Designing for Language - And We Mean the Spoken Kind!
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Say the word "language" in tech circles, and people think Python or Ruby. But what about Urdu or Arabic? Since both these--as well as many others--read right to left, not thinking about foreign language now can lead to user interface and other development problems down the road. And that's just the beginning. Not only should (foreign) language impact HOW you design, but WHAT you design as globalization creates the need for more and more multilingual and translation apps. From idea to execution, Terena Bell, CEO of In Every Language and Founder of Speak Social, shows you why foreign languages are just as essential to today's developer as coding languages are.
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Designing for Language - And We Mean the Spoken Kind!
- 1. Designing for Language – And We Mean the Spoken Kind! by
- 2. ?
- 4. 90%
- 5. 13 = 90%
- 7. So Who Should Think About It? • Anyone who knows their program will need to work internationally • Anyone who works with hardware or similar character limitations • Game Developers • Website Developers • App Developers – both phone & tablet
- 8. Top Reasons Fortune 500 Companies Translate Percentage 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 To meet regulatory & legal requirements To increase brand value To reach more customers in markets where they already compete To meet customer expectations 69.39% 71.43% 71.43% 79.49%
- 9. Website visitors are 6X more likely to purchase products in their native language
- 10. 85% of global shoppers will NOT buy at all from a foreign language site
- 11. Most Downloads United States Canada United Kingdom Germany France Russia Italy Japan Korea China Brazil Australia
- 14. Translation Increases Downloads AND Revenue Highest ROI in South Korea, China & Japan
- 15. Increase in Revenue Highest ROI in Japan & France
- 18. People Don’t Buy What They Don’t Understand
- 21. R2L Languages Arabic Amharic Farsi Hebrew Kurdish Punjabi Pashtu Urdu Yiddish …and others.
- 22. Chinese, Japanese & Korean L2R R2L Up & Down
- 23. Will Never See ROI = Waste of Money
- 24. ROI in 6 WEEKS
- 26. Turn Translation from a Cost Center into a Profit Driver
- 27. Hardware/Character Limitations Rindfleischetikettier ungsüberwachungsa ufgabenübertragun gsgesetz
- 28. Hardware/Character Limitations • German 20% more words in English • Japanese? Divide by 1.8 for # of English words
- 29. Source Language Target Language Text Expansion Text Contraction Comments English Arabic 25% Depends on subject matter Arabic English 25% Depends on subject matter English Finnish 20-30% Due to lack of pronouns and articles: however the word length (number of characters) will increase by some 10- 15% Finnish English 30-40% Due to articles and pronouns (number of words) English Danish 10-15% Due to compounds Danish English 10-15% English Swedish 10% Due to compounds Swedish English 10%
- 30. How to Code Apps for Easy Translation • Follow Best Practices for Your Platform
- 31. How to Code Apps for Easy Translation • Follow Best Practices for Your Platform – Objects (Labels, Drop-Downs, etc) • iOS: AutoLayout – Date, Time & Currency
- 32. How to Code Apps for Easy Translation • Follow Best Practices for Your Platform • Context, Context, Context
- 34. Home?
- 35. How to Code Apps for Easy Translation • Follow Best Practices for Your Platform • Content, Content, Content – iOS associating comments w/ strings – Android descriptive metadata serves as a comment (string.name attribute) – Screenshots with text location and format also provide context.
- 36. How to Code Apps for Easy Translation • Follow Best Practices for Your Platform • Content, Content, Content • Manage Translation Correctly – Separate Strings from Executable Code – Continue to Provide Context via Screenshots – Offer Any Translation Memory You May Already Have – Allow Collaboration & Encourage Questions
- 37. Dialect
- 38. Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorians, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Colombians, Hondurans, Ecuadorians & Peruvians (10 different origin groups) make up 92% of the US Hispanic population.
- 39. Everything Else • Units of Measurement? • Calendar & Time Formats? • Target Currency? • Phone Number? (Interpreters Available?) • Where Are New Images Coming From? • Prior Translations? (Translation Memory?) • Anticipated Changes – When & How Often? • Reviewers?
Editor's Notes
- English and Spanish cover 30% of the online population — but add Chinese and you are over 50%.
- Character limitations could even be Twitter here
- 79.49%, 71.43%, 71.43%, 69.39%
- 2012 Distimo study
- FREE DOWNLOADS
- REVENUE
- iPAD
- iPHONE
- iPAD – diff is most likely availability
- 63 letters – means beef testing law (16 characters)
- Follow platform-specific best coding practices related to translation provided by the relevant platform—Android, Apple/ iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry, or another. In iOS, resource files that will be translated are referred to as strings files (with filename extension .strings). A simple strings file has the format: “key”=“value.” In Android, a “string resource” provides the text strings for an app.
- Keep in mind that as the language of the app changes, objects (e.g. labels, drop-downs) may need adjustments to size and position to fit the new text. In iOS, the Auto Layout best practice allows for this. Another critical best coding practice: Make sure your code is set up to easily update dates, times, and currencies to fit locales.
- Context is essential to determining the most appropriate translation for a string of text. Many English words can be either a noun or a verb, or a noun or an adjective—and the translations are likely to be different. Context—where and how a specific string of text will be used—makes it clear which translation is appropriate, and will improve the quality of translation. Translators need to know when text will be on a menu or other button, when text labels a setting choice, when it will be a field where the value is determined by the app, and how it relates to other text on the screen. A good translator will also be grateful for instructions associated with a text string. For example, it’s helpful to know “This text goes on a button and cannot be longer than 10 characters; no text wrapping is possible.”
- Context is essential to determining the most appropriate translation for a string of text. Many English words can be either a noun or a verb, or a noun or an adjective—and the translations are likely to be different. The word “home” when used as a link to the application’s main screen may require a different translation than if used as the label for a home address field. Context—where and how a specific string of text will be used—makes it clear which translation is appropriate, and will improve the quality of translation. Translators need to know when text will be on a menu or other button, when text labels a setting choice, when it will be a field where the value is determined by the app, and how it relates to other text on the screen. A good translator will also be grateful for instructions associated with a text string. For example, it’s helpful to know “This text goes on a button and cannot be longer than 10 characters; no text wrapping is possible.” iOS provides for associating comments with each strings file. Android allows the use of descriptive metadata that serves as a comment (string.name attribute). Taking screenshots of all screens, showing text location and format, is another way to provide context.
- Once your strings files/resources have been separated from executable code, and fully commented, those resources should be moved into a commercial translation management tool that can handle your translation files and assets natively. This will facilitate rapid and accurate translation, whether the work is done internally, through a translation service, through crowdsourcing, or through machine translation. Your translation system should: Display each piece of text to be translated along with comments on context and translator instructions, Allow the translator to see each text string to be translated in context via screenshots, Provide for customized translation workflow suited to your project and your team Allow direct communication between team members, including queries and responses from the text the translator is working on (e.g., “The best translation for this phrase is three characters longer — can the field be enlarged?”) Support collaborative workflow, so that the translation team, editors, and trusted reviewers have ready access to all versions of content with the ability to edit, comment, and correct Have application programming interfaces (APIs) to automate the process of uploading and downloading files when the translations are ready Offer a translation memory database, which can be leveraged for future translations to cut costs and speed up translation
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