Multilingual Website?

Multilingual Website: Making Your Local Community Website Accessible for Non-Native English Speakers.

Why have a multilingual website? If you run a local community group or organisation in England, you’ll have some members whose first language is not English. Providing a professionally translated version of your website for every language is not realistic. However, there are basic steps you can take to ensure your website is accessible to everyone.

A multilingual website is not as easy as you might think.

Understanding your audience.

Before making changes, consider how non-native English speakers in your community might access your website.

Their device settings:

If you set your PC or smartphone to use your native language, then visit a site written in another language, your web browser might offer to translate that page.

Translation tools:

If your visitor views your site on a device set to use the English language, they can activate translation tools in their web browser. Your site visitors do this by right clicking the web page, and from the pop up list, choosing “translate to”.

Understanding how your site visitors access your site helps you decide how to make your site accessible to as much of your local community as possible. You don’t need to use a plugin to have a multilingual website.

Writing accessible content.

There are different types of website accessibility. Here I’m talking about ways to help visitors who use English is as a second language by making your content understandable and user-friendly.

You should:

Write in plain English.
Use short sentences and avoid unnecessarily difficult words.

Don’t use phrases that a computer might not understand. For instance, instead of saying “this decision is up in the air” say “we are undecided”. Don’t use jargon unnecessarily. And don’t use terms that are not understandable without local knowledge. For instance, Yorkshire folks know the Rhubarb Triangle is between Wakefield, Leeds, and Bradford. Other folks might not.

Write using active sentences. Say, we host fitness events, not fitness events are hosted by us.
Make your content scannable.

Break up your text with headings, subheadings, and bullet points. Keep paragraphs short and focused on one idea.

Use relevant graphics.

When using icons, choose universally recognisable symbols. Place phone icons beside phone numbers and letter icons beside email addresses.

If you use photos or diagrams, make those images relevant to its surrounding text. For instance, if you have a photo on your contact us page you could show the person who the site visitor is about to contact. Alternatively, you could show an image of your premises or a map of your location. Make the image relevant to the text.

Highlight important information.

Use bold text or colour to make important details stand out, such as event dates or contact information.
Format dates and times clearly, e.g., “7 January 2025,” instead of “01/07/25.”

Consider using translation tools.

There are several WordPress plugins that add a translation option to your website. However, beware of side effects these plugins might bring. For instance, sometimes, the translation bar can obscure your navigation bar or cause other unexpected things to happen. If you use a translation plugin, test it thoroughly on a staging site before you install it on your live website.

Testing and feedback.

If you’re making your site more accessible to a certain user group or community, ask for a volunteer from that community. Sit by their side as they use your website, note any problems they face and note any ways they deal with the language barrier. For instance, do they use the web browser’s built in translation tools, and do they find any of your phrases confusing?

Multilingual Website