Email and web-site applications that use Lao text in HTML documents are becoming more and more frequently used, but using Lao is still more difficult than using English.

There are three main points to remember when using Lao either with email or in web pages:

• The fonts used by the person creating the message or web site must be available to the people receiving the message or viewing the site. Since Lao fonts were not provided with Microsoft® Windows® on Windows® XP or any earlier version of Windows®, the fonts must either be installed on their computer, or included with the message or page information.
• In most cases, HTML messages and web pages will wrap text to fit the viewing window. Except in Microsoft® Microsoft® Office 2010, Lao text only wraps correctly if (hidden or visible) breaks are inserted between words, either as the text is typed, or automatically, when using a keyboard mapping application such as Lao Script for Windows (with break insertion enabled). Microsoft® Microsoft® Office 2010 wraps Lao text correctly if a Lao Unicode font is used, but not if any other (non-standard) Lao encoding is used. Text created using many older Lao fonts using hidden breaks will not wrap correctly with most browsers, even if breaks are inserted, as the break codes used are not recognized by the browsers.
• The codes used for storing the Lao text must be interpreted correctly by the application used for receiving or viewing the text. With most non-Unicode Lao fonts, browsers will either drop some Lao characters or display them incorrectly.

The lack of standards for Lao prior to Lao Unicode means that it is very difficult to ensure that these three conditions are satisfied with non-Unicode fonts. Messages or pages created with Lao Unicode fonts do work correctly, but only with applications that handle Unicode correctly. Unfortunately, many good website design applications (e.g. Adobe Dreamweaver) do not yet support the creation of web pages with Unicode text unless the language uses a codepage provided by Windows.

Here are some more suggestions that may help:

• Use Lao Unicode fonts whenever possible - especially Saysettha OT, which is clearer than most other Lao fonts at small sizes.
• For webpage design, use Microsoft® FrontPage, which supports the use of Lao Unicode fonts, with Lao Script for Windows to automatically insert non-visible line break characters between words. Although FrontPage does not have as many features as other website design applications, it is adequate for most simpler sites.
• Many applications (e.g. Dreamweaver) allow Lao Unicode text to be pasted into the document windows from the clipboard. Preparing material in Microsoft Word and copying it using the clipboard can sometimes provide a way around the input limitations of those applications.
• Although slower to view, a safe way to transmit documents with Lao text is to create Portable Document Format versions of the documents and send them (via email) or embed them (in HTML). Free software (e.g. PDF Creator) is available to easily turn any Word document into PDF format, automatically embedding the fonts with the document.
• HTML documents may also be created with embedded fonts, using Microsoft's (freely available) WEFT font embedding tool. While this does not always overcome problems of non-standard Lao fonts, it can be useful for including a copy of (for example) the Saysettha OT font with the pages that are created to use that font. For more information about using embedded fonts, look at Cross-Browser Fonts.
• Microsoft® email and browser applications (Outlook, Outlook Express and Internet Explorer) conform to the Unicode standard more fully than most other similar applications, and will process and display Lao Unicode text correctly in most situations.