Localisation is more than translation
Translation versus localisation
Translation converts text from one language to another. Localisation adapts the whole product so it feels natural to a specific audience: its language, its formats, its habits and its culture. A translated interface can still feel foreign if only the words change.
Plan for localisation from the start. It is much cheaper to design flexible components and separate text from code in the first version than to repair a fixed layout later.
Layout and text
- Expansion and contraction. Text length changes between languages. Design buttons, tabs and cards that tolerate longer and shorter labels.
- Plurals. Arabic has six CLDR plural categories: zero, one, two, few, many and other. A single plural form is not enough, so use a library that follows CLDR rules.
- Never concatenate strings. Word order and grammar differ, so build full sentences with placeholders, such as <code>{count} items in {name}</code>.
- Leave room in the interface. Fixed-width buttons and tabs are the first things to break when a translated label is longer than the original.
- Keep text out of images. Text baked into images cannot be translated or resized.
Dates, units and currency
Dates may follow the Gregorian calendar, the Hijri calendar, or both, depending on the market and the task. Decide which one your product needs and make it clear. Units and currency should also match local use, and the Intl APIs can format them for a locale.
Imagery and tone
Currency needs the symbol or code, the position of the amount and the separators. For an Arabic audience this can differ by market, so format it with a locale-aware API and show the currency clearly next to the amount.
Check photos, illustrations, gestures and colours for local meaning. Choose people, clothing and scenes that suit the audience.
Decide on the Arabic register early. Formal Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) reads as neutral across the region. A dialect can feel friendly but narrows the audience. Write a short tone guide with sample phrases.
Layout also changes with direction beyond text. Navigation order, progress indicators, carousels and swipe gestures should follow the reading direction, which means testing the full flow in Arabic rather than only checking static screens.
Keep a glossary of key terms, such as the product name, feature names and common actions. A shared glossary stops different screens from using different Arabic words for the same thing.
Always have native Arabic speakers review the product in context, on real screens.
Sources
- Unicode CLDR. Language plural rules. https://cldr.unicode.org/index/cldr-spec/plural-rules
This guide was drafted with AI assistance from public standards and references. For the exact wording of a standard, use the sources listed above.