LESC stands for Language Encoding System Convertor. It is a Java application that allows users to convert among the various encoding schemes that may exist for a particular language. It will hopefully help some people with the transition to Unicode, or with the adaptation of high-quality encoding shemes.

LESC works by mapping one character encoding to another, both of which are defined on a particular language. A "language" consists of a DTD file that lists all of the characters related to a human language that may need to be converted among encoding schemes. You can use LESC, for example, to convert regular Latin-character text ("hello") into an expanded "radio" letters-format ("hotel echo lima lima oscar "). The DTD for English defines the abstract letters a through z. Character encoding files (XML) define implementations of those characters. In ASCII, the abstract English character "A" is represented by character number 65. In radio letters, the abstract English character "A" is represented by the string "ALPHA".