[thelist] Bilingual Website

[Barney Carroll]

The main point though being that if someone can get a jist of the site
structure and contents, they'll more than happily forgive the fact that you
picked any one particular language if they can immediately see the option to
change it within two clicks — you should then save the language change in a
cookie and for the session (in case they don't allow cookies), all the while
leaving the option to change languages on all pages at all times.

It's far more important to give the user the most convenient options
possible than to work on methods that rely on anticipating the user's
possible eventual choice.


Regards,
Barney Carroll
Web designer & front-end developer

web: www.clickwork.net

mobile: +44 (0) 7594 506 381
home: +44 (0) 118 975 0020

twitter: @barneycarroll


2009/4/6 Kimberley Rivero <kimberley.rivero at gmail.com>

> I agree with Barney, choosing a language before you enter the site is
> awful for users, it's a big turn off and should be an unneeded step.
> When I design bilingual sites I decide on a default language (based on
> who we think the primary audience is) then I put obvious language
> buttons in the upper right of every page of the site.
>
> One key is to put the name of the language in that language...so if
> I'm on page in Spanish the button for English would say "English" not
> "Ingles" and if I'm on a page in English the button for Spanish would
> say "Español" not "Spanish."
>
> This way you insure that if a user do not speak the language of the
> page they are on they can, at least, find the button to change to
> their own language.
>
> - Kim
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