Going Global Gracefully: Strategies for Building the Global Gateway

The world speaks many languages, and so do an increasing number of Web sites. Yet with these languages and locales come a host of challenges for the Web teams who manage them, challenges that are not likely to go away. As companies 'localize' their Web sites for new markets and languages, they run into the navigational challenges of directing users to their localized Web sites. For instance, if your site offers a dozen localized Web sites, how do you ensure that users arrive at their intended sites without getting confused or lost along the way?  This article presents strategies for building a global gateway. 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. And, as you'll soon see, there are many ways to build a gateway.

Yunker, John E. WebWord (2003). Design>Web Design>International>Localization

How to Architect Sites Across Cultures Without Losing Your Mind

Ever since I started working formally as an information architect, I've clung to the belief that there's a universal set of conditions that we're trying to achieve. But what I've slowly begun to believe over my time working here in Japan is that there is simply no such thing as a universal good.

Greenfield, Adam. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Design>Web Design>International>Localization

International Web Usability

They don't call it the World Wide Web for nothing. A single click can take you to a site on another continent and a business can attract customers from hundreds of countries without ever going to a Frankfurt trade show where they book you into a hotel two hours down the autobahn.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1996). Design>Web Design>International>Localization

Internationalization and Authoring for Multilingual Web Pages  

Internationalization--how does it differ from globalization, localization, and all the other terms commonly found in the context of preparing products (for example, web pages) for the global marketplace? It is becoming an increasingly competitive advantage as corporations striving to compete globally realize its necessity. The issue is not to effect it but to effect it properly. Note, however, that internationalization is not limited to a company’s web site but also includes its products and software, related documentation, and marketing material and should be viewed as an integrated whole.

Adams, Cathleen. STC Proceedings (1999). Design>Web Design>Localization>International