slide
76
Copyright © 2005
W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Some lessons from this presentation
What this means to me
•
Use topic-comment
arrangements for composite messages, if you
can, rather than
sentential
arrangements
•
Use coding
approaches that allow syntactic flexibility
when creating composite messages
•
Be careful
about reuse of text strings - ensure that
the context of reuse is always the
same
•
Think about how to
cope with text that expands in translation -
for example, use larger
background images
and avoid placing labels to the side of form
entry fields, if you can
•
Separate
content from presentation - including in
JavaScript (use id or class names)
•
Don't assume that
people format dates, addresses, names, etc like
you.
Allow
for
alternative
approaches, where appropriate.
•
Ensure that you
indicate clearly how users should enter
information such as dates - in fact,
consider graphical
approaches that allow you to pick a date from a
pop-up.
•
Think carefully
about how you intend to break up and reuse
things like names and
addresses, and the
implications of that for multicultural
formats.
•
Be prepared to
change graphics if they represent a particular
culture or set of cultural
aspirations.
Also be
careful about assuming common understanding of
symbols, color, and
ways of doing
things.
Design
in a way that allows for adaptation, where
necessary, and
use in-country
knowledge to check that things work as you
expected.
•
Be careful about
how you write your text if you expect
non-native speakers of English to
read your
content.
•
Remember that
graphics may need to be translated - not
just text.
•
Keep text out of
graphics where you can.
Where
you can't, supply layered files for
translation.
•
Check out whether
you are incorrectly assuming that people in
other parts of the world see
their world and do
things in the same way as you.
