docs: def to_ascii_equivalent(text):
      """ Converts any non-ASCII characters (accents, etc.) to their best-fit ASCII equivalents """
  
      if text is None:
          return None
      elif isinstance(text, binary_type):
          text = text.decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING)
      elif not isinstance(text, text_type):
          text = text_type(text)
  
      text = EMPTY_STR.join(_ASCII_PUNCTUATION_MAP.get(c, c) for c in text)
      return EMPTY_STR.join(c for c in unicodedata.normalize('NFD', text) if unicodedata.category(c) != 'Mn')