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Subject:
From:
Cathy de Heer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Cathy de Heer <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 7 Jun 2003 22:30:30 -0700
Content-Type:
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Hello all,

Here are the responses to my query a few weeks ago about labeling of
interface elements in multilingual countries, including one clarification of
my original question. Thanks to those who responded.

Cathy de Heer

=====
> Situation: A small form with just one field and a submit button, but
> for
> Swiss users (i.e., in German, French, and Italian).
>
> Can anybody point me to examples of how the Swiss deal with this?
>
> Please send responses to me and I will summarize for the list.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Cathy de Heer

=====
usually we have fully localized pages (d-f-i-e). sometimes you will
find multilingual labels for submit buttons (like "OK")
roland


=====
Most the swiss website that I use, they have language buttons on top for
example:
http://www.sbb.ch/
www.swissonline.ch

Hope that help.

Jay
--------------------------------------------------------
Manasawee Kaenampornpan (Jay)
Room L2.27 Front Office
Department of Computer Science
University of Bath
BATH
BA2 7AY
TEL: 01225 384 432
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]

=====
On Sun, 2003-05-18 at 00:36, Cathy de Heer wrote:
> Situation: A small form with just one field and a submit button, but for
> Swiss users (i.e., in German, French, and Italian).
>
> Can anybody point me to examples of how the Swiss deal with this?

A user should already have chosen their preferred language when they
configured their desktop/browser, and in the case of websites this
information is passed to the server so the website can display the
appropriate localised pages.  So the answer is to show the form in
whatever language they asked for :)

Cheeri,
Calum.

--
CALUM BENSON, Usability Engineer       Sun Microsystems Ireland
mailto:[log in to unmask]            GNOME Desktop Group
http://ie.sun.com                      +353 1 819 9771

Any opinions are personal and not necessarily those of Sun Microsystems

=====
Hi Cathy,

I'm not  sure that I have understood your question: do you want to
create one unique form in one language that can be easily understood by
German, Italian and French speakers? or do you want to know what would
be the appropriate translations in these 3 languages?

Pascal

Pascal MAGNENAT
Usability consultant


Office +41 22 734 90 90
Mobile +41 79 301 39 01
Email [log in to unmask]
Website http://www.interactions.ch

Offer usable products to your clients.

=====
Hi Pascal,

I'd like to create one form that can be understood by speakers of all three
languages, but I don't know if that's ever done in Switzerland - it seems
difficult or impossible because buttons need to be short (for example,
"Submit" in three languages would make quite a long button).

Do you see what I mean? In an ideal world, we'd let users choose a language
and then provide the appropriate form(s), but we're dealing with a small
section of an American site that it doesn't make sense for us to put a lot
of development resources into.

Thanks very much,

Cathy

=====
Hi Cathy,

OK, now it's clear for me.

I don't see any ideal solution... If you are limited to one language,
depending on the audience of the website, English might be a solution.
German would be the appropriate solution for 2/3 of the population but
the French and the Italian speakers may better understand English than
German.

If it is possible to use 2 languages on your buttons (instead of 3),
use German and French. Italian speakers represent around 5% of the
population and most of them understand either German or French.

A  third solution would be to use the word "OK" for the submit button.

Pascal

=====I think you should first take them to a language-specific page, like
Ikea:
http://www.ikea.ch/ Note the global gateway at the top of the page.

PS: Here's some more info on gateways:
http://bytelevel.com/global/20020621.html

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