Hi Jenny.
I put the Google Translate widget onto the Museum of London's site
within an hour or two of seeing it mentioned on Read Write Web, it was
that simple to do. I couldn't really see a downside, given that we had
perhaps a couple of pages in 3 or 4 other languages at that point - to
go from that to instant "good enough" translation of the whole site in
dozens of languages: what's not to like?
You may well find resistance from parts of the organisation because it
won't give perfect results, although they're really not bad on the
whole, and I think users understand that it's not you doing the
translation and it won't be perfect. Perhaps there are core parts of the
site (especially legally important ones) that you'd want to offer in
more "moderated" translations - Ts&Cs, transactional processes etc. Even
with a small subset of pages you'd still have your work cut out to cater
just for London's 100-odd community languages (some of them accounting
for significant numbers of people) by any means other than automated
translation though.
Cheers, Jeremy
PS just do it
>>> [log in to unmask] 08/12/2010 12:24:09 >>>
Hi everyone,
I'm working on a project with the National Gallery around foreign
language content online.
I was wondering what approach other Museums/Galleries have taken when
it
comes to offering foreign language content. Do you offer a simple
information page in different languages or do you attempt to translate
some/all of your website?
In particular, I was wondering if anyone has experience of
implementing
Google Translate (or similar) on their websites?
Thoughts on its success/failures or if it was rejected in favour of a
different approach would be really appreciated.
Many thanks,
Jenny
Jenny Brown
----
Digital Media
T: 020 7747 5856
M: 0795 196 9137
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
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