Converts any non-ASCII characters (accents, etc.) to their best-fit ASCII equivalents

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')