When you are internationalizing a user interface, language is not the only factor to consider. Several locales can share a common language but have different conventions for expressing information. In addition, some locales can share a language but use different keyboard conventions.

International keyboards differ. Avoid using punctuation character keys as shortcut keys because they are not always found on international keyboards or easily produced by the user. What seems like an effective shortcut because of its mnemonic association — for example, CTRL+B for Bold — may need to be changed to fit a particular language. Similarly, macros or other utilities that invoke menus or commands based on access keys are not likely to work in an international version because the command names on which the access keys are based differ.

Additionally, keys do not always occupy the same positions on all international keyboards. Even when they do, the interpretation of the unmodified keystroke can be different. For example, on US keyboards, SHIFT+8 results in an asterisk character. However, on French keyboards, it generates the number 8. Similarly, avoid using CTRL+ALT combinations, because the system interprets this combination for some language versions as the ALTGR key, which generates alphanumeric characters. Similarly, avoid using the ALT key as a modifier because it is the primary keyboard interface for accessing menus and controls. In addition, the system uses many specialized versions for special input. For example, ALT+~ invokes special input editors in Asian versions of the Windows operating system. For text fields, pressing ALT+number enters characters in the upper range of a character set. Similarly, avoid using the following characters when assigning shortcut keys:

@ £ $ { } [ ] \ ~ | ^ ' < >

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