International website design
This article discusses three important issues that should be taken into consideration when designing websites for an international audience.
Navigational Graphics
It is common for Web designers to incorporate images as part of a website's navigational structure. When doing so, it's always a good idea to include descriptive text alongside these navigational images to ensure visitors understand their purpose. Furthermore, images selected should be recognisable in all countries.
As an example, a link to a webpage containing contact details may include a drawing of a letterbox. However, letterboxes differ in design from one country to another, and may therefore not be immediately recognisable. A more appropriate graphic to use in this instance might be a drawing of a letter - an item generally recognisable world wide.
The Meaning of Colours
In many cultures, colours convey meanings. These meanings may differ from one culture to another.
If you choose a colour which has a negative connotation in a geographic region where you assume a large proportion of your potential online customers to reside, you may miss out on repeat visitors.
As an example, in Australia and the United States, the colour white is associated with happiness and purity, whilst in the Far East, white resembles death and mourning. In many Latin American countries, death is resembled by the colour purple. The colour red is considered positive in Denmark, Romania and Argentina but has a negative or unlucky meaning in Chad and Nigeria1.
For these reasons, it is always recommended that research be undertaken prior to commencing a website's design so that it can be adjusted accordingly.
Bandwidth Considerations
The uptake of high speed broadband Internet connections has increased dramatically over the past few years in many countries. At the same time, Web designers have used the availability of increased connection speeds to their advantage by including more resource-intensive content in their sites such as Flash animations and extensive use of images. Such designs result in increased bandwidth requirements.
Not all countries have widespread access to broadband Internet connections. You should therefore always try to minimise the cumulative file size of all components that make up your site.
References
1. Neal, Quester, Hawkins, Consumer Behaviour, 3rd edition, Roseville, McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Limited, 2002, 449.
