TITLE: Building A Culturally-Competent International Corporate Website: An Exploratory Study on Cultural Markers in Multilingual Websites

AUTHORS(s) & AFFILIATION(s): Huatong Sun, Department of Language, Literature, and Communication, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

KEYWORD(s): website localization, cultural markers, multilingual website, usability

PRESENTER / CONTACT PERSON: Huatong Sun

CONTACT EMAIL: sunht@rpi.edu

ABSTRACT:

The localization of transnational corporate websites requires a strategy for designing usable web interfaces that can be easily reached and understood by the local audience. As more people realize that localization is much more than translating verbal components, cultural markers (e.g., national symbols, color, spatial organization, etc.) are introduced into multilingual websites to enhance cultural appeal and add navigational clues (Barber and Badre, 1998).

My paper examines the current use of cultural markers in US international websites via a pilot study of two multilingual websites, Lotus and Adobe. The goal of the study is to learn how cultural markers affect Web usability by interviewing target users' experiences with local site homepages. Comparative usability tests were carried out to survey four categories of cultural markers: language, visuals, colors, and page layout. Three international users from Asia, Europe, and South America participated in the tests.

Preliminary findings indicate that cultural markers help increase Web usability and are an efficient way to address local audiences. Following a detailed discussion of positive findings about cultural markers, however, the paper wonders how much cultural markers can improve website localization. It questions the inherent limitations of cultural markers and acknowledges some concerns about current practices. In the end, the paper suggests that we study the cultural dimension of Web usability in a broader context to make corporate websites more culturally-competent in this age of globalization.

Last modified October 28, 2001 by Scott Tilley.