The primary language of the Internet is English, and the script is Latin. However, 60% of Internet users do not speak English.
The world is rich in linguistic and script diversity – over 7,000 living languages, with at least 900 of them having their own alphabets. This data is provided by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). To ensure that different languages and scripts are accurately represented and technically recognized online, ICANN launched the global initiative known as ‘Universal Acceptance’ (UA).
Currently, around 190 countries have joined the Universal Acceptance movement and have registered Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in approximately 30 languages. Examples include: .中国 (China), .рф (Russian Federation), .امارات (United Arab Emirates), and .срб (Serbia), among others.
The introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) plays a vital role not only in allowing non-English speakers to access the Internet in their native languages, but also in supporting the preservation of those languages.
Armenia, recognizing the importance of this issue, has joined the Universal Acceptance movement through the Internet Society NGO. It has been operating the Armenian .հայ domain for nine years and, for the past two years, has also enabled the use of Armenian-script email addresses in the format անուն.ազգանուն@հայ.
