TITLE: Issues of Content and Structure for a Multilingual Web Site

AUTHOR(s) & AFFILIATION(s): Shihong Huang, University of California, Riverside; and Scott Tilley, University of California, Riverside

KEYWORDS: globalization, multilingual, structure, Web site

PRESENTER: Shihong Huang

CONTACT EMAIL: shihong@cs.ucr.edu  

ABSTRACT:

There are several options available to content developers and Web masters regarding implementing a Web site, both in terms of logical layout and physical structure. Such options range from relatively simple decisions related to stylistic page consistency to more complex considerations related to placement of navigational aids. For multilingual Web sites, it quickly becomes much more complicated to select the right option for each problem instance.

For example, with a bilingual Web site there are (potentially) two versions of all content on the Web. If the languages (and, by implication, the users' culture) are very dissimilar, then what is accepted as good design for one language may not be suitable for the other language version of the same site. Depending on the type of content management system used, and the degree of overlap between the two versions of the site, the physical Web may in fact be heavily cross-linked, making for potentially serious maintenance problems later.

This paper outlines some of the structural considerations in developing and maintaining a multilingual Web site. We describe how a multilingual Web site can be structured to minimize problems for the user, for the content developer, and for the Web master, using our personal experience with an online bilingual (English and Chinese) newsletter. We conclude with some suggestions of managing the complexity inherent in content-rich multimedia Web sites; text-only content is difficult enough, but multimedia content has ever more special considerations in a multilingual setting.

Last modified October 28, 2001 by Scott Tilley.