Provide Effective Internationalization and Accessibility 629

Step 10: Provide Effective Internationalization and Accessibility 629

Simple English. Simple English text will be easier and less expensive to translate. Simple English is achieved by using a restricted vocabulary. Create a dictionary of approved terms and prohibit all synonyms and different meanings for the same word. A restricted sentence structure is also necessary. Sentences meaning the same thing can be written in many ways in English. This makes text more interesting to look at and read. In other languages, however, word order affects the meaning. Multiple structures cause translation problems and foster errors. Follow a noun-verb-object structure. Another benefit of simple English: translation may not always be necessary. The number of non-native English-speaking people capable of understanding the language will increase as screen English is simpli- fied.

Avoid. Do not use acronyms and abbreviations. They are difficult, and often con- fusing, to translate. A translated acronym may not be as concise, or may possess negative associations. Abbreviations may also not be as concise, and they may not be understandable. Avoid stringing three nouns together. Relationships between nouns become very explicit in many other languages, and it is difficult to determine what terms are modifying one another when three are strung together. The use of prepositions, such as at, in, by, and on, can help to clarify nouns’ relationships. Avoid local or computer jargon. Jargon is not universal and probably will not be understood. Do not use telegraphic writing. This means a terse style where words such as “and,” “the,” and “is,” are left out. Again, trans- lation problems can easily occur. An overly friendly style, in which the reader is addressed in the first person or in a childish manner, should also be avoided. It can be considered condescending and irritating to readers in non-English-speak- ing countries. Finally, avoid references to national, racial, religious, and sexist stereotypes and do not use culturally specific examples. The latter must be recre- ated by the translator so they are suitable for the language and culture.

Local language’s idioms. Adhere to local language’s idioms and cultural con- texts. Some words have different meanings in other languages. This is of special concern for product names. Automakers have been particular victims of this problem. Italy’s Fiat had an auto named “Uno.” They could not sell it by that name in Finland because uno in Finnish means “garbage.” England’s Rolls Royce planned to name a new car “Silver Mist.” Then, someone discovered that mist in German means “manure” (Taylor, 1992). Proper attention to localization can avoid some embarrassing, and costly, problems. Some languages are not read from left to right, as English is. Arabic, for example, is read from right to left. Chinese is read from top to bottom, right to left.

Original terms. Keep the original terms for words that cannot be translated. Some words do not exist in other languages. “Disk drive” and “zooming” do not exist in Thai, for example. It has been found that people often prefer the original term to a created word. Never invent words; keep the original term for nontranslatable words (Sukaviriya and Moran, 1990).

Additional screen space. Allow additional screen space for the translation. English is very concise. It usually takes less space to communicate the same word, phrase, or text than most other languages. Following is a list of words with the

630 Part 2: The User Interface Design Process

Olvadaci prvek

Here is a clue. This word in English is seven characters long and has already been mentioned many, many times in this book. The Dutch version is 17 charac- ters in length, or 143 percent longer than the English version. The others are com- posed of 13 characters and are 85 percent longer. The answer will follow shortly. Objects whose sizes are affected by translation include captions, entry areas, menu options, prompting message boxes, areas of text, and icon labels. Expansion room must be allowed for translation. Generally, the shorter the text, the more additional room is needed. Table 10.1 (National Language Technical Center, 1991) provides some additional horizontal space guidelines. Extra verti- cal spacing may also have to be allowed. In many languages, accents and descen- ders fall above and below the usual ascender and descender lines. What is the English version of the above words? Control. Were you able to translate one or more of them?

Translating. When translating, start from a translator’s point of view. The language world is divided into three parts: Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. Fowler and Stanwick (1995) report that Microsoft addresses translation in the fol- lowing manner. In Europe, where problems involve changes in words caused by gender, accented letters, and text expansion, translation begins with German. This is done because German solves for accent, gender, and expansion issues. In the Middle East, difficulties in translation include bidirectional and cursive let- ters. To address these, Microsoft recommends starting with Arabic. When this is done, localization is accomplished for Hebrew, Farsi, Dari Persian, Pashto, and the Indian languages Sindhi and Urdu. In the Far East, the main difficulty is dou- ble-byte character sets. One of the most difficult Asian languages, with ten thou- sand ideograms divided into four character sets, is Japanese. So Microsoft starts with it.

Icon captions. Place icon captions outside of the graphic. Text placed within an icon may cause the icon to have to be redrawn when translation occurs. Text posi- tioned outside the icon will negate the need for redrawing.

Mnemonics. Modify mnemonics used for keyboard access. Because mnemonics are established for ease of memorization, and because they are based upon a letter in