Urdu website breaks new ground

Surfers can download the Urdu font

The launch of BBCUrdu.com is a landmark in online publishing as it is the first news site to use Urdu text, rather than scanned-in images of printed materials. Jon Wurtzel of the development team looks at the technical and editorial hurdles in producing the site.

The first challenge was enabling Urdu speakers to read the language online. Computers are not currently configured to display Urdu text because Urdu fonts do not come as standard with any operating systems.

So finding way for users to read properly displayed Urdu text online was an immediate test.

One of the underlying concerns was the need to serve a wide-ranging audience with differing levels of internet access and computer equipment.

The site had a requirement to be backwards compatible with the operating system Windows 95 and functional with the latest operating systems such as Windows XP.

It also had to be future-proof so that the BBC could be confident that its current and subsequent content could be displayed on operating systems to come.

Future-proof

The current solution enables people to download an Urdu font that, once on their computers, allows them to see calligraphically satisfactory Urdu text.

The font works right now across multiple Windows operating systems. Because it is Unicode, it can technically work across multiple current and future operating systems as fonts become available.

BBCUrdu.com editor Mohammed Hanif serves global audience

For now, the content on the site is also designed to be compatible with the Urdu font Microsoft is developing for inclusion in its XP software.

A key population using this site come from Pakistan, where Urdu is the official national language. Interest in the site is, predictably, predominantly in large cities such as Islamabad and Karachi.

But users in remote Pakistani border and tribal areas, where internet use would not necessarily be expected, are also engaging with and e-mailing in their opinions to the site.

A diverse base of Urdu speakers in India, the US, and Canada, South Africa, as well as Japan and the Persian Gulf also use the site on a daily basis, accessing news in Urdu online in a way that would otherwise be unavailable.

Rich archive

Beyond providing round the clock news and analysis, as well as live and on-demand access to all of the BBC World Service's Urdu radio output, this news service also serves some uniquely rich content.

With an archive of over 40 years of Urdu news output, BBCUrdu.com provides access to historic audio clips, images and political reportage that can resonate with an audience that has memories of these moments.

These are early days for the integration of the Urdu language and desktop computers. BBC research shows that Urdu speakers are just beginning to use computers and the internet in significant numbers in their own language.

BBCUrdu.com reflects the potential for the digital development of the Urdu language by being the first to provide a technically and editorially comprehensive offer.

It serves an extensive regional and global news service in an internet environment lacking many alternatives. And it can serve to expand the online take-up of Urdu both in Pakistan and across the world.

You can hear more about BBCUrdu.com on the BBC programme Go Digital.