Adventures in web globalization, since 2002
Apple has redesigned its website many times over the past decade but one thing has remained largely unchanged — its global gateway strategy. Here’s a screen shot of the global …
You hire a vendor to conduct a global survey. And let’s suppose this vendor refers to Taiwan as a country and the email goes out to people in China who …
The short answer: It depends. The context of how you display this flag can make all the difference; for example, do you display the flag on a global gateway with …
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 …
Lululemon provides an interesting case study of a US-based retailer taking its first steps towards going global. And, like all first steps, this one is rather awkward. To be clear, Lululemon …
Examine the Boeing global gateway below and see if you can see a problem: I did not realize the Middle East had an official flag but, according to this gateway, it does. …
I visited the home page of the Chinese online travel agency website Ctrip recently and came across this odd flag: Just because the UK voted to separate from the EU …
A few things. First, using flags to indicate language is almost always a mistake. Second, why are the language names all in English? Only the “English language” text needs to be …
We studied 18 consumer technology websites for the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card. The Web Globalization Report Card is an annual benchmark of how effectively companies internationalize and localize their …
Nike has a brand new website and they’ve made a few navigational changes along the way. For starters, it appears that Nike is now using geolocation to detect the location …
Apple has been using flags as part of its global gateway for many years. In 2006, Apple’s global gateway was positioned in the footer and featured a different flag for …
When it comes to web globalization and, in particular, global navigation, the general rule about flags is to avoid using them. By avoiding them, you avoid stepping into any number …