Authors: Seda Akbulut, UA Program Manager; Sarmad Hussain, ICANN IDN/UA Programs Director;

For nearly a decade, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the volunteer-led Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) have been working together to promote the Universal Acceptance (UA) of all valid domain names and email addresses. Considered a cornerstone of today’s multilingual Internet, UA is a technical best practice that ensures all domain names and email addresses – in any language, script or character length – are accepted equally by all Internet-enabled applications, devices and systems. In the years following the UASG’s inception in 2015, much of the work centered around raising awareness of UA among key stakeholders and highlighting the benefits of UA adoption. In recent years, as awareness of UA has risen globally, focus has shifted to UA remediation and measurement.

As part of their measurement efforts, ICANN and the UASG have published the FY24 Universal Acceptance-Readiness Report, which aims to assess the UA-readiness of various Internet applications and platforms and determine where challenges and opportunities still exist. The report is intended for the entire software development community, public sector professionals, the Domain Name System (DNS) industry and anyone looking to make their systems UA-ready. The information provided in the report can help gauge the UA-readiness of various systems and provide the current resources and training materials to address and fix UA-related issues.

Highlights of the FY24 Universal Acceptance-Readiness Report include:

  • A summary of the scope of UA, including background on the expansion of the DNS and the role that new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) play in giving Internet users choice and representation online
  • Documentation of current gaps in technology based on UA-readiness testing of programming languages, email tools, identity platforms, web hosting tools, websites and more
  • Updates on the remediation activities undertaken in FY24, including those focused on the technical community developing underlying tools and frameworks as well as programmers and system administrators involved in developing and deploying end-user software applications and email services

The report also gives an overview of the UASG and ICANN’s UA priorities moving forward. The UASG will continue actively promoting UA awareness through local initiatives, UA Ambassadors and the annual UA Day, while its Working Groups prioritize technical advancement and the development of practical resources like the recent Email Address Internationalization (EAI) Self-Certification Guide. Meanwhile, ICANN plans to expand UA-related training and outreach to ISPs, registrars and university students, and build on its work with the community in FY24 to develop a curriculum that integrates UA and IDNs into IT programs at the university level.

Achieving a truly global, multilingual Internet through UA is a collective responsibility, and it starts by making our own systems UA-ready. Although UA may seem complicated, its implementation is relatively straightforward, and the benefits outweigh the effort required. Furthermore, organizations looking to make progress on UA don’t need to navigate the process by themselves. ICANN and its community can help with guidance and resources to help organizations ensure their systems are fully UA-ready and able to support all valid domain names and email addresses. For more information about UA or the FY24 Universal Acceptance-Readiness Report, visit https://uasg.tech or reach out to us at info@uasg.tech. You can also follow the hashtag #Internet4All on Facebook, LinkedIn and X.