[nws-changes] 20130712: mixed case letters-wd: ADMIN NOTICE NOUS41 KWBC

• To: nws-changes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Subject: [nws-changes] 20130712: mixed case letters-wd: ADMIN NOTICE NOUS41 KWBC
• From: Linda Miller <lmiller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 19:21:44 -0600

-------- Original Message --------

953
NOUS41 KWBC 121419
PNSWSH

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
10:15 PM EDT Fri Jul 12 2013

TO:        Subscribers:
           -Family of Services
           -NOAA Weather Wire Service
           -Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
           -NOAAPORT
           Other NWS partners and NWS employees

FROM:      Cindy Woods
           Chief, Operations and Requirements Division
           Chief, Performance and Awareness Division

SUBJECT:   Use of Mixed Case Letters in the NWS Storm Prediction
           Center Public Severe Weather Outlook Product Effective
           on or about July 31, 2013

Effective on or about Wednesday, July 31, 2013, the NWS will
expand its mixed case text Product Risk Reduction effort to
include the NWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Public Severe
Weather Outlook product (WOUS40 KWNS/PWOSPC).

This expansion in the number of available mixed case text
products continues the risk-reduction effort begun in August
2010. At that time, NWS began issuing national PNS products using
mixed case letters and the expanded punctuation/character set
(Table 1):

  http://www.weather.gov/os/notification/scn10-28mixed_case.txt

and AFD, RWS and PNS products at select WFOs in October 2011:

  http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/pns11mixedcase.txt

NWS first began seeking comments regarding mixed case text
products in May 2010:

  http://www.weather.gov/os/notification/pns10mixed_case.txt

NWS partners and users of this SPC text product are encouraged to
consider NWS intent and comment regarding this next step in the
risk reduction effort. User feedback will help the NWS better
plan the eventual transition of other NWS text products to mixed
case and the expanded character set.

Please provide comments by June 30, 2014, at:

  http://www.weather.gov/survey/nws-survey.php?code=mixed-case

Use of mixed case letters in text products will make them easier
to read and allow users to click on internet links directly
rather than converting them to lowercase or mixed case.
Additional punctuation and other characters that are part of the
international reference Alphabet No. 5 will also be included as
appropriate.

Table 1:  Allowed Mixed Case Character Set
"space" ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . /
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ?
@ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _
` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~
In this phase of our risk reduction effort, partners and users
will have the opportunity to further identify and correct any
anomalous behavior of their systems and their customer systems
that may be caused by mixed case and the expanded
punctuation/character set in this text product.

This product will be issued using mixed case text until June 30,
2014, at which time a decision will be made regarding its
continuance. Partners and users should be aware this product may
revert back to all uppercase letters at the end of this phase of
the risk reduction effort.

If you have questions, please contact:

Michael J. Szkil
Chief, Awareness Branch
Silver Spring, MD
301-713-0280, Ext. 111
michael.szkil@xxxxxxxx

National Public Information Notices are online at:

  http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm

$$