Emirates: Best global airline web site of 2011
Sometimes a web redesign is a big step forward; sometimes it is a step in reverse. In the case of American Airlines (when viewed from a web globalization perspective) a …
My web browser went to de, fr, jp, za and all I got was this lousy t-shirt
Yes, I’m aware of just how globally geeky this shirt is, but I love it nonetheless. Should you want one of your own, you can order it here. And you can …
Dear Airbnb: Please take down your mutant flag
Airbnb is one of the hot new travel web service startups. It basically lets you rent out your spare bedroom or look for a spare bedroom when you travel. That’s …
The dangers of building a brand on a tenuous country code
About two years ago I wrote with concern about Bit.ly’s use of Libya’s country code. I noted that It’s always important to keep in mind that a company can’t “own” a domain the way …
Microsoft launches a new global gateway
I’m happy to see Microsoft launch a new global gateway on its home page. Here’s a detailed view: Notice how the country/region options are all nicely presented in the native languages. …
Starbucks modifies its global gateway, but problems remain
I noticed recently that Starbucks had launched a new web design, probably to coincide with its newly austere logo. Unfortunately, the new global gateway didn’t improve on the old global …
Learning from the not-so-global web sites
I’ve highlighted the top 25 global web sites in the 2011 Web Globalization Report Card. Now it’s time to focus on the other end of the spectrum — the 25 …
Language negotiation in a mobile world: Improving the global user experience
Language negotiation is the process of detecting the language setting of a web browser and responding with the matching language, if available. Companies such as Google and Facebook have used …
Can Google Translate improve your love life?
According to this Google Demo, featuring Nice Peter, it can (to a point)… [yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfTNJtOL4hM&tracker=False’] Of course, I would have ended this video differently — with a mistranslation or two. …
Byte Level Books is looking for authors
I’m pleased to announce the formation of a new publishing imprint dedicated to “books with a world view.” To date, we’re published two books — The Savvy Client’s Guide to …
Walking through jelly
Just because a global company mandates one “global” language doesn’t mean that everything will run smoothly. English is typically the global language selected, which is nice for those who were …
Upcoming Webinar: The New Global Enterprise
On March 15th I will be participating in a half-day online forum sponsored by the American Marketing Association and Localization World: The New Global Enterprise: Core Competencies for Localizing Marketing Communications …
Think outside .com: A map of the world’s IDNs
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you know I’m a fan of internationalized domain names (IDNs). Over the past year or so, ICANN has approved more than 20 …
Global by Design turns 1,000
In 2002, I launched this blog. It was the first blog devoted to web globalization. In fact, I don’t believe there were any blogs devoted to translation either at that …
Free Webinar: Strategies for Choosing a Language Service Provider
Join me next week (February 24th at 9 am Eastern) for a free webinar hosted by Lionbridge. I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned over the years as both a provider and …