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- Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 18:20:37 -0000
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Dear Wiki user, You have subscribed to a wiki page or wiki category on "ESW Wiki" for change notification. The following page has been changed by RichardIshida: http://esw.w3.org/topic/geoFaq1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As companies and organizations launch an increasing number of localized Web sites, user-friendly global navigation grows in importance. The term "global gateway" is frequently used to refer to the visual and technical devices that Web sites employ to direct visitors to their content. + The localized content pointed to may be an alternative country site, a translated version of a site or page, etc. + One of the more popular devices is a pull-down menu on the home page that includes links to localized versions of the content (eg. translations or alternative country sites). Such pull-down menus are not restricted to use on the home page, but may also be seen as a space-effective way of allowing users to switch between language or regional localized sites on a page by page basis. In this article we look at some of the pros and cons of using pull-downs in this way, and best practises if you think this approach is right for you. Note that this article is specifically focused on the use of pull-downs for global navigation. There are numerous other aspects to global navigation that will be described in other future articles. @@ -29, +31 @@ === Pros and cons === - The pull-down menu is not always the best solution for global navigation and you need to decide whether it is the best solution for your Web site. The following points may help you. + Pull-downs can be very attractive where space is at a premium. However, the pull-down menu is not always the best solution for global navigation and you need to decide whether it is the best solution for your Web site. The following points may help you. - - If your site supports only a handful of locales, it is probably better to avoid using a pull-down menu altogether and simply include links directly to each locale. This gives you more flexibility to use graphics to represent non-Latin text, avoids the difficulty of finding a suitable non-linguistic label for the list, and + If your site supports only a handful of locales, it is probably better to avoid using a pull-down menu altogether and simply include links directly to each locale. This gives you more flexibility to use graphics to represent non-Latin text, avoids the difficulty of finding a suitable non-linguistic label for the list, and - - If your content is available for more than 20 locales, a pull-down menu is not very usable for those Web users who must scroll to the end of the list. In this case you may consider linking to a dedicated global gateway page at the home page level. If linking between localized versions of specific pages, this may not be a practical solution. + If your content is available for more than 20 locales, a pull-down menu is not very usable for those Web users who must scroll to the end of the list. In this case you may consider linking to a dedicated global gateway page at the home page level. If linking between localized versions of specific pages, this may not be a practical solution. - The pull-down menu is not a silver bullet for global navigation and it may not be the best solution for your Web site. If your site supports only a handful of locales, it is better to avoid using a pull-down menu altogether and simply include links directly to each locale. Also, if your company offers more than 20 locales, a pull-down menu is not very usable for those Web users who must scroll to the end of the list. === Best practises === If you do decide to use a pull-down menu, here are some best practices to keep in mind. - 1. Locate the pull-down menu at the top of all Web pages, preferably to the right side. This location is highly visible, reducing the chance that the visitor will not see it. Furthermore, an increasing number of Web sites have located their global gateways in this location, conditioning Web users to come to expect it here. + 1. Locate the pull-down menu at or near the top of the page. This location is highly visible, reducing the chance that the visitor will not see it. Scanning studies show that for pages in left-to-right scripts positioning to the right side increases visibility. Furthermore, an increasing number of Web sites have located their global gateways in this location, conditioning Web users to come to expect it here. - '''AP: 5. I think the discussion of pull-down location should be more generalized. Perhaps something like: + 2. Come up with a graphic design to serve as a label for the pull-down menu. You cannot expect Web users who are not fluent in English to understand "Select language." Universally recognized icons communicate to people regardless of what language they speak. In an ideal world there would be a widely recognized symbol for this. That time is still some way off, though. Examples of possible graphics would include globes, iconic facial profiles with lines to indicate speech, alphabetic characters from multiple scripts (especially for links to translations), etc. - "The right location of the site selection box depends on the design of the page and the relative importance of finding alternate language or country sites to the home page. Putting the drop down box in the upper right corner makes the selection prominent and easily located. Many sites place it in that location for this reason." + The alt text for such a graphic doesn't have a great deal of importance. People reliant on screen readers would be able to traverse the pull-down text to find the right link. - Location is a usage consideration that should be carefully considered as part of the design and making it a best practice to put it in such a prominent position ignores the considerations that might go into locating such an item. I think the discussion of not overly favoring the USA site is a good one. - - RI: The suggested location of the pull-down originates from studies of user scanning behaviour, generalised over many different designs of web page, and from the need to find those links quickly if you need to switch. I think it makes sense to propose that designs allow for it to be located there. Note that we are not dogmatic here, especially wrt the right side. I think John's text is ok. - - [TT 16 feb] You mention location of top, right. Does this hold true for right to left languages? - - Also, I suggest the recommendation is perhaps too specific, because it doesn't give any discussion of what is competing for that space and how to evaluate how to optimize the needs of the other typical banner items. - company logo, store locations, contact, support, etc. I realize there is considerable variability, but to simply say top-right doesn't really give people an idea of why that should be, what the alternatives are, and why some of the other common uses for that location shouldn't be given priority. Maybe a reference or two, if it would make the faq too long. - - [FTF 4mar] Maybe something along the lines of "Locate the pull-down menu at the top of all Web pages, so that it is immediately visible. Scanning studies show that for Western language pages the right side is usually a good position for this to be visible." - - [DC 9mar] If this holds true for RTL languages, can we include this?''' - - ---- - 2. Include an icon of a globe or map next to the pull-down menu. You cannot expect Web users who are not fluent in English to understand "Select language." Universally recognized icons communicate to people regardless of what language they speak. Over time, the globe icon could be as widely recognized as the shopping cart icon. See the example below from the Philips Web site. (image: philips.jpg) - - '''MD: map -> world map? (coul be any map otherwise) - - RI: Hmm. In general I'd agree that world map would provide a recognisable cue. But I suppose that if someone's Web pages only catered for, say, European countries, a map of Europe may be appropriate?? I'd say it's John decision. - - [DC 23 mar] Some designers argue pictograms are a language and as difficult to learn as any other language, cf way-finding presentation by - Paul Mijksenaar - see Pictograms in orange block, which is a graphic (!) http://www.mijksenaar.com/pauls_corner/index.html. Paul Mijksenaar is responsible for signage for various international airports. He seems to argue the use of pictograms/icons - are they the same? - along with language, but then which?; this is what he does on his own site.''' - - **** - - '''MD: "Over time, the globe icon could be as widely recognized": Can we say something like "The globe icon is more and more getting recognized ..., "? I.e., can we express this in a way that says that it's already starting to be recognized rather than say that we are not yet there? - - AP: 6. The discussion of an icon is interesting. The example of a shopping cart is slightly bad: some companies localize this to a basket for certain locales precisely because the icon is *not* recognized. - - RI: Suggest we say something like "Over time, the intention of an icon representing a globe or world map could be as widely recognized as the various icons used to represent shopping carts, baskets, etc." - - [TT, 16 feb] 4) Assuming the intent is language selection, I don't think globe is a good symbol for languages. Since globe is geographic, when I see it, I presume it is indicating something that will help me know more about the countries a company sells in. regional offices, etc. - We do need a good global symbol for languages. The face profile with lines coming out indicating speech works, although it could indicate voice, chat or other function. Maybe a graphic with the first letter of several scripts? (a, alef, alpha, etc.) If you had locales in mind, I agree globe is a good choice. - - - [SM, 16 feb] Also a follow-on question that has come from my organization, which is currently implementing a new home pag: regarding the globe, what is the suggested alt-text? - - I have only been able to find a couple of globe icons in use. Philips has "Global/English", their first pull down option. I also saw "International Pages" on the one site that used a globe on the "top 10 companies" link you provided. I'm not too crazy about those options and sure would like a better suggestion to pass along to our designer. - - [DC 23 mar] Philips global page, ie, http://www.philips.com, shows the drop-down down with a globe (it's a bit blurry - maybe blurry resolves the whose country is visible conundrum?). You don't always get a globe icon with the Philips site, sometimes a flag. I googled 'Philips', choose the first likely link and got http://www.philips.co.uk, which contained the drop down in the same position but with a UK flag. The globe icon seems to function to show that there are language/country alternatives, the flag icon seems to confirm where you are. How would that read if I end up on a particular language/country page and want to choose an alternative? Would that happen? Would I read the flag as one possibility of other country/language alternatives? I'm uncertain about the use of flags, though I suppose it works as an indicator of locale AND language. Also, I think content neg with geo ip is difficult where people live in countries where their language is not an official language of that country. My English-speaking mother has had problems with this in Portuguese-speaking Madeira, where she is sometimes offered a page she can't understand. - - So, less questions more answers: I suggest adding a point saying if you use content negociation, always ensure your users can make their own choice if the content negociated page is not right for them.''' - - **** - - '''AP: 8. I don't agree with including example shots of other folk's websites. I think we'd be better off mocking up examples, since commercial sites change design format. - - RI: I think this is a difficult one. Showing real applications creates immediacy and interest for the reader, and shows that this is not purely theoretical. On the other hand, they can indeed become out of date or even contradicted by later practise on the same site. On the third hand, there are very few sites that do everything perfectly, and this is one in my mind, since it includes text in English too. I think we need more discussion. - - SM [2 feb] If we do decide to include them (I admit to reservations, despite Richard's point re: reader interest being very true), I don't think that the Philips example is the one to use as the pull-down lists, for example, "italian" instead of "italiano" and therefore may contradict another best practice in this FAQ. - - [FTF 4mar] Feeling that it is good to use real examples, but we need to find a better one than Philipps.''' - - ---- - 3. Translate the menu options as necessary. Instead of including a link on the pull-down menu that reads, for example, "French" the link should read "Français." + 3. Translate the menu options as necessary. Instead of including a link on the pull-down menu that reads, for example, "French" the link should read "Français." '''MD: This needs to more clearly indicate that each language label is supposed to be in the target language. @@ -212, +160 @@ [[SM I certainly see 'global gateway' as home page only. I can't imagine a scenario with loc. alternatives on every page. The only time Boeing has non-home page link is on a very few news releases translated for some reason, where at top of page is text link like "en espanol"]] + == Can flags be used for language+region combinations, eg. fr-CA == + + [[DC You don't always get a globe icon with the Philips site, sometimes a flag. I googled 'Philips', choose the first likely link and got http://www.philips.co.uk, which contained the drop down in the same position but with a UK flag. The globe icon seems to function to show that there are language/country alternatives, the flag icon seems to confirm where you are. How would that read if I end up on a particular language/country page and want to choose an alternative? Would that happen? Would I read the flag as one possibility of other country/language alternatives? I'm uncertain about the use of flags, though I suppose it works as an indicator of locale AND language. Also, I think content neg with geo ip is difficult where people live in countries where their language is not an official language of that country. My English-speaking mother has had problems with this in Portuguese-speaking Madeira, where she is sometimes offered a page she can't understand.]] + + [[RI Sometimes, but not always. For examples, how to treat Swiss German, vs. Swiss French vs. Swiss Italian? The problem here is that the language is a subdivision of country rather than the other way around. + + Also, what do you do if you distinguish(as many companies do) between es-ES and es-for-Latin-America? + + Or what if you can't afford to localize into all the flavours of, say, English that would cover people in all the English speaking territories that come to your site?]] +
Received on Monday, 25 April 2005 18:20:50 UTC