The Ultimate Guide to JavaScript i18n
Why It’s Important to Internationalize Your JavaScript
Internationalization (i18n) is the process of preparing software so that it supports local languages and cultural settings. In other words, JavaScript i18n is the process of making your JavaScript application localization-ready. An internationalized product supports the requirements of local markets around the world, functioning more appropriately based on local norms and better meeting in-country user expectations.
Benefits of JavaScript i18n include:
- Higher quality software that meets the technical and cultural needs of multiple locales
- Reduced time, cost, and effort for localization (L10n)
- Single source code for all languages of the product
- Simpler, easier maintenance for future iterations of the product
- Greater in-country customer acceptance and satisfaction
The global software market is increasingly growing in demand and volume. Many major software companies derive the majority of their revenue from markets other than the country in which the company was founded. Going global often leads to revenue growth for software organizations.
If you have international users, or if you plan to move into additional international markets, it behooves you to not only internationalize your JavaScript but to also localize your product to deliver both the linguistic and cultural experience that a local user would (and should) expect.
The Risks of Not Internationalizing Your JavaScript
If you choose to skip internationalizing your JavaScript, be prepared for several significantly negative ramifications, including lower sales, weakened competitiveness, and frustrated local users.
It will start when your JavaScript application is confusing to use for a native speaker. When they review and spread the word about the product’s subpar and confusing interface your initial market impression will be poor. Although your audience will want your software’s functionality, they will want and expect an experience tailored to their needs, much as you’ve accounted for in your domestic market.
You may be able to attract early adopters without internationalizing, but for many markets you won’t be able to achieve deeper market penetration. Users will be contacting you and tying up your tech support to understand miscommunicated or simply poorly identified aspects of your program and likely demanding fixes for a number of small internationalization bugs that should have been addressed before the program was released. As word spreads you will have introduced a need for direct competition to your offering in the market.
There’s a better way. Internationalize from the start and satisfy the needs of local users in your global markets.
JavaScript Internationalization Resources
- JavaScript Internationalization – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Whitepaper
Download our “JavaScript i18n – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” whitepaper, and leverage the expertise of Lingoport’s experts to improve the i18n of your JavaScript. - i18n Quick Planning Guide
Download our “i18n Quick Planning Guide,” and build a more reliable i18n process. - Continuous Globalization Whitepaper
To achieve continuous i18n for agile software development, download Lingoport’s “Continuous Globalization Whitepaper.” - Unicode Primer
Unicode is a character set standard used for displaying and processing language data in computer applications. The Unicode character set is the entire world’s set of characters, including letters, numbers, currencies, symbols and the like, supporting a number of character encodings to make that all happen. Learn all about Unicode in Lingoport’s “Unicode Primer.” - Internationalization API (ECMA-402)
This i18n standard defines “the application programming interface for ECMAScript objects that support programs that need to adapt to the linguistic and cultural conventions used by different human languages and countries.” Download the ECMAScript 2018 Internationalization API Specification. The Specification’s source can be found in GitHub. - Unicode CLDR
The Unicode CLDR provides key building blocks for software to support the world’s languages, with the largest and most extensive standard repository of locale data available.
Internationalization & Localization Software
Lingoport Suite is your operating system for exceptional global software, empowering more than 300,000 developers to release software in global markets successfully.
- Internationalization Software
With Lingoport Globalyzer, find and fix i18n issues that inhibit localization and global user experience during development. Catch up on i18n technical debt. Avoid rework. Eliminate the manual tracking of locale updates. Collaborate on your i18n efforts via Slack. - Localization Process Software
Make localization proactive using Lingoport Resource Manager. Eliminate error-prone, tedious, manual processes that slow down localization. Detect & manage changes to resource files in your source code. Streamline translation jobs. Automate localization updates between development and translation. Collaborate on your L10n efforts via Slack. - Linguistic QA Software
With Lingoport InContext QA, quickly identify an issue during linguistic QA, enter in a new translation, edit directly on your screen, enter a bug, and have the file automatically updated after approval using your workflows. You’ll be editing directly in the context of your software. No more screenshots!
Questions?
Questions about JavaScript i18n? Contact us for a consultation or to schedule a demo of Lingoport Suite, our i18n software suite.
