Acting Locally - Page 5

Internationalization generally focuses on those web site elements that remain invisible to the end user—architecture, databases, modular design—but localization focuses on those elements that are visible: text, images, and the manner in which they're presented.

If you consider how companies struggle to target their web sites toward various groups of users within the U.S., you can understand the challenge of localizing a site for new, global markets. Every locale is going to require its own degree of customization. Even within a market, there are always smaller markets that require an even finer level of customization. Some of the changes you make will be cosmetic; others will be highly technical. Given the complexity, it's not hard to imagine a time when entire books will be devoted to localizing web sites for each market.

For this book, the focus is on the macro issues. Although there is no limit to how localized a site can be, at a minimum, you should answer three questions:

Do users understand your site?

Can they find what they're looking for?

Can they purchase what they find?

Do Users Understand Your Site?

For users to understand your site, you need to understand them. Localizing your message begins with understanding how your users think. Begin by asking the following questions:

• What are their traditions, tastes, holidays, religions? You won't want to promote your Halloween decorations to countries that don't celebrate Halloween.

• How many have access to the Internet, and how do they access the Internet? In Japan, more people access the Internet through their mobile phones than their PCs.

The better you understand your audience, the more focused your message will be. Along the way, however, be sensitive to anything that might confuse or offend your audience:

• Colors: Pay close attention to colors and their meanings. Just because black signifies death in the U.S. does not guarantee a similar meaning abroad. In China, white symbolizes death.

• Flags: Flags are best avoided because they are more political than cultural. The Canadian flag doesn't indicate whether a given web site is written in French or English and a Brazilian flag doesn't indicate Spanish or Portuguese. Unless you have a clear reason for using flags, you probably shouldn't.

• Icons: Web sites rely on icons to assist the user, such as the ubiquitous shopping cart icon. Yet imagine what a shopping cart means in a culture where people rarely use shopping carts. The famous garbage can icon on the Macintosh was not universally recognized because garbage cans around the world don't all look alike. The same goes for mailboxes. And in France, the house icon doesn't signify "home page" because they usually call their home pages the "welcome page."

• People and their body language: Some cultures are much less diverse than the U.S. and are keenly sensitive to photographs of people who do not reflect the general population. Also be sensitive to how the models are dressed and how they pose. An open palm may mean "stop" in the U.S., but is offensive to other cultures. Body language is just as important as the written language.

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For more information about body language and culture-specific design, see Chapter 11, "World Wide Design."

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• Writing style: In the U.S., writers are expected to communicate messages in the first two sentences, yet this style might be considered rude in Asia, where the writing style is more subtle and the point of a message is typically located near the end of a paragraph, not the beginning.

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To learn more about writing for a global audience, see Chapter 10, "Writing for the World."

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• Spelling and grammar: The rules of language are rarely simple or straightforward. Hyphenation and spelling vary within the language itself (such as in English and Spanish), depending on where they're used. The use of accent marks can also be confusing. In Canadian French, the uppercase letters generally retain accent marks, but not so in France.

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Mind the (Language) Gap - A shared language does not save you from translation:

U.S.	U.K.
Sneakers	Trainers
Restroom	Loo
911	999
Cookie	Biscuit
Wrench	Spanner
Truck	Lorry
Elevator	Lift
Parking Lot	Car Park

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Global Architecture - Page 4
Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies
Can They Find What They're Looking For? - Page 6