E-mails in Armenian language and struggle for the Armenian dot: experts about development of Armenian domain .հայ

YEREVAN, May 10. /ARKA/. Armenian domain .հայ (.hay) became 7 years old on May 5, with 1003 domain names already registered

Kristina Hakobyan, Internet Society (ISOC) NGO board member, said at an event marking the anniversary that interest in Armenian language content is growing, as is the case with national language domains worldwide.

"Today it is possible to register an email address entirely in Armenian and use it on Google, Windows and other operating systems," she said.

Hakobyan noted that in the future there will be a platform where anyone can register a personal e-mail address in Armenian and use it.

According to her, studies show that about 10-20% of websites registered in the Armenian domain are active. She said that free domain names are provided to state organizations and this year 50 free domain names will be provided to educational and cultural institutions.

She spoke the Armenian dot which is still not accepted in some operating systems.

"We have to prepare a letter and send it to the Google and Microsoft offices so that the Armenian dot is accepted by all systems," she said.

Aram Verdyan, a board member of the Internet Society NGO, explained that the issue is the standard Windows keyboard, where the Armenian dot is initially recognized as a colon.

"If we want to write an e-mail or domain in Armenian, we have to change the language to English, put a dot, and then go back to Armenian again. In other systems - Android, Linux, iOS - the Armenian dot is recognized," he said.

Hakobyan said that this year's event to celebrate the 7th anniversary of the Armenian domain will be organized for children aged 10-16.

"It will be a contest called 'Internet with Armenians': children aged 10-16 will be asked to create animations. We will give them time to work until Oct. 1, then between Oct. 1 and 10 the best works will be chosen through online voting, evaluation of technical solutions and creative idea," she said.
Armenia in 2015 introduced its own domain names in the .հայ (.hay) zone. All users now have the opportunity to own this domain name, which corresponds to the name of a specific organization or a registered trademark. The process of priority registration of Armenian-language Internet addresses began on September 1, 2015.

According to ISOC, about 30% of the population of Armenia does not speak foreign languages, and considering that the new domain provides the opportunity to type the names of Latin sites in Armenian letters, as well as to register Armenian-language names of websites of organizations operating in the Armenian Diaspora, people will be able to use websites more actively.

.am is the official domain of Armenia, launched in August 1994. -0-

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19:49 05/10/2023