strip accents

gistfile1.js

function normalize(str) {
    if (!str)return "";
    return str.toLowerCase().replace(/[^\u0000-\u007E]/g, function (a) {
        return diacriticsMap[a] || a;
    });
}

function getDiacriticsMap() {
    // replace most common accents in french-spanish by their base letter
    //"ãàáäâæ?èéëêìíïîõòóöôœùúüûñç"
    var from = "\xE3\xE0\xE1\xE4\xE2\xE6\u1EBD\xE8\xE9\xEB\xEA\xEC\xED\xEF\xEE\xF5\xF2\xF3\xF6\xF4\u0153\xF9\xFA\xFC\xFB\xF1\xE7";
    var to = "aaaaaaeeeeeiiiioooooouuuunc";
    var diacriticsMap = {};
    for (var i = 0; i < from.length; i++) {
        diacriticsMap[from[i]] = to[i]
    }
    return diacriticsMap;
}

var diacriticsMap = getDiacriticsMap();