multilingual websites - ux camp europe 2013

28
Multilingual Websites Rémy Blättler Chef vom System, Supertext AG remy.supertext.ch | @swissghostrider Common mistakes and general knowledge

Upload: remy-blaettler

Post on 29-Oct-2014

9 views

Category:

Business


1 download

DESCRIPTION

In my talk at the UX Camp Europe 2013 I show some good and bad examples for multilingual websites, common mistakes and how to avoid them.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Multilingual Websites

Rémy BlättlerChef vom System, Supertext AGremy.supertext.ch | @swissghostrider

Common mistakes and general knowledge

Page 2: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

About me

Remy Blaettler“Chief of the System” at Supertext, a translation and copywriting company

Engineer by trade Spent some time to study and work in the US Now back with my own company Supertext

remy.supertext.ch or @swissghostrider

Page 3: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 4: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Automatic language selection

Browser language detectionMy recommendation, even in China are the browsers in an internet café normally set to English

GeolocationMore dangerous, since my location overrides my personal settings.

Allow for easy change and remember the selection.

Page 5: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Flags for language selection

Page 6: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 7: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Best place for the language selection

Ok BestFair

Poor

Fair Good

Page 8: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 9: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 10: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Language selection

Use a Globe or a Map icon

Country and/or Language Selection1. Country/Region2. Language3. Country/Region (Language)

Page 11: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 12: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 13: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Language selection

Always in native language

Page 14: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 15: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Politically correct

No need to step on someone's toes China does not recognize Taiwan as a country Status of Kosovo is in dispute

Use Country / Region for country selection

Page 16: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Rest of the world?

Or “Other countries”

Are you serious???

I would not “rate” countries.

Page 17: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013
Page 18: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

URL design and SEO

www.supertext.chBetter for local contentGoogle knows this is a Swiss site

www.supertext.com/deBetter for general SEOAll links point to the same domain

Page 19: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Cheap translations and SEO

Generally a translated site will be good for SEOMore content Better SEO

But machine translation or very bad translations will lead to a down rank.

Use the Google Translation Widget to your page instead, if you just want to provide a translation.

Page 20: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Translation tools

Translation MemoryStores every translated string Duplicates and similar sentences for free

TerminologyCorporate language in a dictionary Which words are ok or forbidden

CAT (Computer-assisted translation)One tool for all file formats, also for software localization

Page 21: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Strings with Placeholders

You had 10 visitors on Jan 27, 2012.

“You had “ + number + “ visitors on “ + date + “.”

Translated :Am 27. Jan 2012 hatten Sie 10 Besucher.

What the translator gets:“You had”“visitors on”

Page 22: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Strings with Placeholders

Format StringsFormat(“You had {1} visitors on {2}.”, number, date)

Translation:“Am {2} hatten sie {1} Besucher.”

Page 23: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Nice numbers

Plural formsYou had 1 visitors on Jan 27, 2012.

Add multiple versions::

1. You had no visitors on Jan 27, 2012.

2. You had one visitor on Jan 27, 2012.

3. You had 27 visitors on Jan 27, 2012.

Page 24: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Plural forms

Example in Polish with plik = file

1 plik 2,3,4 pliki 5-21 pliko'w 22-24 pliki 25-31 pliko'w

ngettext() can solve this in PHP, Java and .NET

Page 25: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Article

You won a car. => You won a {0}

Replace “Car” with “Boat”, etc.

Works perfectly.

Page 26: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Article

Unfortunately in German:Sie haben ein Auto gewonnen.

But:Sie haben Ferien gewonnen (No article)Sie haben eine Gurke gewonnen. (No article)

=> You could store the article with the value.

Page 27: Multilingual Websites - UX Camp Europe 2013

Your website?

Let’s look at some websites