Re: Revised gateway FAQ

John, My comments were not intended to discourage you from going
forward. I haven't seen the other comments, I only had a chance to look
at the faq while bouncing thru other things.

If there were a lot of comments, perhaps narrow the focus of the faq so
you can make some of the goodpoints therein and tackle the others on
another day.

I am traveling momentarily. If I get time I'll try to be more
constructive.
Please dont give up though.
tex

John Yunker wrote:
> 
> Tex,
> 
> Thanks so much for the comments. This is a complex issue, as you
> illustrated, and I'm honestly not sure at this point that I can
> adequately address and resolve all the comments I've received so far in
> one FAQ. The larger problem is that for every recommendation I make
> there will be an exception (or more) that is equally valid. So much
> depends on what the company's goals are.
> 
> Thanks again,
> JY
> 
> On Feb 16, 2005, at 11:12 AM, Tex Texin wrote:
> 
> > Hi John,
> > A couple comments for you:
> >
> > 1) I agree pulldowns are not nice. So I wonder why we give so much
> > attention to them instead of focusing more on alternatives. Also, I
> > would consider taking the comments that are not pulldown specific and
> > making them general comments.
> > For example, location, globe icon, utf-8, use of graphics etc. could be
> > stated as considerations having nothing to do with pull-downs, but
> > general techniques that may also be used for pull-downs.
> >
> > 2) 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.
> >
> > 3) This faq confuses locale and language. It starts out discussing
> > locales, which to me means it is about selecting the region that the
> > site will discuss.
> > Later it talks about language. I think a web site should be clear on
> > whether the navigation is addressing the type of content being selected
> > or the language being selected.
> >
> > 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.
> >
> >
> > hth.
> > tex
> >
> >> Revised gateway FAQ
> >>
> >> From: John Yunker <jyunker@bytelevel.com>
> >> Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 16:34:52 -0800
> >> To: GEO <public-i18n-geo@w3.org>
> >>
> >> Based on input from the call today, here is the revised text and image
> >> attachments.
> >>
> >> ------------------------------
> >>
> >> FAQ Global Gateway
> >>
> >>  Question
> >> What are the best practices for using a pull-down menu on my company's
> >> Web site to direct visitors to their country Web sites?
> >>
> >>  Background
> >> As companies 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. One
> >> of the more popular devices is a pull-down menu on the home page that
> >> includes links to the other locales.
> >>
> >>  Answer
> >> 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.
> >>
> >> However, 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.
> >>
> >>  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)
> >>
> >> 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."
> >>
> >> To display a mix of non-Latin languages, such as Arabic, Russian and
> >> Japanese, your Web page will need to support the UTF-8 (Unicode)
> >> encoding. Please note that if you do switch to UTF-8, the Web user
> >> must
> >> have a font that can display this range of scripts; most new operating
> >> systems do ship with such a font. Be aware that a Web user in the US,
> >> for example, may see empty boxes in place of the Japanese text while
> >> the user in Japan will see the text just fine.
> >>
> >> If you do not want to change encodings, an alternative is to embed
> >> non-Latin text within graphics located outside of the pull-down menu,
> >> as demonstrated by the Symantec Web site. (image: symantec.gif)
> >>
> >>
> >> John Yunker
> >> Byte Level Research
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>    * application/applefile attachment: philips.jpg
> >>
> >> [philips.jpg] [symantec.gif]
> >

-- 
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Tex Texin   cell: +1 781 789 1898   mailto:Tex@XenCraft.com
Xen Master                          http://www.i18nGuy.com
                         
XenCraft		            http://www.XenCraft.com
Making e-Business Work Around the World
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Received on Thursday, 17 February 2005 01:44:47 UTC