I had someone bring up the possibility of presenting some/all of our web content in different languages. I identified three approaches that were mentioned in the meeting:
A page translation widget (Google, etc.) available on each page, translating the base language to any other language supported by the tool.
Maintaining multiple versions of key pages in key languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, etc.
Landing pages individually translated to specific key languages, helping give a strong overview of topics (academics, student life, admissions, aid, etc) up front in the audience’s language and linking to the detailed pages in English.
My questions for the group:
Are there other approaches to providing web content in multiple languages that we may not be considering?
Has anyone attempted any of the above approaches, and if so, what ideas, benefits, drawbacks, or lessons do you have to share regarding that approach?
We have been down this road and considered all of those options.
We used to (long ago) have a whole section of our site that had content written specifically for Spanish speakers. It became forgotten about, and therefore outdated, very quickly. And when it did need updates, we didn’t have anyone specific to make the updated translations. We abandoned that idea after some time of struggling to keep it current.
We explored page translation widgets. Google used to have a free one, but I believe it no longer exists. There are probably paid options available.
We now have 1 page, written in Spanish, that links to key pages (in English) and provides instructions for how to use browser tools to translate our site to Spanish.
The reality is, most people who do not speak English are probably browsing your site in their language already. Most browsers auto-detect when a site is not in the same language as your browser/OS, and will prompt to translate for you. This should be as good as any widget you could add.
If you prefer human translation, just be prepared with a plan to keep any content you create updated.