Adventures in web globalization, since 2002
When I read about Swaziland’s recent name change, by decree, my first thought was: What about the country code? As in .sz? As far as I can tell, it’s way too soon to know if the president has thought this …
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 …
As a font geek, I loved this promotion courtesy of the Republic of Lithuania to develop a font that draws on the signatures from the Act of Independence of Lithuania. You can even add your signature to mark the centenary …
I recently read The Chinese Typewriter by Thomas S. Mullaney. I love typewriters and languages, so this book was a sure thing as my interests go. And I learned a great deal. Perhaps the greatest takeaway was the degree to which …
I received my copies of the Japanese edition of Think Outside the Country and am very impressed. The book, like the English edition, is in full color and uses high quality paper. The book is published by Born Digital (in collaboration with Mitsue-Links) You can …
I’m excited to announce the publication of The 2018 Web Globalization Report Card. This is the most ambitious report I’ve written so far and it sheds light on a number of new and established best practices in website globalization. First, here are …
If you visit Marriott’s China website today you’re likely to see this: I dumped the text into Google Translate and here is what it loosely says: So what exactly happened here? According to Skift, Marriott sent a survey in Mandarin …
I’m pleased to announce that Born Digital (in collaboration with Mitsue-Links) is publishing the Japanese edition of Think Outside the Country. The book will be available December 23rd and I look forward to promoting it next year! If you’re a …
Amazon Crossing is the Amazon publishing imprint dedicated to translating non-English books into English. In just a few years it has grown to be a leading translator of literary novels. I noted earlier that Amazon.in doesn’t significantly support Indian languages. …
Earlier this year, The Los Angeles Times ran a fascinating series on China and Africa and I only just got around to reading it. I recommend at least reading Part I. China is funding a massive railroad project connecting Addis …
The dream is profound — a global company united by one language. Employees communicating freely with one another across border and culture, improving productivity and sharing of ideas. The reality, however, is quite a bit messier than the dream. But …
The travel industry has long been at the forefront of web globalization. Take Booking.com, with support for 41 languages, or Uber, with support for 36 languages, or KLM, with support for 32 languages. And yet, if you wish to research …
While I’ve closely studied travel websites for many years (such as airlines, hotels, travel agencies) as part of The Web Globalization Report Card, I’ve not spent much time looking closely at destination websites, such as for cities, regions and countries. That …
For the 2017 Web Globalization Report Card, I benchmarked the following consumer-oriented technology websites: Adobe Apple Canon Dell HP HTC Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Panasonic Samsung Sony Toshiba Xiaomi Microsoft and Adobe tied this year for the top spot, with …
I recently wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times about the importance and value of thinking globally. Here’s an excerpt: Consider Starbucks. In 2003, this aspiring global company supported a mere three languages. Today, it supports 25, which may sound …