When designing or developing multilingual sites, there are several key considerations to keep in mind to ensure the site is accessible, user-friendly, and culturally appropriate for speakers of different languages. Here are some of the things you must be wary of:
Text Expansion and Contraction
Different languages have varying word lengths and sentence structures, which can impact the layout and design of your website. For instance, when translated, a phrase in English may become longer in German or shorter in Chinese. This can affect the space required for text and potentially disrupt the design if not planned for properly.
Language Direction
Some languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, are read right-to-left (RTL) rather than left-to-right (LTR) like English. This requires a design that can accommodate both reading directions and potentially a mirrored layout for RTL languages[4].
Cultural Sensitivity
Localization goes beyond translation; it involves adapting content to reflect cultural norms and values. Images, colors, symbols, and even the way dates and numbers are formatted can have different meanings in different cultures. It's important to be culturally sensitive to avoid offending users[2][3][7].
Language Switcher Placement
The language switcher should be easy to find and use. Placement is typically in a prominent location, such as the header or footer of the website. Avoid using flags to represent languages, as this can be problematic in countries with multiple official languages or in regions where a language spans multiple countries[1][6].
SEO Considerations
Multilingual SEO requires optimizing content for different languages and locations. This includes using hreflang tags, providing translated meta tags, and ensuring that URLs are language-specific to improve search engine visibility for each language version of the site[2][7].
Technical Challenges
Implementing a content management system (CMS) that supports multilingual features is crucial. You need to ensure that the CMS can handle multiple language versions of content and that it provides tools for easy switching between languages[2].
Font Support and Typography
Choose fonts that support the character sets of all the languages your site will display. Additionally, consider the readability and typographic conventions of each language, such as font size and line height[4][8].
Performance and Load Times
Be mindful of the website's performance, especially in regions with slower internet speeds. Large language packs can affect load times, so it's important to optimize for speed and efficiency[4].
