If your organization does business in more than one part of the world, your web team faces the challenge of internationalization and localization of the website.
Internationalization refers to making a product ready for use throughout the world, and localization refers to making a product ready for use in a particular geographic area. For a website, internationalization requires making the code work worldwide, especially to support presenting the site in multiple languages, and developing a design and content for audiences with different cultural expectations.
Several articles are available to help meet these challenges. Four are presented here.
Several basic tips for internationalizing code are presented in Implementing Websites For Internationalization.
If you are providing a website in multiple languages, it’s desirable to avoid creating and maintaining multiple versions of the site. Internationalize JSP-based Websites presents one method.
A design blog addresses the challenge of providing a way for users to change to their preferred language. The author notes there is no standard interface for this. For details, visit Design Examples of Website Internationalization and Localization.
Creating content for readers worldwide is the focus of 7 Easy Tips to Internationalize Your Website. This is part of a larger guide with many resources, Culture Customized Content.
Features
Communication, Cross-cultural communication, Design, Internationalization, Localization, Marketing, Resource
GALA is offering webinars of interest, including one by SIG members Hans Fenstermacher and Aki Ito.
Setting up Localization Collaboration in a Global Market
Thursday, 4 March, 11:00 EST
Sneak preview for the GALA 2010 workshop by Jean-Luc Mazet (Hewlett-Packard)
http://www.gala-global.org/gala-webinar-setting-localization-collaboration-global-market
Easy Translation Management with memoQ 4.0
Thursday, 11 March, 11:00 EST
Tool Demonstration by Istvan Lengyel (Kilgray Translation Technologies)
http://www.gala-global.org/gala-webinar-easy-translation-management-memoq-40
Managing Artwork Localization and Versioning of Language by Artwork
Thursday, 25 March, 11:00 EDT
Tool Demonstration by Luke Alexandre (StorePOINT International)
http://www.gala-global.org/gala-webinar-managing-artwork-localization-and-versioning-language-artwork
Prague Meeting Primer: Taking Stock of Your Business
Thursday, 8 April, 11:00 EDT
Primer for the GALA 2010 workshop,
“Not Your Same Old Differentiators: How LSPs Can REALLY Stand Out”
by Gordon Husbands (Wordbank), Hans Fenstermacher (TransPerfect / Translations.com) and Aki Ito (TOIN Corporation)
http://www.gala-global.org/gala-webinar-taking-stock-your-business
Effective Localization Workforce Management
Thursday, 22 April, 11:00 EDT
Presentation by John Watkins, ENLASO Corporation
http://www.gala-global.org/gala-webinar-effective-localization-workforce-management
Related organizations, Tech Comm News
Artwork, Business, Event, Internationalization, Localization, Translation
Registration is open for the 2010 conference of the Globalization and Localization Association, GALA.
The Global Community: Capturing Customers Worldwide
10-12 May 2010
InterContintental Hotel, Prague
http://www.gala-global.org/conference
Related organizations, Tech Comm News
Event, Internationalization, Localization, Translation
Do you ever wonder what authoring tools to use for developing e-learning? In this webinar, three experienced users will demonstrate authoring tools, showing features as well as giving pros and cons. You’ll learn about Captivate, Articulate, and ProForma.
Join the Instructional Design and Learning SIG of STC, Wednesday, March 17, for the e-Learning Authoring Tools Panel to see a 15-20 minute demonstration of each tool followed by a Q&A session. Read on for the features and benefits that will be demonstrated and general questions that will answered.
Time
- 1:30 – 3:00 pm, Eastern Time
- 12:30 – 2:00 pm, Central Time
- 11:30 – 1:00 pm, Mountain Time
- 10:30 – 12:00 pm, Pacific Time
Cost
- $20 member of the Instructional Design and Learning Special Interest Group (IDL SIG
- $30 STC Member – Join the IDL SIG to break even on this Webinar, and save money on future Webinars
- $70 Non Member – Consider joining the Society for Technical Communication (STC) today to receive member pricing for this Webinar as well as other STC benefits. http://www.stc.org/membership/
Register and pay at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/724890258
Read more…
STC News
Event, Training
Optimizing the Source Using Translation Memory
Presented by Joseph Campo, manager of technical documentation at Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp. in Concord, MA
Tuesday, 23 March
1:00-2:00 PM EDT (GMT-4)
Registration and details
About this webinar:
How many times have you written something and known that you wrote something similar, but can’t remember where it was or how it was written? So you write a new sentence. If you could only find that text and replicate it, you would save money and time for your translation team by reusing already-translated text strings and would produce more consistent documentation. This webinar describes a pilot project that tested a potential solution to this issue using translation memory to optimize the source documentation.
STC News
Event, Translation
Follow this link to an interesting article that reports on how jargon can actually be a detriment to security. Perhaps it is a lesson to us all…
Tech Comm News
Communication, Simplified English
The next virtual watercooler chat for STC Technical Editing SIG members is coming up next week. In this chat, you will have a chance to discuss the topic of “Collaborative Authoring with Wikis” by chatting with other participants. This is an encore presentation of the same topic as January’s chat, offered at a time convenient for members in Australia and India.
Bring your questions and ideas about the topic in general: collaborative authoring in wikis, where the editor fits in, and how standard editing techniques apply. Janice Gelb will moderate the session, both answering questions and directing general conversation about the topic, but not giving a formal presentation.
When:
Sydney, Australia: March 4, 2010 at 14:00
Bangalore, India: March 4, 2010 at 08:30
San Jose, California: March 3, 2010 at 19:00
UTC (GMT): March 4, 2010 at 03:00:00
Preparation:
• Prepare a few questions or comments about the topic. Be ready to participate in the discussion, not just “listen.”
• Test the chat software at least one day before the session, by signing into the SIG chat page: http://www.stc-techedit.org/Chat (STC Technical Editing SIG members only. You can add the SIG to your STC membership.)
More Information about the watercooler chat:
http://www.stc-techedit.org/tiki-calendar_edit_item.php?viewcalitemId=105
Moderator Introduction:
Janice Gelb has been a senior technical editor at Sun Microsystems for 18 years. She was the project lead for three major revisions of the “Sun Editorial Style Guide” and for all three editions of “Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry.” She has a BS in Journalism with a specialty in editing from the University of Florida and has worked as a senior editor at Ashton-Tate and at Scitex Corporation.
STC News
Event, Social media
“Human Work Interaction Design: Usability in Social Cultural Contexts” edited by Dinesh Katre, Rikke Orngreen, Pradeep Yammiyawar, and Torkil Clemmensen has been listed on Amazon as due for release in March 2010. The book is published by Springer Verlag in the series of IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology (AICT).
Tech Comm News
Cross-cultural context, Resource, Usability
Aalto on Tracks is taking a hundred Aalto University students and other people on a private train from Helsinki to Shanghai World Expo, China, on May 5 and 6, 2010. The trip of over 10,000 kilometers will feature educational activities the whole way, with virtual participation for those who can’t make the trip. Read about the trip on the Aalto on Tracks site, http://aaltoontracks.com/about/
Tech Comm News
Education, Event
For more information about STC elections (at the organizational level), visit http://notebook.stc.org/2010-election/ to find information about the candidates (links at the bottom of the page) and how and when to vote.
STC News
elections
