Unicode 15.0 Beta Review

The beta review period for Unicode 15.0 has started. The Unicode Standard is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including all modern operating systems, browsers, laptops, and smart phones-plus the Internet and Web (URLs, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, etc.). The Unicode Standard, its associated standards, and data form the foundation for CLDR and ICU releases. Thus it is important to ensure a smooth transition to each new version of the standard.

Unicode 15.0 includes a number of changes and 4,489 new characters, including another major extension of CJK unified ideographs. A number of the Unicode Standard Annexes have significant modifications for Unicode 15.0. Two new scripts have been added, and there are also 20 additional emoji characters in Unicode 15.0.

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by July 12, 2022. The review period will only be for six weeks, so prompt feedback is appreciated. Feedback instructions are on the beta page.

See https://www.unicode.org/versions/beta-15.0.0.html for more information about testing the 15.0.0 beta.

See https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode15.0.0/ for the current draft summary of Unicode 15.0.0.

About the Unicode Consortium

The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization founded to develop, extend and promote use of the Unicode Standard and related globalization standards.

The membership of the consortium represents a broad spectrum of corporations and organizations, many in the computer and information processing industry. Members include: Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Emojipedia, Google, Government of Bangladesh, International Emerging Technology Company (ETCO), Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, Salesforce, SAP, Tamil Virtual Academy, The University of California (Berkeley), Yat Labs, plus well over a hundred Associate, Liaison, and Individual members. For a complete member list go to https://home.unicode.org/membership/members/.

For more information, please contact the Unicode Consortium https://home.unicode.org/connect/contact-unicode/.

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Over 144,000 characters are available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages

Unicode Consortium Announces Version 14.0 Cover Design

The Unicode Consortium is pleased to announce the new design selected for the cover of the forthcoming print-on-demand publication of The Unicode Standard, Version 14.0. The Unicode Consortium issued an open call for artists and designers to submit cover design proposals. All submitted designs were reviewed by an independent panel.

The selected cover artwork for Version 14.0 is an original design by Sophia Tai, an MA student in Typeface Design at the University of Reading. Her cover art represents type in boxes, which shares a visual language with the arrangement of metal type, as well as the Unicode code charts. She selected a global mix of characters to present a variety of writing systems, using neon colors to create liveliness. The neutral background represents a sense of being down to earth, as well as the longevity and preservation of writing systems.

Two runner-up designs were also selected. One is a contemporary design by Beatriz de Paula Mattos, a graphic design student at the University of Vale do Itajaí, Brazil. The other runner-up design was created by Jesús Barrientos Mora, a professor with a degree in Type Design, who also leads the Talavera Type Workshop foundry in Puebla, Mexico.

Beatriz de Paula Mattos:

Jesús Barrientos Mora:

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Over 144,000 characters are available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages

Unicode 14.0 Beta Review

The beta review period for Unicode 14.0 has started. The Unicode Standard is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including all modern operating systems, browsers, laptops, and smart phones-plus the Internet and Web (URLs, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, etc.). The Unicode Standard, its associated standards, and data form the foundation for CLDR and ICU releases. Thus it is important to ensure a smooth transition to each new version of the standard.

Unicode 14.0 includes a number of changes and 838 new characters. Some of the Unicode Standard Annexes have modifications for Unicode 14.0. Five new scripts have been added in Unicode 14.0. There are also additional emoji characters.

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by July 13, 2021. This will be a slightly shorter review period of only five weeks, so prompt feedback is appreciated. Feedback instructions are on the beta page.

See https://www.unicode.org/versions/beta-14.0.0.html for more information about testing the 14.0.0 beta.

See https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode14.0.0/ for the current draft summary of Unicode 14.0.0.

About the Unicode Consortium

The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization founded to develop, extend and promote use of the Unicode Standard and related globalization standards.

The membership of the consortium represents a broad spectrum of corporations and organizations, many in the computer and information processing industry. Members include: Adobe, Apple, Emojipedia, Facebook, Google, Government of Bangladesh, Government of India, Microsoft, Netflix, Sultanate of Oman MARA, Salesforce, SAP, Tamil Virtual Academy, The University of California (Berkeley), Yat Labs, plus well over a hundred Associate, Liaison, and Individual members. For a complete member list go to https://home.unicode.org/membership/members/

For more information, please contact the Unicode Consortium https://www.unicode.org/contacts.html.

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Over 140,000 characters are available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages

Unicode 11.0 Paperback Available

The Unicode 11.0 core specification is now available in paperback book form with a new, original cover design. This edition consists of a pair of modestly priced print-on-demand volumes containing the complete text of the core specification of Version 11.0 of the Unicode Standard.

Each of the two volumes is a compact 6×9 inch US trade paperback size. The two volumes may be purchased separately or together, although they are intended as a set. The cost for the pair is US $16.58, plus postage and applicable taxes. Please visit the description page to order.

Note that these volumes do not include the Version 11.0 code charts, nor do they include the Version 11.0 Standard Annexes and Unicode Character Database, which are all freely available on the Unicode website.

Purchase The Unicode Standard, Version 11.0 - Core Specification

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Adopt-a-Character

Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Unicode Consortium Announces Version 11.0 and Version 12.0 Cover Designs

The Unicode Consortium is pleased to announce the design selected for the cover of the forthcoming print-on-demand publication of The Unicode Standard, Version 11.0. The Unicode Consortium issued an open call for artists and designers to submit cover design proposals. An independent panel reviewed all submitted designs. Because of the accelerated release schedule for Version 12.0 (March 2019), the design for the print-on-demand publication of The Unicode Standard, Version 12.0 was also selected at this time.


The cover for Version 11.0 is an original design by Joyce S. Lee, a graduate student in the UC Berkeley School of Information. Her artwork was inspired by the well-known early 20th-century Bauhaus design school. She explains, “I see numerous parallels between the Bauhaus and the Unicode Consortium, including an intersection of workmanship and technological reproduction, a spirit of collaboration, as well as a widespread cultural influence. With this Bauhaus inspired cover, I thus aim to represent the Unicode Standard as a form of instructional reference for technologists around the world.”


Cover artwork for Version 12.0 was created by Monica Tang, a computer science student at UC Berkeley. Her design was inspired by the simplicity of the geometric shapes that comprise the diversity of characters and symbols represented in the Unicode Standard. She notes, “Incorporating a variety of shapes and colors into a patterned design, I seek to convey the sheer breadth of the languages covered in the Unicode Standard as well as a sense of commonality.”

Runner-up designs by Feixiong “Hasutai” Liu and Maurice Meilleur were also selected. Hasutai is the founder and chief designer of Sir Sebsihiyan Sibe-Manchu Culture Center. Maurice Meilleur is Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Appalachian State University.

Hasutai:

Maurice Meilleur:

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Adopt-a-Character

Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Announcing The Unicode® Standard, Version 11.0

Version 11.0 of the Unicode Standard is now available, both the core specification and data files. Version 11.0 adds 684 characters, for a total of 137,374 characters. These additions include seven new scripts, for a total of 146 scripts, as well as 145 new emoji.

The new scripts and characters in Version 11.0 add support for lesser-used languages and unique written requirements worldwide, including:

• Georgian Mtavruli capital letters, newly added to support modern casing practices
• Hanifi Rohingya, used to write the modern Rohingya language in Southeast Asia
• Medefaidrin, used for modern liturgical purposes in Africa
• Mazahua, a Mesoamerican language recognized by law in Mexico
• Mayan numerals used in printed materials in Central America
• Historic Sanskrit, Gurmukhi, and the Buryats
• Five urgently needed CJK unified ideographs: three for chemical names and two for Japan's government administration

Popular symbol additions:

• Copyleft symbol
• Half stars for rating systems
• More astrological symbols
• Xiangqi Chinese chess symbols
• New emoji characters including:

For the full list of emoji characters, see emoji additions for Unicode 11.0, and Emoji Counts. For a detailed description of support for emoji characters by the Unicode Standard, see UTS #51, Unicode Emoji. Version 11.0 also includes other improvements for emoji handling:

• a mechanism to request the glyph direction for emoji
• descriptions of the four new emoji hair components
• descriptions of gender neutral emoji
• simplified statements of emoji-related rules for grapheme cluster boundaries and for word boundaries.

Three other important Unicode specifications have been updated for Version 11.0:

• UTS #10, Unicode Collation Algorithm — sorting Unicode text
• UTS #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms — reducing Unicode spoofing
• UTS #46, Unicode IDNA Compatibility Processing — compatible processing of non-ASCII URLs

Unicode 11.0 includes a number of changes. Some of the Unicode Standard Annexes have modifications, often in coordination with changes to character properties. In particular, there are changes to:

• UAX #14, Unicode Linebreaking Algorithm
• UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation
• UAX #31, Unicode Identifier and Pattern Syntax

The Unicode Standard is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including all modern operating systems, browsers, laptops, and smart phones—plus the Internet and Web (URLs, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, etc.). The Unicode Standard, its associated standards, and data form the foundation for CLDR and ICU releases.

Adopt-a-Character

All the new characters including the new emoji are now available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Unicode 10.0 Paperback Available

The Unicode 10.0 core specification is now available in paperback book form with a new, original cover design. This edition consists of a pair of modestly priced print-on-demand volumes containing the complete text of the core specification of Version 10.0 of the Unicode Standard.

Each of the two volumes is a compact 6×9 inch US trade paperback size. The two volumes may be purchased separately or together, although they are intended as a set. The cost for the pair is US $16.85, plus postage and applicable taxes. Please visit the description page to order.

Note that these volumes do not include the Version 10.0 code charts, nor do they include the Version 10.0 Standard Annexes and Unicode Character Database, which are freely available on the Unicode website.

Purchase The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 - Core Specification

Unicode Consortium Announces Cover Design

The Unicode Consortium is pleased to announce the new design selected for the cover of the forthcoming print-on-demand publication of The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0. The Unicode Consortium issued an open call for artists and designers to submit cover design proposals. All submitted designs were reviewed by an independent panel.


The selected cover artwork is an original design by Kosala Senevirathne, art director and graphic designer at Mooniak, a design and art direction studio in Colombo, Sri Lanka, that focuses on multilingual design. The design is about the spirit of Unicode Standard; a universal standard that enables equal opportunity for discussion and discourse in writing systems of the world.

Two runner-up designs by Diana Gomez and Maitray Shah were also selected. Diana Gomez is currently a senior in the Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Maitray Shah is a graduate student at San Jose State University pursuing a Masters in Software Engineering.

Diana Gomez:

Maitray Shah:

New Publication Schedule for The Unicode Standard

The Unicode Consortium has changed its publication schedule for versions of the Unicode Standard. Starting with the recent Version 7.0, a new major version of the Unicode Standard will be published each year in June.

This new schedule provides reliability and predictability for all software using Unicode. Implementers can now plan well ahead for the appearance of each new version.

Look for Unicode 8.0 in June of 2015.