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, …
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 …
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 …
Robert Frost wrote that good fences make good neighbors. Yet when it comes to virtual fences, visualized as maps, I’m not sure there is any way to create “good fences.” So many regions around the world are under dispute. And …
Today is not only Singles Day, it is also World Usability Day. A day that I believe will gain in importance in the years ahead as more people become aware of the value of supporting truly “world ready” and “user …
Everyone talks about it but nobody does anything about it. Consider the following chart representing the “weight” of mobile home pages from the 2021 Web Globalization Report Card. This year, the average mobile home page weighs more than 9MB. Depending …
A localized website is of little value if local users cannot find it. And yet many global websites continue to make visual and technical mistakes that keep local websites effectively hidden from their intended visitors around the world. Which is …
Join me this Thursday for a virtual presentation on The Art of the Global Gateway: Best Practices in Global Navigation for Websites. The global gateway is the initial point of contact between your website and the world — it is, …
I noted in September that Apple had given up using flags as icons for navigation (know as the global gateway). This was a positive step — not because I dislike flags, but because flags often cause more problems then they …
For the 2019 Web Globalization Report Card, we studied the following 13 enterprise technology websites: Autodesk Cisco Systems DHL FedEx HP Enterprise Huawei IBM Intel Oracle SAP Texas Instruments UPS Xerox Cisco Systems emerged on top this year. It launched …
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. …
Wondering what the colors of a flag actually represent? Flag Stories includes an impressive collection, dissection and compilation of the world’s flags into a range of infographics. For instance, you’ll get a see a visual compilation of the elements shared …
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 …
In 2001, I published a report on website weights and their impacts on website performance. Why, may you ask, was I researching website weights all the way back in 2001? The great broadband divide At the time, in the United …