As the designers make plans to localize the PT application, they recognize the need to acquire monitors, keyboards, and printers that are representative of models commonly used in Germany, Japan, and the United States. This equipment will be used during all phases of developing the localized application.
During the design phase of an application the designers lay out the user interface and define the shortcut keys. When assigning shortcut key combinations, they make sure that the combinations are reproducible on international keyboards. They also check with the locale experts to be sure the application isn't using keys that are customarily used differently. A number of locales have more than one standard keyboard and it can be safer to use number and function keys (such as F2 and F3) in place of letters in shortcut key combinations. Function keys are less intuitive to users, but they are much more likely to be available on any keyboard and they do not need to be localized.
While coding an application, developers need access to the keyboards, modems, monitors, and printers that will interact with the application. While they are coding the PT application, they access the application's Web site using the types of modems and computers that application users are likely to have in order to see how quickly the Web pages appear. If the pages load slowly, the developers may want to reconsider the number and size of the graphics they include on the user interface. If the application supports printing, they need to make sure that any printed report or letter fits properly on the sizes of paper that are available in a given locale.
When the localized versions of the application are complete, the testers should verify that the application functions correctly and that the user interface and message dialog boxes appear correctly on the equipment available to users in different locales.