您如何代表网络上的语言？

photo :Toban B.

照片：Toban B.

The internet is a little like a world-sized roll of duct tape, binding us together in a million different ways.

互联网有点像一卷世界规模的胶带，将我们以百万种不同的方式捆绑在一起。

While vast distances have often melted away online, some global differences are more fundamental. Language is a big differentiator, and is arguably the most important way that we localize our sites and apps.

尽管遥远的距离经常在网上消失，但一些全球性差异更为根本。 语言是一个很大的差异，并且可以说是我们本地化网站和应用程序的最重要方式。

This leads us to an important UI question: “How do you graphically represent a language on the web?”

这导致我们遇到一个重要的UI问题：“ 您如何以图形方式表示网络上的语言？ ”

有什么问题？ (What’s the Problem?)

At first glance this seems like a ridiculous question. Using flags to represent languages for a website seems like a no-brainer. But look a little bit closer and we start to notice obvious issues.

乍看之下，这似乎是一个荒谬的问题。 使用标志来表示网站的语言似乎很容易。 但是稍微靠近一点，我们开始注意到明显的问题。

A flag is a pictorial symbol representing a nation or group, and is most commonly tied to a distinct geographical area.

国旗是代表一个国家或集团的图形符号，并且通常与特定的地理区域相关联。

The problem with using flags to denote language is that many nations around the world have two, three and even four national languages.

使用标志表示语言的问题是，世界上许多国家都有两种，三种甚至四种本国语言。

This means that displaying, for instance, a Swiss flag is not especially useful to denote language as Switzerland recognizes German, French, Italian and Romansh as national languages. Even ‘playing the numbers’ and choosing to select the most commonly spoken language is only likely to disenfranchise locals who do not speak the majority tongue.

这意味着，例如，显示瑞士国旗对表示语言不是特别有用，因为瑞士将德语，法语，意大利语和罗曼什语视为本国语言。 即使是“玩数字游戏”并选择选择最常用的语言，也只会使不讲多数语言的当地人失去权利。

By the same token, languages are also shared across nations, so it’s as counter-intuitive for New Zealanders to click an English flag as it is for Brazilians to click a Portuguese flag.

同样，语言也可以在各个国家/地区之间共享，因此对于新西兰人而言，单击英语标志与巴西人单击葡萄牙语标志是不合常理的。

有哪些选择？ (What are the alternatives?)

Looking at the current state of play, there currently isn’t any widely agreed upon solution. Certainly many sites still use flags to note translating options while others have gone a different route. While not conclusive in which is a better method it is a great way to get more people talking on what is the best way to solve this apparent issue.

从目前的状况来看，目前还没有任何被广泛认可的解决方案。 当然，许多站点仍然使用标记来标注翻译选项，而其他站点则走了不同的路线。 虽然尚无定论，哪种方法更好，但这是使更多的人讨论解决此明显问题的最佳方法的好方法。

I think this article is as much a question to provoke discussion as it is any kind of answer.

我认为这篇文章既是答案，也不仅是引发讨论的问题。

解决方案1：带有缩写文本的标志 (Solution 1: Flags with Abbreviated Text)

One common variation is to keep the flags but add a text label. This is seemingly an improvement as it clears up any possible confusion that visitors may have. It also allows you to keep a graphic while allowing visitors to identify their country without much effort.

一种常见的变体是保留标志但添加文本标签。 这似乎是一种改进，因为它消除了访客可能产生的任何混乱。 它还使您可以保留图形，同时使访问者无需费力即可识别他们的国家。

Accompanying the flag, a simple abbreviation of your preferred language can be placed beside or below your icon. This gives you the ability to not just generalize one language per country. You can now, with the appropriate abbreviations, display a Swiss flag with the abbreviations such as GER,FRA, ITA and ROM. This allows visitors to view your site in the language they know best and doesn’t isolate anyone.

带有标志的地方，可以在图标的旁边或下方放置一个首选语言的缩写。 这样一来，您不仅可以在每个国家/地区推广一种语言。 现在，您可以使用适当的缩写显示带有GER，FRA，ITA和ROM等缩写的Swiss flag。 这样一来，访问者就可以用他们最了解的语言来查看您的网站，并且不会隔离任何人。

There are some clear problems to this method however, as it assumes that all languages can be abbreviated with two or three flag-ready letters.

但是，此方法存在一些明显的问题，因为它假定所有语言都可以用两个或三个标志就绪的字母缩写。

But what about users who speak Persian, Arabic, Thai and Telugu just to name a few? How do you abbreviate those?

但是说波斯语，阿拉伯语，泰语和泰卢固语的用户呢？ 您如何缩写？

解决方案2：翻译图片 (Solution 2: Translation Image)

Another solution substitutes the flag images for something new altogether, instead showing a graphic that visually communicates the concept of translation.You may be familiar with this type of setup seeing as sites like Google already do this on their translate page.

另一种解决方案是用标记图像替代所有新内容，而不是显示直观地传达翻译概念的图形。您可能对这种类型的设置很熟悉，因为像Google这样的网站已经在其翻译页面上这样做了。

Here you would see a letter from the alphabet, typically the letter “A” that is then connected with a two sided arrow to a different symbol. Usually this symbol is either a Chinese or Japanese character. Ideally this icon would serve to inform visitors that the site features translation services and once clicked a pop of menu would prompt them to pick their preferred language.

在这里，您会看到字母表中的字母，通常是字母“ A”，然后将其与双向箭头连接到另一个符号。 通常，此符号是中文或日语字符。 理想情况下，此图标可用于通知访问者该站点提供翻译服务，并且一旦单击菜单弹出菜单，便会提示他们选择其首选语言。

While this does come out to be a preferable option in lieu of the flag, there is something to consider. Though it might be understandable to most users that pressing the button will display other language choices, some may be under the assumption that, let’s say, a kanji glyph will only offer translation to Japanese.

尽管这确实是代替标志的更好选择，但仍需要考虑一些事项。 尽管大多数用户可以理解按下按钮会显示其他语言选择，但是某些假设是假设汉字字形仅提供日语翻译。

解决方案3：仅文本 (Solution 3: Text Only)

Our third solution sees us just tossing out graphics altogether, which may be the wisest option to avoid any type of confusion.

我们的第三个解决方案是将我们完全抛弃图形，这可能是避免任何类型混淆的最明智选择。

There are many sites that currently follow this method, and it seems to be gaining mindshare over the flag users. Perhaps it’s safe to assume that this method if done correctly causes less issues than flags.

当前有许多站点都在使用此方法，并且似乎在标记用户中获得了关注。 可以肯定地说，如果正确完成此方法，则导致的问题少于标志。

There are various options available when just using text to display available languages. You can use drop down menus, place your language choices at the bottom of the screen or some other way so that it fits within and compliments the design of your site with no problem.

仅使用文本显示可用语言时，有多种可用选项。 您可以使用下拉菜单，将语言选择放在屏幕底部，或以其他方式放置，使其完全适合您的网站设计并使其毫无问题。

Other than general literacy problems, there doesn’t seem to be any other issue to understanding why the languages are shown. You will however need to make sure that each language link/button is written in the language for which it is targeted.

除了一般的识字问题之外，似乎没有其他问题可以理解为什么要显示语言。 但是，您需要确保每个语言链接/按钮均以其目标语言编写。

In other words, ‘German’ should be shown as ‘Deutsch’ and ‘Spanish’ should be shown as ‘Español’. Also make sure to denote between American English and British English, i.e. English (US) and English (UK).

换句话说，“德国”应显示为“ Deutsch”，“西班牙”应显示为“Español”。 还要确保在美式英语和英式英语之间进行标记，即英语(美国)和英语(英国)。

解决方案4：自动检测 (Solution 4: Autodetection)

Last but not least you can always use autodetection instead of prompting users for a press of the translation button. This is obviously a technical solution that generally tries to identify the user’s language via their browser settings. Once configured, the server will attempt to automatically display the site in the language which it detects. It will fallback to a default if no useful language data is available.

最后但并非最不重要的一点是，您始终可以使用自动检测来代替提示用户按下翻译按钮。 显然，这是一种技术解决方案，通常尝试通过用户的浏览器设置来识别用户的语言。 配置完成后，服务器将尝试以其检测到的语言自动显示该站点。 如果没有可用的语言数据，它将回退到默认值。

Facebook is just one of many sites that utilize autodetection in order to provide a better experience in regards to language preferences.

Facebook只是利用自动检测功能来提供更好的语言偏好体验的众多网站之一。

Of course, with autodetection there is no way to ensure 100% accuracy with its detection results. Sometimes a visitor may be temporarily abroad or simply be using an unfamiliar browser, so the detected language may not be the best match for them.

当然，使用自动检测无法通过其检测结果确保100％的准确性。 有时，访问者可能暂时不在国外，或者只是在使用不熟悉的浏览器，因此检测到的语言可能不是最适合他们的语言。

Autodetection is a great first guess, but always ensure there is a visible option to change the language just in case. There are few more frustrating tasks than trying to find hidden language controls on a site you can’t read.

自动检测是一个很好的第一选择，但请务必确保有一个可见的选项可以更改语言，以防万一。 除了尝试在您无法阅读的网站上找到隐藏的语言控件外，还有许多令人沮丧的任务。

结论 (Conclusion)

So there you go, four possible approaches to combat the flag as a language dilemma.

因此，您可以使用四种可能的方法来解决作为语言难题的旗帜。

Now it’s time for you to chime in. What do you think is the best method to graphically represent a language? Do you have your own solution? Let me know what you think in the comments and feel free to share any site translation issues you may have encountered.

现在是时候开始鸣叫了。您认为用图形表示语言的最佳方法是什么？ 您有自己的解决方案吗？ 让我知道您在评论中的想法，并随时分享您可能遇到的任何网站翻译问题。

翻译自: /