Internationalization (I18N)
 

UmlautsInternationalization deals with a wide range of topics:

  1. Can language-specific characters (umlauts, accents and so on) be displayed and entered?
  2. Is it also possible to have versions in languages that are written from right to left (Hebrew, Arabic) or languages that have complex characters (Chinese, Japanese)? In localization, these languages are described as bi-directional and double-byte languages.
  3. Can dates and numbers be adjusted to local conditions? For example, 1.12.2007 instead of 12/01/2007 or 1.000,50 instead of 1,000.50 or 7,2 100 km instead of 32.7 mpg. These categories also include paper formats (A4 instead of letter) or print colors.
  4. Will lists be sorted correctly in the target language version? For example, you should be able to find Germany under "G" and not under "D" for Deutschland.
  5. Can the text that is displayed to the user be translated or is it embedded in the coding or in graphics?
  6. Mass ClearIs there enough blank space available? Since, for example, German (or even Italian) text is considerably longer than the English source text, a field that is completely filled may lead to unsightly or incomprehensible abbreviations.MassRück
  7. Images, colors, examples and names should also be adjusted or exchanged.

As obvious as some of these topics are, they are frequently overlooked. In particular, the problems with length and texts that are "embedded" in coding or images lead to considerable problems.

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