Translation FAQ
Home » Translation FAQ » What do I need to know to create a foreign language version of my Web site?
| |
 |
"Your insights (as always) are right on the mark. I suspect it's more challenging to find companies like yourself who can assist in other languages. Now that [our] system offers multi-language capacity, any language is possible. I'll be sure to call you first when we get a shot at another multilingual project!"
- Connie Brown, CCComplete, Inc. |
|
 |
|
What do I need to know to create a foreign language version of my Web site?
There are many factors to consider when localizing your Web site into another language. With 12 years of experience in Web localization, Oregon Translation has the experience and resources to help you through this complex process. The questions below will help you start thinking about Web localization, but pick up the phone and call us (+1.503.914.1119) for a personalized discussion of your ideas and goals. Oregon Translation will walk you through this step-by-step.
Web Localization Planning
-
Who is your audience? What languages, cultures, and countries do you want to reach? List your immediate and long-term plans. Long-term plans may affect the recommendations we give you today, so that we can facilitate your future localization projects.
How do you want users tell you which language they prefer to read?
If a non-English speaking user contacts you through your Web site, do
you have a plan for how you will respond?
-
Will you accept payments in a foreign currency?
-
What legal and commercial regulatory requirements exist in your target
market? For example, Canadian law requires companies operating in Quebec
to conduct business in French. A similar law is in force in France (loi
Toubon). Certain governments (think China and Brazil) strictly enforce
the type of content posted on Web sites that do business in their countries.
-
Is
the Website
static (plain HTML) or dynamic (drawing content from a database or
XML)?
-
What is your primary programming environment and site architecture? How do you envision the future site architecture:
- Localization Model: Create exact replicas of your English site, except
that in other languages. There is less Web development effort
to this process because you are not changing the sitemap or
behind-the-scenes architecture. However, this means you will then have
to maintain two distinct Web sites. Every time changes are made to the
English site you will have to change the foreign language site to match.
- Internationalization Model: Create a language neutral version of your Web site interface. When a
user comes to your Website, the user's preferences will cause the
Website to draw locale-specific information (content, measurements,
numerics, etc.) from the database or XML files to correspond to the user’s
expectations. This method requires more advance planning and engineering
for the first language, but this usually pays off in spades if your
site is continually updated or if you plan to add more languages later.
In future, you only have one interface to maintain, and you can readily
add more locales.
- Who will be in charge of Localization engineering for your Website? Does
your standard Web development team have the unique set of expertise and
prior experience to localize a Web site?
-
Who will be responsible for Localization QA testing in the foreign language(s)?
-
Who will be responsible for Search Engine Optimization in the foreign
language(s)?
- What format are the files you plan to provide to us for translation?
What format do you want us to use for the translated deliverables?
-
What page elements do you want to translate into the new language(s)?
- Navigation bar
- Header and footer wrappers
- Main content well
- Right-hand content well
- Dropdown menus
- Submission forms, automated responses (Web confirmations and email responses)
- Graphics with embedded text, graphics with captions
- Video or Flash clips with speech (dubbing or subtitling?)
- Keywords and meta tags
- Does your Web content any of the following elements that we should adapt for the new language(s) and culture(s)?
- Decimal points or decimal commas, thousands place separators
- Metric measurements or Imperial measurements
- Currency symbols and exchange rate conversion
- Date format: ddmmyyyy, mmddyyyy, yyyymmdd, etc.
- Calendar systems (Arabic, Japanese, Chinese)
- Addresses (state or province, zip codes, street number first or street name first, etc.)
- Telephone country codes and non-standardized format
- Different alphabets and sort orders (the alphabet beyond A-Z)
- Images like flags, national or religious monuments, or body parts (feet, faces) that may not be acceptable to another culture
-
Did you leave up to 30% white space to avoid text being cut off on the edge of buttons and text boxes? Avoid truncated strings.
-
Did you write in complete sentences? Avoid concatenated strings. Most languages assign gender and number to
articles, nouns, and adjectives; these all have to correlate. Verbs have to match the number and person of the sentence’s subject.
Web localization is not a project that should be slapped together in a weekend. You spent months planning your current Web site. Let's take an hour to discuss your new Web site.
|
Get started by calling us or by completing our
online Quote Request form
to tell us about your translation needs.
|
|
|
