Re: Multiligual Credentials

Hi,
I find the examples using "inLanguage" quite problematic. As noted by
Benjamin above, a translation is detached from its source, it
introduces a proprietary mapping that limits expressiveness and makes
the whole document, picturing embedded structures having translations
..., hard to read, to understand.

Using lang maps is quite common, an ancient approach that has not
changed much over decades, adopted by many frameworks across all
existing languages.

I would strongly recommend to stick with well-know approach in order
to boost adoption, which should be one the key metrics.

Best regards,
Filip


On Fri, Nov 22, 2024 at 9:06 PM Benjamin Young <byoung@digitalbazaar.com> wrote:
>
> Doesn't the `inLanguage` approach (per Nate's example) mean that an individual has essentially been given two (albeit "related") Acheivements? One in English (which is apparently the primary one) and a related Achievement in Italian? The VCDM approach--while perhaps "awkward" or at least different for some with its use of arrays and objects--does mean that your data model would result in only one Achievement being given with its contents available in multiple languages.
>
> I don't know how important that is to EDU related implementers, but the modeling does seem off a bit...
>
> Regardless, you may also want to consider adding text direction as a property which can be important to some languages and renderers.
>
> There's also a great read from the I18N group at the W3C called "Developing Localizable Manifests" https://www.w3.org/TR/localizable-manifests/#indicating It covers the pros and cons of most known (or at least existing) approaches for JSON. However, it does not cover "multilingual strings"...which is another can of worms entirely. :)
>
> Cheers,
> Benjamin
>
> On Fri, Nov 22, 2024 at 1:13 PM Kerri Lemoie <klemoie@mit.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Hello All,
>>
>>
>>
>> At the November 18, VC-EDU call, we discussed approaches to multilingual credentials (transcription and audio available through this tool: https://w3c-ccg.github.io/meetings/scribe-tool/).
>>
>>
>>
>> I believe this is an important topic especially for education related credentials.
>>
>>
>>
>> I’d like to kick-off a discussion on this thread and consider a follow-up discussion at VC-EDU again and/or CCG soon. Together we can consider pragmatic approaches that will help to make the credentials as useable and understandable as possible.
>>
>>
>>
>> Primarily we discussed two ways that I’m aware of that we could issue credentials in multiple languages.
>>
>>
>>
>> W3C VCDM approach: https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/#example-example-dual-language-credential
>>
>>
>>
>> The angle of this approach is to provide translations within the properties themselves.
>>
>>
>>
>> 1EdTech Open Badges 3.0 & Comprehensive Learner Record V2: https://gist.github.com/ottonomy/12bd1e1f5510d3f49d966b1991f1e6c8 (draft gist provided by Nate Otto – thanks)
>>
>>
>>
>> This approach specifies creating related achievements that could be in different languages using:
>>
>> related (https://www.imsglobal.org/spec/ob/v3p0#org.1edtech.ob.v3p0.related.class)
>> with a languageCode: (https://www.imsglobal.org/spec/ob/v3p0#org.1edtech.ob.v3p0.derived.languagecode.class)
>>
>>
>>
>> It’s worth noting this approach has been used by the 1EdTech specs prior to the more current versions that are aligned to VCs and that they could be open to changing this in a subsequent version.
>>
>>
>>
>> Also worth noting that the current Open Badges 3.0 and CLR v2 (presumably since they are very similar) schemas will not allow for the VCDM method because the properties where you would likely apply this are expected to be strings versus arrays or objects. So, any software verifying against the schemas will return an error if say, both the VCDM and the 1EdTech angles to multilingual credentials are used simultaneously.
>>
>> Would love to hear from you about it.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>>
>>
>> K.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ---
>>
>> Kerri Lemoie, PhD
>> Director – MIT, Digital Credentials Consortium
>> https://digitalcredentials.mit.edu
>> she/her
>>
>> The DCC is advancing the use and understanding of portable, verifiable digital credentials in higher education through open source technology development and leadership, research, and advocacy.
>>
>>
>>
>> Join the DCC mailing list and follow us on LinkedIn for news & updates.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> https://linkedin.com/in/benjaminyoung
> Developer Engagement Engineer
> Digital Bazaar

Received on Friday, 22 November 2024 20:25:58 UTC