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As we all know, localization is the process of adapting content, products, or services to the culture and language of customers in a target market. It is much more complex than just text translation. It involves changing the formats of dates, measurements, and addresses, as well as adjusting for different time zones, and replacing images and icons, among other complex processes.

Localization offers multiple proven benefits. It improves customer experience and helps avoid offending potential clients. It is the key to entering new markets, overcoming cultural barriers, and building customer loyalty. 

Ultimately, localization aims to adapt an experience for customers in a new target market. The goal is to get the message across and break down communication barriers. In short, localization means making content accessible. 

Access for all is the essence of localization. It seeks to expand the audience that can understand a given message. In today’s globalized world, accessibility is the ultimate form of localization. So, why don’t we pay more attention to it? Incorporating an inclusive and accessible approach to localization can be highly beneficial.

What is Accessibility?

Accessibility is essentially an inclusive practice that aims to remove barriers to communication and interaction. In today’s digitalized world, when we talk about accessibility, we usually refer to websites, apps, tools, and digital content in general that has been designed to work for everyone, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. 

According to the Web Accessibility Initiative, “When the web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability.” This means people can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the content, as well as contribute to the web or platform. 

Accessibility involves inclusion but it is not the same. Inclusivity ensures everyone feels welcome and respected, no matter who they are or where they come from. It means celebrating diversity and promoting understanding among people from different backgrounds and cultures. It is the opposite of bullying and discrimination.

A message can be inclusive but not accessible. For example, you can publish an Instagram post with photos that portray a group of people with different bodies and ages, and use gender-neutral words on your copy. That would comply with some inclusive principles. However, if you fail to add alternative texts, or you choose a color palette that is not perceived by people with visual impairments, your post is not accessible. 

A good approach to localization should be both inclusive and accessible. Adapting a message to a new market involves translating it (of course), but also making it culturally appropriate and easily understood by every person in the target audience. 

Accessibility Principles

Assistive Technologies are accessibility’s best allies. Several tools can be used to enhance the user experience of people with disabilities. The most important ones are screen magnifiers, alternative input devices, and screen readers. They should be taken into consideration in any accessible and inclusive design. 

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops policies, standards, and supporting resources to enable everyone to participate equally in the digital world. As part of their mission, they provide a list of accessibility principles for websites, apps, games, and online platforms.

The main recommendations are:

• Text alternatives should be always used for non-text content
• Captions and other alternatives should be used for multimedia content
• Content needs to be presented in different ways to allow assistive technologies to read it 
• Interface and navigation should be available from a keyboard
• Users should have sufficient time to read and use the content
• Content should not cause seizures and physical reactions
• Users must be able to easily navigate, find content, and determine where they are
• Users must be able to use different input modalities beyond the keyboard
• Text should be readable and understandable
• Content must appear and operate in predictable ways
• Users should be able to correct mistakes

Why Should We Care about Accessibility? 

First of all, accessibility is much more than “doing the right thing.” It ensures that a message reaches a much wider audience, and breaks down communication barriers. Again, it shares the same goal as localization. 

Companies that localize their content for a specific language and culture but do not consider accessibility are missing a huge market. According to the World Health Organization, 16% of the world’s population experience significant disabilities. If a website or digital content is not accessible to people with disabilities, it is leaving out 1 in 6 people. 

Accessibility not only benefits people with disabilities. It is also beneficial for many different groups, ergo, many potential customers. For instance, accessible content is useful for people with slow Internet connections, or those who experience “situational limitations” such as bright sunlight or an environment where they cannot listen to audio.

In addition to the marketing benefits mentioned above, accessibility brings many advantages to a company. It opens the door for new employees and helps improve working relationships. Adopting some non-disruptive accessibility practices may allow a coworker to be more comfortable and welcome. For example, some slight changes in the color palette of the internal monthly newsletter can make a huge change for a coworker with color blindness. 

Thanks to new developments in assistive technology, complying with accessibility principles is neither difficult nor expensive. 

Let’s Try an Accessible and Inclusive Approach to Localization

There are two main options to approach a localization project with an accessible and inclusive perspective. 

On the one hand, the original content may already be accessible in the source language. In this case, the localization project would involve translating all text or audio that is used for accessibility purposes. This includes captions, transcripts, alt texts, and audio descriptions. Dubbing and subtitling teams should be involved in the project, as well as desktop publishers and audiovisual editors. 

Additionally, videos typically use sign language. Different countries and regions have different versions of sign language. This content should be translated into the local sign language as well. 

On the other hand, the original content may not pass accessibility tests. In this case, in addition to the “traditional” localization of the message, it would be necessary to apply some changes and suggest recommendations. Luckily, most of these tasks can be performed by artificial intelligence and automated tools supervised by professionals. This saves both time and money. 

As we have seen, ensuring accessibility has many benefits and no drawbacks. It’s time to take an inclusive and accessible approach to localization.

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