LocalizationLocalization

Michelle Johnston, Firebird Services Ltd

What is Localization?What is Localization?

It is NOT just translation It IS

– Customising for culture– Customising for language– Customising for country

It affects– Language– Design– Structure/Content

Text LocalizationText Localization Translate word for word?

– Often does not work very well– Takes a lot of maintenance– Can allow for fast, generic translation

Translate phrase for phrase?– Works much better than word for word– Can limit the size of the text substituted– Is a good compromise – Translation on the fly can be slow, do offline

Translate text section for text section?– Seems very natural– May mean a bit of local customisation of design– Has to be done offline really

Text LocalizationText Localization

Must take into account different sizes– Table properties– Textual graphics– Etc.

Selection of text– Database driven (easier to update/change)– File driven (maintenance issues)– Directory structure driven (can be efficient)– Program driven (least efficient)

OrganizationOrganization

Managing ChangesManaging Changes

Allow a ‘super user’ per language to update? Allow a ‘super user’ per content type to update? Allow a ‘super user’ per locale to update? Update via database? Update a spreadsheet that is then used to update

database? Replace files? Issues involved with each choice

Charset localizationCharset localization

Same language in different countries– E.g Spanish in Spain, Portugal, Mexico etc.

How to determine charset?– Browser setting?– PC setting?– Website choice that user has to make on seeing site?– Portals offer personalisation of charset– Which of the above overrides which?

Charset in ProgrammingCharset in Programming

Various levels at which charset is set– HTML– Program on the server side– Database on the server side– Flash (ISO 8859-1 unless japanese)

Benefits of using unicode?– Supports all charsets– Universally understood

Disadvantages

OdditiesOddities

Double byte translations Chinese/Japanese characters sometimes

contract and sometimes expand the size of text translations

Some languages (Hebrew) are written right to left and require special keyboards

Be careful with special characters

Customization IssuesCustomization Issues

Punctuation Dates Weights/measures Addresses Content Hardware/software Programming for customization Movies

PunctuationPunctuation

$ or £Before or after the numeric? E.g 1000 FFEuros?Formats of phone numbers Formats of zip codes/postal codes

DatesDates

Does 03/04/01 mean March 4, 2001, or April 3, 2001?

Use a word/number combination system like 15-Feb-2001 to reduce ambiguity?

International time zones and presentation formats. Be aware that many countries present time in 24-hour notation (23:15)

Seasonal differences – New Year is not Jan 1 for Chinese

Weights/MeasuresWeights/Measures

Pounds or Kilos?Miles or Kilometres?Both?

AddressesAddresses

Formats of zip codes/post codesPost code required? Some countries don’t

have themState – required? Different name – region?

ContentContent

Avoid puns, humour, colloquialisms etc. as they don’t translate well

Hardware/softwareHardware/software

Mobile phones in Japan, PC in the US are the most commonly used devices for Internet access

14.4 modems still common in some countries

Customization ProgrammingCustomization Programming

Server Side includes?– For sections of the page that are repeated on

each page, but may be different by language

Template driven?Directory structure driven?Config files?

Macromedia MoviesMacromedia Movies

System fonts and other text attributes Colour specsAny action script relevant to localizationInfo about animationNavigation and interactions

Macromedia MoviesMacromedia Movies

Sample Specification document: Localization_home.fla (Home page) Title text: 36 point Vonnes Bold - Extended (embedded static text) Body text: 14 point _sansNavigation buttons (created in Fireworks.

FW_template_buttons.png: Template is provided) up state— 14 pt _sans. Hexadecimal value of #ff9900. Button effect-linear gradient, inner bevel.

down state—12 pt _sans. Hexadecimal value of #FF3300. Button effect-linear gradient, inner bevel.

Marker names: do not require localizationActionScript: does not require localizationScreen shots: user_interface.bmp requires replacement shot using the localized operating systemText on the Products layer is masked by the ProductsMask layer. Turn off the masking to edit the text.

The business sideThe business side

Ensure customer service staff have languages available to them– Linguistic staff– Email programs that accept foreign chars etc

Form values can be submitted in English despite the captions on the screen to enable easier processing

Site review by locals!

SemanticsSemantics

Colours mean different things to different cultures

.Net Localization.Net Localization

System.Globalization.CultureInfoSystem.Globalization.Calendar System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfoSystem.Globalization.DaylightTimeSystem.Globalization.GregorianCalendarSystem.Globalization.RegionInfoSystem.Globalization.SortKey