[thelist] web globalization

dn at dittodesign.co.uk dn at dittodesign.co.uk
Mon Mar 3 11:11:02 CST 2003


Hi Emma,

Thanks for taking the time to have a look at the form.
As it stands, a request is sent out via email to ask if
you would be willing to take the time to fill out the
form. The reason for the form and what the info
will be used for is explained in the email. Generally
this should be backed up on the form page itself I agree,
but as this was a favour I've simply cut and pasted the
questions.

I've added text stating that it's not necessary to give
personal details, plus the recipients email address and
a brief idea of what the information will be used for.

http://www.dittodesign.co.uk/Global.htm

As for the questions I've passed on your comments.

thanks,

Darren Yates
dn at dittodesign.co.uk
http://dittodesign.co.uk


----- Original Message -----
From: "Emma Jane Hogbin" <emmajane at xtrinsic.com>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 4:31 PM
Subject: Re: [thelist] web globalization


> I'm replying to the list because I think some of my comments will be of
> benefit to others. There's also no contact information for the person who
will be
> receiving the answers.
>
> On Mon, Mar 03, 2003 at 11:28:13AM -0000, dn at dittodesign.co.uk wrote:
> > anybody with a little time on there hands this morning ?
> > If any of you guys have the time please could you have a
> > look and maybe complete the form.
> > http://www.dittodesign.co.uk/Global.htm
>
> Btw, that's a /long/ questionnaire. It would take at least half an hour to
> fill out it without thinking. Longer if you wanted to actually answer the
> questions. I would also recommend your friend add some kind of context at
> the top of the form. There is no information on why the questionnaire is
> there or what is going to happen with the answers. There's also no privacy
> statement concerning what will be done with my name, job position and
> company.
>
> Who is supposed to complete this form? It seems like it's supposed to be
> managers of companies. Even if I were working on a multinational site, I
> would /not/ complete this form. (See reasons above.)
>
> In terms of the actual questions....a few heads up:
> - multilingual is NOT the same as localized. Localized takes into account
>   regional variations as well. e.g. "Spanish" can mean: Mexico, Ecuador
>   and Spain.
> - be careful of value-loaded language. I noted the following in the first
>   few questions: unfriendly, "individual, inconsistent local websites",
>   "over-laden with graphics and complex scripting." You're directing the
>   user with this language. Try to avoid putting judgement into your
>   question.
> - make sure your questions match your sub-text. Question #6: the bold part
>   talks about Middle-East and central European markets. The non-bold part
>   mentions ideographic writing systems, typically associated with the "Far
>   East." I would rephrase this question to ask something to the effect of,
>   "As your company expands it may include regions which use a different
>   character set than your current website. What issues have you
encountered
>   when trying to introduce a new character set to existing pages?"
> - Feelings about Unicode? Hmmmm. For starters: you may want to be more
>   specific about which unicode you mean. Do you mean utf-8? Which doesn't
>   have enough space for all ideographic characters currently being used in
>   Japanese, Chinese (mandarin)...or do you mean utf-16 or utf-32?
>   http://www.unicode.org/glossary/ scroll to the bottom and look up utf-X
>   to see all the different flavors of unicode.
> - This questionnaire is going to be brutal to evaluate. I would recommend
>   having some radio buttons that allow people to quickly fill out some
>   bits: how important is this to you: 1 = very 2 = somewhat 3 = not very 4
>   = not applicable. Always give an /even/ number of scale options if you
>   don't want people to be fence sitters and select the middle option.
>   Question #9 would be a perfect use of radio options to select one of the
>   sub-questions and then a "why" box under the radio options.
>
> emma
>
> --
> Emma Jane Hogbin
> [[ 416 417 2868 ][ www.xtrinsic.com ]]
> --
> * * Please support the community that supports you.  * *
> http://evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
>
> For unsubscribe and other options, including the Tip Harvester
> and archives of thelist go to: http://lists.evolt.org
> Workers of the Web, evolt !
>




More information about the thelist mailing list