Issues in Globalization of E-Learning Content and Accessibility
2004-12-13
Sung-shik Shin
LG Electronics
gregshin at lge dot com
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Table of Contents
■ Terminology■ Globalization and accessibility■ Globalization issues revisited■ Conclusion■ References
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Terminology
Globalization(G11N)■ encompasses both internationalization and localization ■ putting into place the requisite materials, financial, and personnel resources in a
global market to support your product or service on a local level
Internationalization (I18N)■ preparation necessary for cost effective
localization ■ process of planning, designing and
implementing a "culturally and technically" neutral product
■ needs to be addressed in the earliest product planning stages
■ properly internationalized product is easier to localize than a non-internationalized product
Localization (L10N)
■Adapting a product to a particular language & culture
Translation■Transcribing into one's own
or another language ■ part of localization
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Globalization and AccessibilityLearner Aspects Possible Solutions Global Aspects
Hearing impairmentTemporal silence
■ Provide caption.■ Provide video/audio description.■ Provide transcripts.■ Provide translations.
Hard to comprehendNo sound device
Visual impairment■ Provide alternate text.■ Design color independently. Dyslexic condition
Cognitive/learning disabilities
■ Use clear language.■ Provide culturally neutral icon, symbols.■ Avoid animations.■ Specify natural language.
Second languageLanguage barrierDyslexiaCulturally different
Physical disabilities■ Provide keyboard access.■ Use interoperable technologies.
Different Environment
Limited environmentAssistive technology
■ Standard compliance■ Provide multi-modal content.■ Use interim solutions.
different technologyLimited bandwidth
Novice users the old
■ Avoid time-limited response.■ Provide tool tips.■ Size independent design■ Clear navigation
Different convention
General
■ Separate structure from presentation.■ Use markup properly.■ Keep universal design.
Translation burdenInternationalization cost
Globalization issues revisited
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Character problems■ Always declare character encoding.
• XML: <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>• HTML: <meta http-equiv=“Content-type” content=“text/html;charset=UTF-8” />
• CSS: @charset “utf-8”;• JavaScript: <script type=“text/JavaScript” charset=“utf-8”>
• HTTP header: Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8■ Numerical Character Reference(NCR) vs. literal
characters• Only use escapes for characters in exceptional circumstances.• Unicode characters can be represented literally in UTF-8.
■ Markup vs. Unicode characters• Some Unicode characters are not suitable for use with markup.• Other Unicode characters are OK.• ‘Compatibility characters’ vary in appropriateness.
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Language
■ Languages are different from character encoding scheme.
■ Specify natural languages• <html lang=“ko”>• <xml xml:lang=“ko”>• <blockquote lang=“fr-CA”>
■ Avoid abbreviations, and acronyms, jargons. • Na
Not available? Numerical aperture? Not applicable? Sodium?
• Use <acronym>, <abbr> markups.
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Fonts
■ Do not rely on typeface only.• Use semantic markup instead.
■ Always set generic font families.• font-family: “Times New Roman”, Times, 바탕 , Batang, UnBatang, serif;
■ Do not design font-dependent layout.• Different OS supports different font-size.
• Let learners select their own preferred fonts.
Generic font family
sans-serif serif Monospace
Font examples
Arial, Helvetica, Dotum
Times, Batang
Courier, Dotumche, Batangche
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Locale specific data
■ Date & Time• 02/04/03?
Feb 4th, 2003?, April 2nd, 2003?, April 3rd, 2002?,…
• Use ISO 8601 date & time format. 2004-02-03T13:20 (UTC +0900)
• Or use Accept-Language HTTP header.■ Numbers, Currency
• 123,456?■ Names, address, phone numbers
• Nguyen Ngoc Lan?■ Sort
• French sorting order is different from that of English.■ Search
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Display capacity
■ Use relative size rather than absolute unit.• pt, px, cm, in,…• em, ex, %, small, larger,…
■ Use viewport (display, voice, braille, etc) independent design.
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Pop-ups■ Popups are big barrier
• for the disabled • for the assistive technologies• for the unsupported user agents (such as PDA or TV web)
■ They are blocked by more user agents.■ They are regarded awkward by many cultural groups.
■ If you REALLY want more than two windows, TITLE them properly.
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Browser compatibility
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
DecemberJuneJanuary
InternetExplorer 6
InternetExplorer 5 Opera
Mozilla
Source: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp, 2004-12-08
Netscape Navigator
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Grand design principles
■ Separate form factors from content.• Use style sheets and course templates.• Write structure (content) first, and add design
templates.• Think versatile content for different devices, different
preferences, different cultures.
■ Provide design resources, use MULTI media.• Layered graphics• Vector design (SVG, SMIL, MathML, …)• Programmable (parametric) design• Reusable resources (audio, video clips, image clips,
text transcripts, titles…)
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Translation of other things
■ Screen capture• Is software available in all languages?
■ Graphic letters• Use markup instead if available.
■ Avatar, virtual human• Is it culturally neutral?• Configurable / modifiable by parameters?
■ Voice actors• Aren’t they too many?
■ Video, audio & flash• Media types: Windows Media, Real Media, QuickTime, …• Provide captions, collated text transcripts.• Separate text equivalents from video.• SMIL is a good alternative.
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Cultural difference■ Don’t rely on colors only.
• Provide alternative texts or markers.• Colors have different connotations in different countries.
■ Don’t rely on non-verbal cues only.• Provide alternative descriptions.• Provide orientation information.
■ Local regulations• Section 508(US), Disability Discrimination Act(UK,
Australia)• Local, national certification, standards, patent/legal issues
■ Consider the cultural, religious variations.• Avoid culturally sensitive graphics.• Give access to in-country SMEs(Subject Matter Experts).• Use glossaries, translation memories.
우
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Conclusion
■ Global issues and considerations should be integrated into the early stages of content development.
■ Learners are not alike in their ability, level of motivation, preference, technology readiness, and cultural backgrounds.
■ Accessible content is more ready to internationalization.
■ Compliance to web standards can reduce possible inaccessibility from global learners.
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References■ Date & Time(ISO 8601):
http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/popstds/datesandtime.html■ Unicode : http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode4.0.1/■ IANA(Internet Assigned Numbers Authority): http://www.iana.org■ I18N: http://www.w3.org/International/■ Character Model: http://www.w3.org/charmod/■ Personal Information Exchange: http://
www.imc.org/pdi/vcardoverview.html■ Quality Assurance:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/WD-qaframe-spec-20040830/■ Learner Profile: http://www.imsglobal.org/profiles/index.cfm■ IMS Accessibility: http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/index.cfm■ Multimodality: http://www.w3.org/2002/mmi/■ Section 508: http://www.section508.gov
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