It was not possible to search, or to sort. There was no way in which Sinhala content could be developed for the Internet. Also specific applications such as word processing, did not integrate with other applications, and functions such as sorting, were not standardized among applications. This made the use of Sinhala email impractical, and slowed the use of Sinhala on the web. The font had to be sent to the recipient together with a Sinhala document, unless the recipient already had the font. This was a major problem when a person tried to use a document created by another, which had been produced using a different font.
For example, when accessing a Sinhala website, various legacy fonts had to be downloaded, otherwise the websites were displayed as indecipherable jargon. Therefore documents produced using one application could be accessed and used only through that application. There was no standard font for the industry. Previously, software applications used their own fonts. The objective is to ensure that the benefits of ICT should be taken to the majority of the population in Sri Lanka which includes people who prefer to use ICT in Sinhala or Tamil, if given a choice.
The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has been promoting the use of ICT in Sinhala and Tamil, and has been addressing issues relating to standard fonts and keyboards in Sinhala and Tamil.
