Adventures in web globalization, since 2002
There is no internationally accepted definition of what a “translation” icon should look like. But here’s the icon websites tend to use: You see it many places these days — most often used to indicate the availability of automatic translation, …
Late last year Krispy Kreme entered its 39th foreign market: France. And it launched a localized website to match. The company plans to open 500 stores in France over the next five years. France is attracting a number of American …
A little more than a year ago I wrote about Mailchimp’s improved global gateway. Here is what you would have seen in the header back then: And here is the header today: Much has clearly changed, but I’d like you …
If someone from outside the US lands on your US-centric .com home page, what is their first impression? And what if they don’t speak English? What visual and textual clues will they look for when searching for a localized websites …
When I see NA I generally think “not applicable.” Which was why I gave the Corpay global gateway a second look when I visited recently: Naturally, I clicked on the globe icon — which, by the way, is the perfect …
Scrollbars are one of those UI elements that you don’t realize you miss until they’re gone. Of course their prime role is to allow you to scroll up and down. But they also provide an equally important role — in …
A common refrain in Global by Design are the many risks of using flags as part of your global navigation strategy. As I’ve noted over the years, many companies have since dropped flags, companies such as Apple, Airbnb and Spotify. …
I’m pleased to say that, based on the websites I study regularly, we’ve reached “peak flag.” In other words, at a high level, companies are now beginning to move away from using flags on their websites within their global gateways. …
For quite some time people have asked me about creating a larger version of our Country Codes of the World map, something they could pin up in their conference rooms or on office walls. And a map without the legend, …
I’m happy to announce that I’ve updated my map of the world’s internationalized domain names for 2018: The map includes all ICANN-approved country code IDNs for the world — more than 50 across more than 30 countries and regions. I’ve …
I want to thank internet researcher Anat Ben-David for sharing this photo of her office wall. I’ve usually seen our Country Codes of the World print framed in black but I think white looks better! PS: The Country Codes print is currently on …
A few years ago I wrote about the translation icon and its many variations at that point in time. I thought now would be a good time to revisit this icon. Let’s start with the Google Translate. This icon has not changed …