The Guide from MultiLingual Computing & Technology GLOBAL WEB #55 Supplement April/May 2003

4 Building a Global Web Site John Yunker

10 Global Web Sites: Issues and Examples David Shadbolt contents contents

14 The W3C at Work Martin Dürst

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MultiLingual Computing & Technology Publisher, Editor-in-Chief Donna Parrish Managing Editor Laurel Wagers Translation Department Editor Jim Healey Copy Editor Cecilia Spence Research Jerry Luther, David Shadbolt News Kendra Gray, Becky Bennett Illustrator Doug Jones Photographer Seth Schneider Production Sandy Compton

Editorial Board Jeff Allen, Henri Broekmate, Bill Hall, 9 – 11 June 2003 Andres Heuberger, Chris Langewis, Chicago IL, Navy Pier Ken Lunde, John O’Conner, Mandy Pet, Chris Pratley, Reinhard Schäler

Global Websites and eCommerce Advertising Director Jennifer Del Carlo Conference Advertising Kevin Watson, Bonnie Merrell Webmaster Aric Spence Intern Jennifer Lund

Sponsored by MultiLingual Computing Advertising: [email protected] www.multilingual.com/advertising 208-263-8178 Strategy Subscriptions, customer service: [email protected] Organization www.multilingual.com/subscribe 208-263-8178 Process Submissions: [email protected] Editorial guidelines are available at Tools www.multilingual.com/editorialWriter Reprints: Reprint Management Services 717-399-1900 ext 128 Pre-conference seminars This guide is published as a supplement to MultiLingual Computing & Technology, the magazine about language technology, Web globalization and international software development. Printed in the USA

The

Localization Institute MultiLingual Computing, Inc. 319 North First Avenue www. localizationinstitute.com Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 USA 4513 Vernon Boulevard, Suite 11, Madison WI 53705 USA 208-263-8178 • Fax: 208-263-6310 Phone 608.233.1790, Fax 608.441.6124 [email protected] [email protected] www.multilingual.com GETTING

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Introduction to the Global Web

Millions of people use the World Wide Web every day, and more and more of them are surfing in languages other than English. In early March, English-speaking Web users were about 36% of the worldwide total, according to Global Reach. And they use the Web for all kinds of reasons, from homework to auctions, from news to meetings and politi- cal campaigns. Banks, real estate firms, event planners, news outlets, consultants, retail clothing Thank companies, consultants, farmers’ cooperatives and a host of other businesses — as well as governments, nonprofit organizations and individuals — are discovering the benefits and perils of creating a global Web site. This special supplement is designed to introduce You! some of the important issues and background information that will help anyone devel- op a Web site that works worldwide. John Yunker’s overview of the basic principles involved in building a successful Éfor voting for LionbridgeÉ global Web site includes dramatic examples of sites that work and sites that don’t, and explains how to build a site that serves both the company and customers. David Shadbolt profiles the globalization process as experienced by several companies, "Service Provider from how they selected their localization vendors to how they chose their operational models. More information and additional profiles of Web globalization projects are of the Year" available on our Web site at www.multilingual.com/globalWebProfiles Martin Dürst, one of the leading experts of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), completes this guide with a description of several W3C standards and how they have been developed, as well as background information about the organization and how people in the information technology industry can participate in its work. Our cover is a detail of an installation by Chinese-born, MacArthur Award-winning artist Xu Bing, who now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Many of his works look at language from an unusual point of view. In this piece, the silkworms were released to “silk” the acrylic-relief text of the folk tale “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountain.” One of his projects over the past several years has been the development of Square Word Calligraphy, in which characters from the Latin alphabet are arranged to build words — English, Czech, German and so We are honored by the forth — in the style of Chinese characters. At right is an exam- confidence and enthusiasm ple: MultiLingual rendered for us by the artist. For more infor- shown by our customers mation about Xu Bing and his art, including more images of and the localization industry. “word play,” we recommend his Web site, www.xubing.com —Laurel Wagers, Managing Editor We will continue our drive to accelerate time to market and reduce total cost while delivering exemplary customer service and high quality translation.

Martin Dürst David Shadbolt John Yunker

MARTIN DÜRST leads the Internationalization Activity for the World Wide Web www.lionbridge.com Consortium (W3C) and is a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology/Laboratory for Computer Science. He can be reached at [email protected] authors authors DAVID SHADBOLT is a research editor at MultiLingual Computing. His article about on-line auctions appears in issue #55. He can be reached at [email protected] JOHN YUNKER is the founder of Byte Level Research, a Web research and consulting firm specializing in content and marketing strategies, and author of Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies. He can be reached at [email protected] 3 GETTING

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BuildingBuilding aa GlobalGlobal WWebeb SiteSite

John Yunker

Browse just about any major corporate clients and agencies ask the right questions even support different character sets? What Web site these days, and you’ll find evidence before going global. about currencies, product fulfillment and of Web globalization in action. For example, returns? These messy details can quickly turn in the past year alone: Premature Globalization a well-meaning effort into a very painful and L.L. Bean launched its first localized Happens (to the Best of Us) expensive process. Web site (in Japanese); A Web site affects organizations hori- Amazon launched a Canadian Web site More often than not, marketing depart- zontally, touching many departments simul- (in English and French); ments initiate Web globalization. But Web taneously. For Web globalization to be truly Office Depot launched a Spanish-language sites do not serve only marketing depart- successful, these departments must not only Web site; and ments. If a company localizes its site for have their say in the process but be fully eTrade added a German site to its exist- a dozen markets without engaging all involved in the process. Once this happens, ing portfolio of 12 localized Web sites. departments that will be affected — from you will all be much better prepared for the And this trend shows no signs of slow- accounting to sales to customer support — challenges that await the company. While this ing. According to a November 2002 report internal and external problems are inevi- approach may slow down your Web global- from the research firm Allied Business Intel- table. Just because a Web site is globally ization efforts, it will accelerate the globaliza- ligence, Web globalization is the fastest-grow- aware, one can’t assume that the company tion of your entire company. ing segment of the global language translation behind it is globally aware. How will cus- industry, set to reach $1.7 billion in revenues tomers from around the world get what they Roma Wasn’t Built in a Day by 2007. More significant still are the revenues need if your customer service department that these global sites will generate for their only speaks English? How will customer The early days of the Internet were companies, further accelerating globalization information in different languages be organ- marked by corporate Web sites that were lit- (as well as Web globalization) and driving the ized in your database? Can your database tle more than “Welcome to my home page” world’s economy. brochures. And while these sites Yet while Web globalization is, seem quaint now, they were a for most companies, inevitable, suc- crucial step along the road to the cessful Web globalization is much development of more sophisticat- less certain. Every day, Web sites ed Web sites. A similar learning grow more complex and more cru- curve must occur with Web glob- cial to a company’s bottom line. A alization. Today, many companies Web site may be a marketing chan- are in that “Welcome to my home nel, a software product, a brochure, page” stage of Web localization. a shopping mall or all of the above, Yet these baby steps are important thus making the internationaliza- steps nonetheless. Not every com- tion and localization of that site an pany should expect its first local- increasingly complex endeavor. Even ized Web site to be as functional as software localization, which has long L.L. Bean’s Japanese site — first version its native-language Web site, at been viewed as the most challeng- least not without a significant ing of localization projects, pales in financial investment up front. comparison to that of many For- Consider L.L. Bean. Its first tune 500 Web sites. Japanese Web site was hardly a To complicate matters, corporate site at all; it consisted of a few executives often have misconcep- customer support Web pages tions about how Web globalization localized for Japanese users. should work, what it should cost These few Web pages, how- and how long it should take. It’s not ever, played an important role in that executives don’t want to learn justifying further investment. more about Web globalization; L.L. Bean localized customer rather, it’s that they often don’t support pages for six languages know what questions to ask. The in all, yet found that its Japanese tips in this article will help both L.L. Bean’s Japanese site revised pages were the overwhelming 4 GETTING

GLOBAL WEB GUIDE STARTED favorites in terms of usage. Clearly, language, MT is a nifty tool, one that customers in Japan wanted to order appears to mark the beginning of the on-line. L.L. Bean already had end of human translators. Perhaps it is established a healthy direct-mail wishful thinking. Hiring humans to operation in Japan. As a result, in translate your Web site is expensive 2002, L.L. Bean worked with Basis and always will be. But wishing upon Technology to launch a fully func- MT is no solution. People within the tional Japanese site. translation industry know full well This was no small project. Yet that translators are in no danger of because the company had developed losing their jobs; the challenge is in those Japanese pages years ago, making the business community just departments across the organization as aware of this reality. were better prepared for the cultural, Translation is both art and sci- linguistic and logistical challenges ence. Computers, at best, will take the much larger site would present. The Babel Fish Translation site over the science part of the process — the maintaining of consistent termi- ROI Is Relative impressive job of promoting the limitations nology, the translation memories, the copying of their software. As a result, too many exec- and the pasting. Computers will indeed play While it may seem strange that a com- utives assume that software will replace a crucial, money-saving and time-saving role. pany doesn’t localize its Web site for every human translators in the foreseeable future, if But they can never take over the art of trans- country in which it does business, this is an not already. And the existence of AltaVista’s lation. Only human translators can handle all-too-common fact of life. Executives want Babel Fish certainly hasn’t helped matters. the linguistic and cultural nuances that are Web sites that generate revenue, not drain Babel Fish Translation is a double-edged essential to helping businesses succeed in revenue, which is how they often view Web sword for the translation industry. For anyone global markets. localization projects. Executives often assume who can speak more than one language, Babel (based on agency quotes) that Web global- Fish is a comedic lesson in the limitations of Global Sites Need ization must be a very expensive initial MT. But for those people who speak only one investment. If clients believe the Global Gateways minimum for which they can local- ize a Web site is $250,000, they will As localized Web sites are naturally be reluctant to give the developed, often little consideration project the green light. Indeed, Web is given to how these new sites will localization can easily approach this fit in with the parent site. Should we figure for large Web sites, but this assume that all users around the need not be the case in the early world will arrive at the parent site stages, as illustrated with L.L. Bean. (which is usually in English) and be The trick is to justify return on directed to the localized Web sites investment (ROI), regardless of the from there, or should we assume size of the site. Executives need to users will arrive at the localized sites understand that a localized Web site via country-specific URLs? A “global need not be a translated photocopy gateway” will ensure that users of the parent site — and, in fact, around the world quickly and seam- should not be a photocopy. Instead, a lessly find the resources they’re company could localize a narrow looking for in the languages that subset of the site, with a smaller The Siebel global home page. Try to find the global gateway they require. budget and smaller revenue targets. The global home page of Siebel Companies know they need to local- plays “Where’s Waldo?” with users ize their Web sites, but they also trying to find its global gateway need to know they can get there (hint: It’s right above the “Legal gradually. Agencies in search of their Notice” link at the very bottom of own ROI would be wise to help their the page). Clearly, not all companies clients go global gradually, succeed- have given enough consideration to ing in small steps along the way. how users find their localized Web sites. Now look at what users see Computers Iterate; when they first visit eTrade: a People Translate splash global gateway. Every local- ized Web site is clearly indicated The machine translation (MT) and, after selection, a cookie is vendors have done an impressive job stored on the user’s computer with of promoting the capabilities of the user’s language preference so their software. Unfortunately, trans- that this page does not need to be lation vendors have done a less The eTrade global gateway encountered again. 5 GETTING

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A global gateway is like a net. You want to make sure you build it in such a way that nobody slips past. A global gateway is much more than a “select country” pull-down menu on the home page. It’s an all-encompassing term for the devices you use to direct users to their locale- and language-specific sites. As more of the world’s population goes on-line, Web teams will need to build sites that catch as many of these users as possible. While a global gateway alone won’t make your site global, it’s an important step in making your site more globally usable.

Global Façades Don’t Fool Anyone ESPN English Some sites appear global, but upon clos- er inspection, they are a mile wide and an inch deep. I call this the global façade, a dan- gerous strategy for companies to adopt. Consider, once again, Siebel. Those users who do find their way to Siebel’s localized Web sites are bound to be sorely disappointed. The accompanying screen capture shows the Korean home page. At face value, the Korean site appears to be roughly 50% translated. Yet if you select any of the translated links, odds are you will land on English-language pages. In fact, only one of the Korean links takes you to a Korean- language page. And this page links to all English-language pages. Siebel’s “Korean” Web site consists of only two Korean-language Web pages in all. ESPN Spanish Siebel’s globalization approach is much different from L.L. Bean’s approach. While warn them that you do not fully support language sites. Both sites are overweight. By L.L. Bean only translated a few pages initial- their languages, but if you don’t manage “overweight” I refer to the total weight, in ly, it did not attempt to create the impression their expectations properly, they can be just kilobytes, of the HTML and related graph- that these pages were anything more than as unforgiving. ics. The industry average hovers around 100 customer support pages. Siebel, however, kilobytes (K). The ESPN sites weigh in at creates the impression that it has a Korean Overweight Sites more than 220K with more than 45 graphics Web site, which, after a few mouse clicks, Travel Slowly in all. turns out to be false. Successful Web global- Had ESPN adopted Google’s approach ization doesn’t necessarily require hundreds With few exceptions, most of the world — that is, a text-driven site with spare use of of translated Web pages; however, it does accesses the Internet through dial-up con- graphics — it would make itself much more require that you manage expectations care- nections (or over cellular phones). This usable to the world. Google proves that a Web fully. Web users can be very forgiving if you means that bandwidth-hogging Web sites site can be popular and lightweight; it weighs lead to unnecessarily long in at under 35K. download times, testing the Even in the United States, fewer than patience of even the most ded- 20% of all homes have high-speed Internet icated Web users. Most compa- connections; perhaps these are the people nies prefer to develop localized ESPN is targeting, but surely most compa- sites that maintain the same nies want to gain more than just broadband look and feel of their source- users. Before taking your site global, consid- language sites. If the home er a redesign to cut out some of the fat. Not page is overweight, however, only will you increase the odds of users the localized sites will only spending time at your site, you will likely exacerbate the problem. develop a site that is more easily localized Consider ESPN, which since trimming the fat typically requires Siebel’s Korean Web site offers English and Spanish- fewer graphics. 6 GETTING

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Little Things Mean a Lot

With Web localization, there is no such thing as a “silly little detail.” Consider the home page of A.T. Kearney, a global consult- ing firm. Underneath the logo, the site fea- tures today’s date. Including the date on your Web site may seem like an afterthought, but Localization and it can lead to confusion when addressing a We Know Latin American global audience. The formats for numbers, Internationalization and Spanish markets … dates and addresses vary widely by country. Ficorp offers technical expertise, linguistic … and master the language nuances and cultural excellence and personal service to make your standards from A to Z. next project faster, easier and more cost-effective Our 25 years of experience cover the entire local- from start to finish. ization process, from initial engineering to final DTP. • Internationalization services and consulting Our streamlined operation means savings for our • Localization into any language clients and longstanding relationships that enhance • Multilingual Web sites our knowledge of their products, hence the quality of • Windows, Linux, Palm, Unix their localized versions. • Oracle, Progress, Sybase DB Without any doubt, we are the best unpretentious provider for all your Spanish localization needs. A.T. Kearney: What time is it there? • Proven track record since 1993

For example, if the date on the A.T. Kearney site read 08-04-2003, an American Ficorp, Inc. Trans-Ar, Inc. would assume it means August 4, while a German would assume April 8. Had A.T. One Militia Drive, Lexington, MA 02421 86 Balmville Road, Newburgh, NY 12550 Kearney used a less-ambiguous format, such 781-862-4985 • Fax: 781-862-6301 845-565-0659 • Fax: 845-565-0242 as 23 January 2003, there would be no room [email protected] • www.ficorp.com [email protected] • www.trans-ar.com for confusion. Other details that are often overlooked include untranslated error mes- sages and “page not found” Web pages on The Source of localized Web sites. As shown in the accom- panying screen capture, the Terra Colombia Spanish Translations Web site is in Spanish, but its error page remains in English. Established in 1990, Omni Technologies provides high-quality translations from English to Spanish at a reason- Go Global Without able cost. We are the source for most Latin American Going Broke Spanish translations. Competing effectively with the big guys in the We specialize in the international marketplace means having the technology- automotive, medical, based tools to move ahead. Algonquin Studios manufacturing, has developed affordable, real-world solutions for financial, technical, companies like yours that want to go global. Call or A Spanish-language site, Terra Colombia, e-mail us today for more information on: with an English-language error page and computer industries among others • QuantumCMS, multilingual content management Details can also help make your site and guarantee complete satisfaction. We have a software shine. Take a look at the Korean Web site of group of in-house, full-time professionals and a • Transmerge, Web-based translation collaboration tools Fairchild Semiconductor, shown on the selected group of freelancers. Our translators are • Content translation and localization services next page. This is the first localized Web site trained in the use of TRADOS, Translation Studio, • Software localization for Fairchild, and it currently does not SDLX and other tools. • Enterprise application development include a localized search engine. Yet • Web and print design services Fairchild does not hide this shortcoming; in fact, it alerts users with a brief notice with- Omni Technologies, Corp. Algonquin Studios in the search engine input field (albeit in Rep. Office Avenida Reforma 9-76 zona 9, Edificio 400 Brisbane Building, 403 Main Street English). Details such as this do make a dif- SCI Centre 5to nivel, Guatemala, Guatemala Buffalo, NY 14203 • 716-842-1439 ference. To catch these details, you simply 502-362-5862 • Fax: 502-362-5770 888-838-8660 • Fax: 716-842-1762 need to view your localized site through the [email protected] [email protected] eyes of your users and manage their expec- www.omnitechnologies.net www.algonquinstudios.com tations accordingly. 7 GETTING

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Boston Scientific comes up a flag short for its Latin American site Fairchild Korea: Note the search engine warning working toward a competitors of the world can easily reach There Is No Such Thing new way of looking your customers. Coca-Cola gets 70% of its at the world outside their native market — a revenues from outside the United States. as “Rest of World” more personal, less regional, less ROW view Over the years, it has developed more than of the world. 50 Web sites, but has no sites in Arabic. That There is good reason why movie execu- void was filled recently, but not by Coca- tives in Hollywood often ask if a film will Act Now or React Later Cola — by an upstart company selling a “play in Peoria” before releasing it. The United product called Mecca-Cola. States may be one country, but it is made up The good news about Web globalization Granted, there are a number of reasons of countless cultures and subcultures, based is that you can easily reach a whole new beyond Coca-Cola’s control why Mecca-Cola on region, ethnicity and income. Marketing world of customers. The bad news is that the is succeeding: global backlash, local product executives have learned to tailor — in other words, localize — their promotional efforts to these various groups. Unfortunately, when these same marketing directors take their pro- motional campaigns to markets outside the United States, they often do not realize that just as many subtleties exist in other coun- tries, cultures and regions. Similar challenges exist in Web globalization. For example, companies often assume that if they translate their site into Spanish, then the new site will reach all Latin Americans. Consider Boston Scientific, which built a “Latin American” Web site. The first problem presented by the Latin American site is that there is no such thing as a Latin American flag, as illustrated in the global gateway (a good reason to avoid using flags for navigation). Coca-Cola earns 70% of its revenues outside the United States, Yet the flag is a minor detail compared yet has no Arabic-language Web site with the Latin American site itself. Naturally, the site is in Spanish, but what flavor of Spanish? There is no such thing as one Spanish, just as there is no such thing as one English. And where is the Portuguese for Brazilian Web users? As companies expand outside their native countries, they tend to break up the world into regions: EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa); Asia Pacific; the Americas; or, worse, ROW (rest of world). Although these groupings do offer a sense of order, they can be dangerous because they lead executives to assume that the people within these regions have more in common than just geography. Granted, companies have a long, long way to go before they provide Web sites local- ized for every country, culture and subcul- ture. But what they can begin doing today is Enter Mecca-Cola 8 GETTING

GLOBAL WEB GUIDE STARTED marketing and a heavy dose of publicity. Still, it is worth considering how great the back- lash would be today had Coca-Cola worked more urgently to localize its presence in the Arabic-speaking world. Globalization in gen- eral — and Web globalization in particular — can quickly topple corporate empires and Thirty + Years of Successful give rise to new ones. Fast, Accessible, High-Quality Translation Solutions What Next? Brazilian Translations SYSTRAN’s translation technology enables the This is an exciting time to be involved in Wish to work with a company creation of dynamic multilingual content for businesses to manage extensive amounts of information. Web globalization. The number of global • in the technical translation and software localiza- Internet users is nearing a billion, and tion market for 14 years? We sell desktop translation software products and more English is losing its dominance over the • with strong project management and quality scalable solutions, all of which facilitate communication in Internet. In the years ahead, Web globaliza- 36 language combinations and 20 specialized domains. assurance policies? tion will graduate from luxury to necessity — Corporations use SYSTRAN’s technology to solve opening the door to greater business oppor- • which counts on latest translation and localization technologies and tools? translation issues for CRM, e-commerce, intra-company tunities, greater agency opportunities and a communications, content management and more. more worldly Internet. Ω • in which all professionals, besides being experts in their areas, are highly motivated? SYSTRAN’s expertise covers over 30 years of building customized translation solutions for corporations, Before Going Global… So work with us! portals, governments and public administrations Here is a collection of resources for We have much more to offer! through open and robust architectures. better understanding the technological challenges of Web globalization. Follow-Up SYSTRAN Rua México 31 / 403 9333 Genesee Avenue, Suite PL1 Web Sites: Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 20031-144 San Diego, CA 92121 i18n.com — www.i18n.com 55-21-2224-0225 • Fax: 55-21-2507-2170 858-457-1900 • Fax: 858-457-0648 i18n Gurus — www.i18ngurus.com [email protected] • www.follow-up.com.br [email protected] • www.systransoft.com I18nGuy — www.i18nguy.com Silicon Valley Localization Forum — www.tgpconsulting.com Society for Technical Communication — www.stc.org The CIA World Factbook — www.cia.gov Unicode Consortium — www.unicode.org Web of Culture — When cultural expertise, thoroughness and Exploiting the Web’s www.webofculture.com reliability are paramount, call Language Intelligence. Power Locally Books: Since 1988, we have been serving innovative Another One Bites the Grass: Making companies on global frontiers with complex Webquest services bring together linguistic, project Sense of International Advertising. management and engineering skills to localize and technical translations (40+ languages); software manage multilingual Web sites for Wordbank clients such Simon Anholt, John Wiley & Sons, 2000. and Web site localization; content globalization; QA Beyond Borders: Web Globalization as Hewlett-Packard, Habitat, Mazda and Walt Disney. and testing; and culture and language training. The Strategies. John Yunker, Pearson • Webquest – full Web site localization of ingenuity of our technical services is legendary. Education, 2002. monolingual site into 40+ languages CJKV Information Processing. Language Intelligence’s structure combines • Webquest MCU – a multilingual content update Ken Lunde, O’Reilly, 1999. the synergies of superb linguists, cultural service for Web sites needing daily content changes The Savvy Client’s Guide to Translation experts, IT specialists and project managers in Agencies. Byte Level Research, 2003. • Webquest File Update – a Web file transfer update an ISO 9001-2000 compliant system for quality XML Internationalization and service for file-based multilingual Web sites and friendly service. Localization. Yves Savourel, Sams, 2001. • Webquest Content Exchange – a chunk transfer- based update service for rapidly changing Web sites Articles: Telles, Myriam. “Registering With Language Intelligence, Ltd. Global Search Engines,” MultiLingual 16 North Goodman Street Wordbank Computing & Technology #35. Rochester, NY 14607 205 De Anza Boulevard #136 Yunker, John. “Building Web Sites 585-244-5578 • Fax: 585-244-7880 San Mateo, CA 94402-3989 Without the Wait,” MultiLingual [email protected] 800-956-9673 • [email protected] Computing & Technology #39. www.languageintelligence.com www.wordbank.com

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While much has been said about the advantages of country-specific Web sites as a means to improve communication and GlobalGlobal WWebeb Sites:Sites: increase service levels and revenue, many companies have eschewed the commitment due to the investment in time and money. But Issues and Examples with more metrics available showing positive Issues and Examples return on investment (ROI), companies are taking a second look at global Web sites. The term global in the context of country- David Shadbolt specific Web sites generally means undertaking both internationalization and localization of the Web site. Localization is the term used for adapt- about localization issues and undertaken any of first is a sales and marketing extranet, the CBE- ing a product to users in one particular market. the internationalization requirements. These Link Toolbox, published in Spain, Germany and This would include translating user interface requirements would involve such issues as exter- The Netherlands. Polish and Swedish sites exist strings; inserting locale-specific graphics and nalizing the hard-coded strings into a format and are awaiting a decision on going live. There images; using content that avoids ambiguous that is easily localizable so as to avoid the need is also the CBE Public Portal (www.cbeurope cultural terms; and anything else that creates the for expensive subsequent engineering to remove .com) with country sites in Spain, France and look and feel of a local site. This task is much and reintegrate the text. Another issue is design- The Netherlands that contain both English and easier and therefore less costly if the site is inter- ing for reduction in programming time needed the native language. Greg Norton, who handles nationalized with the global market in mind, a to handle and display information such as time project management and client relations at complex process that involves engineering the and date formats, currency symbols and num- Algonquin for CBE, says, “There are four very code at the design stage. ber formatting correctly. Another typically separate and distinct Web sites, so the issue of Any organization should make interna- expensive mistake, of course, is the inclusion of localization came into every single deliverable tionalization part of its core activities with archi- translatable texts in navigation buttons which we produced. The font, Arial, and the graphics tects and planners working closely with are not layered graphic files; these then have to and navigation buttons are in a template to marketing and sales departments in the design be manipulated as graphics rather than simply maintain the same look and feel. It’s a text-based and implementation stages. In reality, many by replacing the text layer. Designers also often navigation system. There is no text in the graph- organizations have designed their sites with one forget to allocate sufficient page space for the ics, and the text in the navigation buttons wraps national market in mind so that localization for more lengthy terminology found in languages to avoid breaking errors..” another market invariably involves a degree of such as German.When the page is crowded with Lisa Walsh, director of marketing and internationalization work and the costs that data and text elements, this can even result in a Web publishing at CBE, says, “We are creating going back to fix something incurs. Hedley redesign to accommodate the 20% extra copy a truly pan-European site (www.CBEurope Rees-Evans, marketing director of the globaliza- length German can require.” .com). Every country site has the same look and tion company SDL International, confirms this Algonquin Studios considered these issues feel. Customers can browse pan-European top- reality. “With the exception of software and when it recently designed and deployed Web ics on the European home page such as News & technology companies, most have not thought sites for Coldwell Banker Europe (CBE). The Events or jump easily from country site to coun- try site. In addition, we allow the user to search Global Web Site Dublin for homes in any country from all country sites. Project Profile For example, Spanish users in the Spain site can search from the Spain site for homes in France Web architecture and in Spanish. Of course, they can also search for localization donated by: Bowne Global Solutions (BGS) homes in Spain. This allows for CBE to create Client organization: 2003 referral business on a pan-European level. It’s Special Olympics World Games, important that we have a multilingual site that a nonprofit organization. will allow users to browse the European site in Web site management the language of choice or browse the country model: Centralized to all sites in that country’s language(s) or English. In regions of the world. the future, we may add the ability to navigate all Functions supported: Press BGS offices country sites in many languages.” relations, marketing and Vendor offices Another example is the Web site of CHEP, fund-raising information, native the pallet and container supply chain logistics language search engine, knowledge base and local phone numbers. company. The multilingual Web site was Languages: Arabic, English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian~ and Spanish. designed and developed by Razorfish, a New Web technology: Win 32/64 platform uses HTML and XML and is Unicode enabled. A CMS is York IT consulting firm that designs and builds integrated with the BGS Elcano technology. Web applications. Razorfish implemented the Localization: Dublin, Ireland, is the site of the games and the client office. Dublin is also the location of the site on a J2EE architecture running on BEA BGS vendor where primary project management is taking place. The symbols indicate BGS country WebLogic Application Server, Apache Web offices that are involved in coordinating site localization: New York, Madrid, São Paolo, Sindelfingen, Munich, Server and an Oracle database residing on a Rome, Beijing and Singapore. The symbols indicate locations of vendors supplying language services. Solaris Platform. During the site construction, For more information about this project and for more global Web site project profiles, Microsoft Excel was used to gather the content see www.multilingual.com/globalWebProfiles in the various languages, and Java-based 10 GETTING

GLOBAL WEB GUIDE STARTED

Why Should You Achieving a True Breakthrough Technology Work With WH&P? Local Image! Ready your application or Web site for localization immediately and manage updates easily: Our network of dedicated localization experts is With the growing challenge of entering global used to tight deadlines, high-end technology and markets, Moravia IT understands the importance of • without reengineering • without rebuilding top quality…you have read that before. achieving a corporate image in each market. • without retesting Well, we do it consistently: WH&P has been Offering a comprehensive multilingual solution in over • without access to source code benchmarked “Best Localization Company” 40 languages, Moravia uses Web content management Guaranteed Language Services for the second time in 3 years! technology to automate the workflow, allowing simulta- Ensure your application, Web site and documenta- Based in Sophia Antipolis, France, WH&P is neous multilingual updates and quicker release dates tion are presented correctly in multiple languages and located in the heart of Europe. Since 1994, we without compromising quality. at the appointed time. Our reputation for accountability have provided turnkey localization services to is unmatched – we deliver what we promise – and Fortune 500 corporations. Moravia has proven experience in deploying technology to achieve a cost-effective solution for its clients, providing we back it all up with The ABLE Guarantee™ for Cost We help them to enter the complex and very customizable solutions to streamline the process and Savings, Quality and On-Time Delivery. demanding European market smoothly – and to achieving the correct local image. stay on top. ABLE Innovations, Inc. WH&P Moravia IT 1100 Lakeway Drive, Suite 200 Espace Beethoven BP 102 199 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard Bellingham, WA 98229 06140 Sophia Antipolis, France Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 360-714-1390 • Fax: 360-714-1432 33-493-004-030 • Fax: 33-493-004-030 800-276-1664 • Fax: 805-557-1702 [email protected] [email protected] • www.whp.net or www.whp.fr [email protected] • www.moravia-it.com www.ableinnovations.com proprietary tools were used to generate the stat- time they don’t know what goes wrong. It’s Excel spreadsheets with content strings from the ic pages. The localization of the site and trans- always an idiosyncrasy of a particular software application, but it seemed awkward or out of lation of content were undertaken and program you might be working on.” context, which made it challenging for our managed by GCI, the CHEP public relations iLanguage localized WebEx Communica- translators. However, our translators were firm. CHEP then has its resources in the rele- tions, which builds real-time communications trained to use the WebEx meeting software, vant markets review the translations to ensure infrastructure for Web meetings, into four lan- which made it easier, and we created glossaries that the tone and tenor of the messaging are guages including Japanese and Korean. WebEx and used TRADOS translation memories.” preserved. The site now supplies chain infor- services enable end users to share content and The production team, made up of a proj- mation and on-line account access for cus- applications simultaneously in a seamless, inte- ect manager and four in-house Japanese trans- tomers in seven languages: English, French, grated vocal and audiovisual environment. lators, met the strict deadline, which enabled a Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian and Por- When the company began localizing its software successful implementation on time after three tuguese. Deb Spicer, CHEP vice president, cor- and user interface to serve its target internation- QA tests. As a result of this success, WebEx porate communications, says, “The new al markets, it began with Japan, using a number turned back to iLanguage with the localization CHEP.com reinforces our global vision with of freelance translators. But analysis showed that of the meeting center in Korean and a bigger our e-tools account access for our customers this solution was too costly due to the complex- challenge: a complete translation of Web page and information for prospective customers in a ity of managing numerous virtual translators as content, localization of graphics and coding, multilingual, solutions-oriented approach.” well as possible compromises in quality. WebEx translation of collateral documents and forms turned to iLanguage, which does 99% of its and voiceover development of WebEx Express Double-byte Languages work in-house, according to Bautil. Training Modules. WebEx is now the first Web Double-byte languages such as Chinese, The project involved numerous file for- conferencing service to support multiple lan- Japanese and Korean are generally considered mats and requirements, including C++, HTML, guages in a single Web meeting. Subrah Iyar, the biggest challenge for localizers due to issues Java, and other file and source codes. As the WebEx chairman and CEO, says, “By allowing such as Chinese scripts including a set of elab- WebEx development team and iLanguage’s users to work in multiple languages, we can orate ideographic characters for numbers or project teams began working together, some greatly leverage our service and significantly the need in Japan to support pronounceable minor technical errors naturally occurred. widen our base of potential customers. strings called furigana. Marc Bautil, chairman These were quickly resolved as both teams acted iLanguage has done an outstanding job. Our and CEO at iLanguage, says, “We try to mini- immediately to revise the processes for commu- communications network services are just as mize any of the changing environments when nications and globalization. Bautil says, “Their elegant and easy to use for our Japanese or Kore- we are dealing in Asian languages. You can talk engineers extracted content from the applica- an customers as they are for our English or to every specialist of that area, and half the tions and gave it to us as resource files, mostly French customers.” 11 GETTING

GUIDE STARTED GLOBAL WEB

Consultation Services in the success of this project.Algonquin took the their native languages are an amazing goal real- time to learn about our business, and therefore ized.” During the first two months after the Close consultation with the client is essen- I only had to explain our business once. If I had launch, traffic increased on average by 35% in tial to the success of any localization project. used a different designer, it probably would have total sessions served, 25% in average page Ralph McElroy Translation Company (RMTC), taken more time to come up with a design that viewed per session and time spent per session a localization vendor, has localized many sites, would work to meet all of our needs.” increasing 5% in the 2-to-5-minute and 6-to- including the recent localization of DuPont’s 15-minute ranges compared to averages from BioTech site into Spanish (www.dupont.com/ Time-to-market September through November 2002. biotech/espanol). As RMTC operations manag- Clients have always demanded faster proj- Only 15,000 words needed translating for er Shelly Orr Priebe points out, “More often ect completions from their localization vendors, the IAEC site. Large commercial organizations than not, our clients rely on us not only to effec- who usually deliver on time even though some have a great deal more content and expect not tively localize their sites, but to provide technical deadlines are challenging. Globalization Part- only a fast turnaround on the initial project, but guidance and insight. More than once we have ners International (GPI) had 20 business days to also on subsequent localization of content been asked to rename all of the localized files to complete a project for the Inter-American Eco- changes. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MSDW) include a distinguishing extension for each lan- nomic Council (IAEC) with an initial budget of is a global financial services firm operating in guage, with the intention of including all of the $20,000. IAEC, a Washington, DC-based non- the funds management and information market source files and localized files in one location. profit organization, required a dynamic, multi- and maintains an on-line list of all fund profiles Instead, we suggest that they store each language lingual database-driven Web site that its staff and details of their composition. SDL Interna- version in its own location. Otherwise, every could update daily without delays or excessive tional was engaged to provide a solution to the link reference in every file would need to be costs and without keeping a technical Webmas- management of the related multilingual con- renamed to point to the right link. The potential ter on salary full time. The organization also tent, localizing articles and commentary into for creating errors as a result of this unwieldy needed to launch its site to coincide with two Italian, German and Spanish. Rees-Evans says, undertaking would be unacceptable.” key events for the IAEC: the 2003 Annual Win- “We localized 170,000 words in the ‘basic’ site Cooperation and communication are eas- ter Award Gala and the January 15–19, 2003, and 230,000 words of archived articles, quickly ier with a knowledgeable client. When RMTC Antigua and Barbados Business Roundtables. and efficiently, simultaneously building the did the DuPont Web site, it was possible to IAEC chose GPI to design, develop and translation memory. In addition, there are accept interim changes in source design and implement www.inter-american.org in English, updates of approximately 80,000 words every content until the eleventh hour before site Spanish and Portuguese. The project involved month, which are then translated into the other launch. “While aggressive schedule goals often site design and development from submission languages in a process initiated automatically preclude 100% source stability at the onset of and approval of design comps through localiza- every day at 11:45 and 16:00 (New York time) so the localization process, revision control for this tion of content into Spanish and Portuguese that the latest material is immediately available.” site was particularly critical,” says Orr Priebe. and installation and training on the Web con- “Project management professional Tina Wuelf- tent management system (CMS). The system Content Management ing coordinated version control with different architecture includes presentation, application Published Web sites receive constant client contacts in different functions from mul- and data tiers and functionalities such as ability updates to content. Managing these changes is a tiple locations. The use of TRADOS, which to author, edit and post multilingual content, complex business that a CMS with multilingual allows the translator to view the source and tar- including photos, without technical assistance capabilities simplifies. One important consider- get files in final format side by side, facilitated or HTML expertise. Access to content had to be ation is the organization’s chosen site manage- mid-project revisions, minimizing the other- via a browser so IAEC staff could update the site ment model: a centralized site managed with wise daunting task of continuous changes.” while on location conducting conferences any- strong control from the home office; a decen- CBE’s Walsh believes that it was important where in the western hemisphere. GPI delivered tralized site managed with strong in-country to work closely with Algonquin Studios from the project in 19 days and under budget. local control; or a distributed site managed with the beginning: “I was able to work with Algon- IAEC president Barry Featherman says, a balance of control between the home office quin on everything from design to buildout and “The quality and quantity of timely information and local in-country offices. This would dictate localization. Having one place to go was crucial we can now make available to our members in workflow rules for content management. For example, the IAEC site is centralized. GPI im- plemented Blue Mesa Creations’ Site Manager ML, a Web-based CMS, to update the site, post new articles, create new links, adjust navigation and add photos and artwork from a simple and intuitive Web application. Martin Spethman, GPI managing partner USA, says, “Site Manag- er ML also offers easy and flexible workflows that allow content to be created, edited and pub- lished by a single person or by an entire content staff. The system tracks content requiring trans- lation and feeds a flexible translation workflow.” The MSDW site combines general infor- mation for the public with more detailed data for brokers, with 80% of this content being common content across the different languages. The content is updated weekly and monthly and 12 GETTING

GLOBAL WEB GUIDE STARTED is transposed into other languages at short though in a Word document. If they prefer, they not always the most complex sites that reveal notice and within a short turnaround time. It is can write in a code environment. But an author opportunities to assist and educate clients. In a decentralized Web management model. SDL’s in France or wherever can use approved elec- analyzing a prospective client’s files recently, our multilingual CMS, SDLWorkFlow, was used. tronic files, images, documents and so on, but Web development team found that they had “The site database manages around 1,000 nothing else.” really taken to heart the lesson about the value of template files and graphics, built dynamically,” Walsh says, “Since I do not know much keywords in their HTML meta-tag information Rees-Evans says. “Content changes are detected HTML, a content management program is — to the extent that they had listed about four automatically, saving substantial time and cost. extremely important to me. I am able to easily times as many as the most generous of major A key objective was to take advantage of make changes to CBEurope.com 24 hours a day, search engines would read! Multiply this times SDLWorkFlow’s transactions over HTTPS- seven days a week. In the future, we could have quite a few pages where keywords were individ- XML, all of which are initiated from behind the up to 26 country sites, and this would make ually chosen. Now consider that this site is being firewall for maximum security. Use of comput- managing each site extremely difficult for one localized into nine languages, and you begin to er-aided translation meant that about 50% of person. However, with Quantum CMS, we are see what our design team saw. Had we not content matched previous translations, saving able to train users in Europe who do not have a pointed this out, they would have spent 10% to substantial amounts of money each month. The lot of experience with computers to use the 15% of their localization budget on translation system’s workflow automatically involves CMS to update their own country sites. Quan- of content that would never be used.We empha- MSDW staff for review at the appropriate point, tum is working very well for our needs, and sized that only the most relevant keywords ensuring absolute accuracy of the translation Algonquin is always making updates that con- should be translated. Every ounce of potential and its necessary style before publication.” tinue to make the tool better for our needs.” must be squeezed from the localized Web pages. The back end of CBE’s site is managed by With improved search engine ranking, our Algonquin’s Web-based Quantum CMS. Nor- Obtaining Feedback clients’ localized pages are found by those they ton says, “We used Quantum to build the site. Many organizations have IT departments are trying to reach.” Our client uses it to enhance, expand, edit and and choose to design and implement global sites Excessive keywords in the meta-tag infor- continue to breathe new life into the site. It real- in-house, but at some point they would benefit mation might seem a rudimentary mistake for ly comes into play in a post-deployment sce- from bringing in specialized language vendors seasoned IT departments and Webmasters, but nario. It’s designed for different workflows, with hands-on experience. Orr Priebe says, “In those new to Web site globalization will find authors and editors and has a WYSIWYG envi- our Web localization work, we see a wide vari- many such hazards. Consulting with language ronment where they can write and edit as ance in Web site structure and complexity. It is vendors can help site designers build safely. Ω

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13 GETTING

GUIDE STARTED GLOBAL WEB

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is providing a firm base of standards such as (X)HTML, CSS, XML and many oth- ers. The W3C is also working on exciting new technologies such as SVG, XForms and SOAP with the goal of leading the Web to its The W3C at Work full potential. But what does it need for the The W3C at Work Web to work truly globally? General Principles Martin Dürst From its beginnings, the World Wide Web was designed to be worldwide or global. The basic principles of the World Wide Web In the past, however, using characters other mobile phone or a PDA is an everyday reality in are easily taken for granted or more often than US-ASCII in URIs has not been very well many parts of the world. The past few years saw ignored. But they are crucial for the efficient defined. This has also caused a lot of complica- some confusion with regard to device-specific development of global Web sites. tions when trying to send query data to the technologies, but technology is now firmly head- The translation, localization and content server. The W3C is working on moving URIs ed toward using (carefully scaled-down) ver- adaptation necessary for a successful global more and more toward UTF-8. As an extension sions of Web standards such as XHTML Basic. Web site require a great deal of human expert- to this, we are defining Internationalized The benefits for content providers and in par- ise and effort. The design principles of the Resource Identifiers (IRIs), which allow native ticular localizers are clear: only one set of tech- World Wide Web and W3C standards in par- characters in place of the ugly %-escapes. nologies has to be dealt with; the choice of ticular help to isolate and streamline the dif- Universal access. While the previous target devices is on the content provider’s side; ferent localization tasks. principles are basically technical, universal with a little bit of additional effort, more than Unicode as the reference character set. access is an inherently human-oriented princi- one class of devices can be targeted; and easier Unicode, the universal character standard, is ple. In its fullest, it means that nobody should repurposing means better amortization of used as the reference for character encoding in be left behind with regard to Web technology. localization costs. all W3C standards. This shows up in numerous This includes aspects such as culture, lan- Separating content and style. Web pages places. Every XML processor is required to guages, education, ability, material resources, full of (non-standard) FONT tags are still accept the two Unicode encodings UTF-8 and access devices and physical limitations. The around. Fortunately, they are fewer and fewer. UTF-16, and UTF-8 is the default encoding for W3C Internationalization Activity works to Using stylesheet technology such as CSS (or XML documents. The character encoding of make sure that W3C standards are usable for XSL), the same or better visual effects can be an XML file is indicated right at the top of the any language and culture. This is important for achieved with much less effort. The Web page file. Using Unicode-based Numeric Character localization because it ensures that the same code is much less cluttered, which means less References (for example, ABCD for Unicode technology can be used across a global Web effort when translating. And style changes need- character U+ABCD), data can be converted to site. The W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative ed for different languages and cultures, such as legacy encodings and back without loss if nec- similarly takes care of ability and physical lim- different fonts, sizes and colors, can be made in essary. Implementing the whole back-end of a itations. With very little careful planning at the a single place rather than over and over again. global Web site in Unicode can dramatically right time, a Web site can easily be used by peo- Style sheets also help designers to get away from simplify the handling of multiple languages. ple with various challenges. This makes sure no a fixed page size, very important because trans- Serving Web pages directly in UTF-8 is now customer is lost. It also results in additional lations take widely varying amounts of space. widely feasible. As a result, localization profes- benefits, such as easier localization due to a Structured information. Information on sionals can concentrate on their job, rather clearer structure and a reduction in data size, the Web is available in many different forms, than worry about encoding issues. an important consideration when sending Web from bitmap images to structured XML files. Universal Resource Identifiers. What pages around the globe. Different forms have vastly different conse- keeps the Web together is not so much HTTP Universal access also applies to the author quences on how easy it is to work with the infor- or HTML, but URIs (Uniform/Universal Re- side. W3C technology is designed for all kinds mation. Having more structure in most cases source Identifiers), the famous Web addresses. of Web authors and Web sites, from the home- makes things easier. It can provide metadata A Web page with an address of http://www made site for a local audience to the global cor- helpful for localization, and it can help repur- .example.com/cool.html may no longer be porate Web site and everything in between. posing and reusing content and translations. cool (that may have been a while ago). Never- Device independence. Device independ- XML is also used to streamline localization and theless, being able to use memorable and ence is another important part of universal translation with industry-specific formats such meaningful addresses can be extremely helpful. access. Being able to look at a Web page on a as TMX and XLIFF. The W3C is working to move from less Useful Links structured formats to more structured for- W3C — www.w3.org (includes links to all technologies mentioned in this article from left side of page) mats. The work on XML provides the base for Internationalization Activity — www.w3.org/International this. A typical example is SVG (Scalable Vector Core Task Force of the Internationalization WG — www.w3.org/International/core Graphics). It is based on a careful analysis of GEO Task Force of the Internationalization WG — www.w3.org/International/geo Web Services Task Force of the Internationalization WG — www.w3.org/International/ws what designers wanted to do and were actually Character Model for the World Wide Web — www.w3.org/TR/charmod doing with two-dimensional Web graphics. It Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs) — www.w3.org/International/O-URL-and-ident replaces heaps of pixels (GIF or PNG) with a Web Services Internationalization Usage Scenarios — www.w3.org/TR/ws-i18n-scenarios structured XML format. As a result, SVG is Unicode — www.unicode.org scalable (a user can zoom in and not get jagged 14 GETTING

GLOBAL WEB GUIDE STARTED edges), is more compact, and can easily be edit- specifications and implementations are be- Internationalization task forces. The ed, which simplifies translation or even just coming much better internationalized. Internationalization Working Group’s three makes it possible. If sizes have to be adjusted The W3C uses a unique process to create components are the GEO (Guidelines, Edu- due to differing text lengths, that can also be its standards, which are called Recommenda- cation & Outreach) task force, the Web Ser- done easily. SVG also allows users to include tions. Many people participate in this process. vices task force and the Core task force. some language alternatives in the same docu- They roughly fall in three categories. The public The GEO task force aims to make the ment. This can in some cases be easier to main- can get involved in open discussion lists and by internationalization aspects of W3C technology tain than having the same large graphics in sending comments on frequently published better understood and more widely and consis- different files. Working Drafts. The member organizations tently used. It is working on guidelines related to The Semantic Web is another activity of (companies, universities, research institutions) (X)HTML and CSS. the W3C aiming at making information more participate in Working Groups and influence The Web Services task force is looking at manageable and in particular easier to reuse. the overall direction of the Consortium. They issues and requirements for Web Services inter- One main application area is metadata, which also provide the funds for running the Consor- nationalization. It recently published a first is again important for localization. tium. The team consists of about 70 people working draft of Web Services Internationaliza- Descriptive is better than procedural. To employed by the Consortium via the host tion Usage Scenarios. By exchanging data say what to do is better than to say how to do organizations. The team provides technical between machines instead of serving docu- it. The more scripting a page uses, the more coordination and organizational support. Team ments to users, Web Services touch different difficult it can be to localize it. As an example, members in the Internationalization Activity are issues of the internationalization and localiza- many sites now use scripting to simulate a date Richard Ishida and Martin Dürst. tion problem space. picker for checking input values in a form or The World Wide Web and the use of W3C Membership in these two task forces is for changing a form depending on entries in technology continue to grow rapidly. New tech- open to experts from W3C Members and the another part of the form. Adapting a date pick- nologies, such as Web Services and the Semantic public. Their work can be followed in the pub- er to another date format or calendar is very Web, are proposed regularly and moved towards lic archives of the mailing list. complex. Based on the experience with forms standardization. Also, the Web continues to The Core task force carries on the earlier in HTML, W3C is working on XForms. Using grow, in particular in areas of the world where it work of the Internationalization Working Group: XML to hold form data, and XML Schema to is less used currently. So, it is crucial to identify reviewing specifications of other W3C Working provide type information, XForms makes it the relevant internationalization issues and Groups and progressing two basic documents possible to just say, for example, “I expect the needs for these technologies more quickly and along the standards process. The first document, user to input a date here.” The browser then to be more actively involved than in the past. the Character Model for the World Wide Web, can display this in a way that the user will This will ensure that W3C technology can be describes the internationalization architecture of understand. XForms is not completely stan- used readily around the world. This is why the the W3C; the second specifies IRIs. dardized yet, but it is moving ahead fast. Internationalization Activity was rechartered in While W3C principles and technology September 2002. It still consists of a Working can help users in building global Web sites, How the W3C Works Group and an Interest Group. The Working users can help the W3C to continue to make its A look at the W3C’s history and organi- Group now consists of three task forces, two of technology support internationalization and zation will help explain why W3C is so focused them starting new work. localization needs. Ω on getting technology right in the long term. W3C history. The World Wide Web Con- sortium was founded by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, in 1994. In 1995, INRIA (Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique, France) joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a host. Keio University (Tokyo, Japan) became the Asian Host in 1996. At the beginning of 2003, the role of European Host passed from INRIA to the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM). Although the World Wide Web was intended as a global technology, initially there was quite a gap between intent on the one hand and specifications and implementations on the other hand. Originally, special “inter- nationalized” versions of a specification (such as RFC 2070 for HTML) had to be written. To improve this, the Internationalization Activity of the W3C was founded in late 1995, with a first workshop in 1996. The Internationaliza- tion Working Group, constituted in early 1998, has reviewed many specifications as they were developed. As a result, both 15 GETTING

GUIDE STARTED GLOBAL WEB SubscriptionSubscription OfOfferfer

This supplement introduces you to the Wide Web for e-mail, for purchasing more complex. Leaders in the development magazine MultiLingual Computing & services, for promoting your business of these systems explain how they work and Technology. Published nine times a year, or for conducting fully international e- how they work together. filled with news, technical developments commerce, you’ll benefit from the informa- and language information, it is widely tion and ideas in each issue of MultiLingual Internationalization recognized as a useful and informative pub- Computing & Technology. lication for people who are interested in the Making software ready for the interna- role of language, technology and transla- Translation tional market requires more than just a good tion in our twenty-first-century world. idea. How does an international developer How are translation tools changing prepare a product for multiple locales? Will Language Technology the art and science of communicating ideas the pictures and colors you select for a user and information between speakers of dif- interface in France be suitable for users in From multiple keyboard layouts and ferent languages? Translators are vital to Brazil? Elements such as date and currency input methods to Unicode-enabled opera- the development of international and formats sound like simple components, but ting systems, language-specific encodings, localized software. Those who specialize in developers who ignore the many interna- systems that recognize your handwriting or technical documents, such as manuals for tional variants find that their products may your speech in any language — language computer hardware and software, industri- be unusable. You’ll find sound ideas and technology is changing day by day. And this al equipment and medical products, use practical help in every issue. technology is also changing the way in which sophisticated tools along with professional people communicate on a personal level; expertise to translate complex text clearly Localization changing the requirements for international and precisely. Translators and people who software; and changing how business is done use translation services track new develop- How can you make your product look all over the world. ments through articles and news items in and feel as if it were built in another coun- MultiLingual Computing & Technology MultiLingual Computing & Technology. try for users of that language and culture? is your source for the best information and How do you choose a localization service insight into these developments and how Managing Content vendor? Developers and localizers offer they will affect you and your business. their ideas and relate their experiences with How do you track all the words and the practical advice that will save you time and Global Web changes that occur in a multilingual Web money in your localization projects. site? How do you know who’s doing what Every Web site is a global Web site, and and where? How do you respond to cus- And There’s Much More even a site designed for one country may tomers and vendors in a prompt manner require several languages to be effective. and in their own languages? The growing Authors with in-depth knowledge Experienced Web professionals explain and changing field of content management summarize changes in the language indus- how to create a site that works for users and global management systems (CMS and try and explain its financial side, describe everywhere, how to attract those users to GMS), customer relations management the challenges of computing in various lan- your site and how to keep it current. (CRM) and other management disciplines guages, explain and update encoding Whether you use the Internet and World is increasingly important as systems become schemes and evaluate software and sys- tems. Other articles focus on particular countries or regions; translation and local- To subscribe, use our secure on-line form at ization training programs; the uses of lan- guage technology in specific industries — a wide array of current topics from the world wwwwww.multilingual.com/subscribe.multilingual.com/subscribe of multilingual computing. Nine times a year, readers of Multi- Be sure to enter this on-line registration code: Lingual Computing & Technology explore sup55 language technology and its applications, project management, basic elements and advanced ideas with the people and com- panies who are building the future. 16 with TRADOS TM Server TM

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