. Marita -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: Participation on UA days Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2025 16:55:10 -0400 From: Adrian Schmidt <aschmi(a)gmail.com&gt; To: Marita Moll <mmoll(a)ca.inter.net&gt;, Mildred Weiss <mildredweiss(a)gmail.com&gt; Here, you have the brief of both presentations in English (both presented in Spanish). I have attached the PDF for both as well (in spanish). Adrian Summary of PowerPoint Presentations Presentation 1: Universal Acceptance and Plains Cree Language Revitalization in Alberta, Canada /By Mildred Weiss, April 4, 2025/ This presentation focuses on the challenges and opportunities in revitalizing the Plains Cree language (nêhiyawêwin) in Alberta, Canada, particularly through the lens of Universal Acceptance. Key Points: * *Indigenous Context*: Alberta is home to 48 indigenous communities organized under Treaty 6 (1876), Treaty 7 (1877), and Treaty 8 (1899), with multiple indigenous languages, including Cree, Blackfoot, Saulteaux, Dene, Beaver, Chipewyan, and Stoney/Nakoda. * *Maskwacîs Community*: Located 70km south of Edmonton, this Indigenous community comprises four nations: Samson, Ermineskin, Louis Bull, and Montana. * *Plains Cree Language Characteristics*: o 10 consonants and 7 vowels (3 short, 4 long) o Polysynthetic language with complex verbal structures * *Educational Initiatives*: The Mamawi Atosketan School ("Working Together") promotes Plains Cree language use in homes and schools, offering education to Maskwacîs tribes. * *Challenges*: o Educational: Limited resources, intergenerational gaps, dialect variations, complex grammar, and limited class time o Technical: Special characters, font compatibility, syllabic support, lack of standardization, and software limitations o Infrastructure: No physical keyboards, few virtual keyboards, and limited educational applications * *Current Solutions*: o Resources: Audio recordings, dictionaries, virtual keyboards, videos, and online graphic resources o Community initiatives: Elder-led language immersion programs, integration of language tools with modern technology platforms, and growing recognition in curricula * *Future Plans*: Development of educational applications and technical tools, implementation of Universal Acceptance principles for indigenous language representation online, particularly through diacritics in domain names. Presentation 2: The State of Universal Acceptance /By Adrian Schmidt, April 4, 2025/ This presentation examines the status of Universal Acceptance (UA) implementation, particularly in Latin America and Argentina. Key Points: * *Universal Acceptance Background*: A steering group has been active since February 2015, addressing particular challenges in Latin America due to linguistic diversity and the digital divide. * *LACRALO Activities*: o Working group on Multilingualism and IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names) since 2019 o Led by Sylvia Herlein (Argentina) and Gerardo Martinez Hernandez (Mexico) * *Regional Coordination*: LACTLD (Latin American and Caribbean TLD Association) helps coordinate between ccTLDs (country code Top-Level Domains), fostering regional cooperation on UA standards. * *Implementation in Argentina*: o nic.ar <http://nic.ar> has implemented special characters (ñ, ç, accents) for domain names o Progress includes technical implementation, partial technical support on government sites, individual efforts, academic initiatives, and university training * *Challenges in Argentina*: o Lack of unified public policy o Dependency on individual willingness o Insufficient investment o Inadequate inclusion of native peoples (Guarani/Mapuche) o Digital divide * *Next Steps*: o Expanding educational initiatives from awareness to technical training o Updating the 2020 regional study and compatibility evaluations o Increasing collaboration between government, academia, private sector, and civil society o Focusing on Indigenous languages (economic viability) * *Resources*: Portal AU Argentina, tool repository, community support, and technical assistance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I hope this helps! Adrian On Mon, Apr 7, 2025 at 3:23 AM Marita Moll <mmoll(a)ca.inter.net&gt; wrote: Good morning and greetings from Germany. UA days was not on my agenda as I was traveling that day. It is great to hear that both you and Mildred made presentations and, yes, it would be great if you would share your findings with the rest of this group. And that way I can record it as an outreach activity by members of our group.🙂 Looking forward to your post. Marita On 2025-04-06 3:44 p.m., Adrian Schmidt wrote: days - days "english"