Web form usability expert Luke Wroblewski provides a very handy article on the challenges of developing Web input forms that work in various countries.
Data input and output is where Web localization projects often sink or swim. And Web forms can give a global marketing director night sweats.
Luke stresses that if you can identify the user’s country before presenting the form, you’re in much better shape, because you can then provide a fully localized form. And this is why global navigation is so incredibly important to successful Web localization. If you can help your customer find his or her country Web site right from the start, everything else gets so much easier (for you and your customer).