阿拉伯语排版设计

by Anna Rubkiewicz

安娜·鲁布凯维兹(Anna Rubkiewicz)

为阿拉伯用户设计—商业基本阿拉伯用户体验 (Designing for the Arab User — Basic Arabic UX for Business)

What you’ll read about in this article:

您将在本文中了解到以下内容：

• Mirroring layout for an Arabic interface is key, but has its limitations,阿拉伯语界面的镜像布局是关键，但有其局限性，
• Digits are written from left to right in Arabic, despite a right-to-left interface,尽管界面是从右到左的，但数字还是用阿拉伯语从左到右书写的，
• Translating text into Arabic is not enough to create an Arabic interface,将文本翻译成阿拉伯语不足以创建阿拉伯语界面，
• Not all words can be translated 1:1 in Arabic; some will result with long, descriptive phrases,并非所有单词都能以阿拉伯语1：1翻译； 有些会产生冗长的描述性短语，
• Arabic script usually requires a bigger font than that used in the Roman alphabet,阿拉伯文字通常需要比罗马字母更大的字体，
• It is wise to refer Arab users to content in English (only about 5% of global content is in Arabic).明智的做法是将阿拉伯用户介绍给英语内容(仅约5％的全球内容是阿拉伯语)。

As a translator with +10 years of experience (English, Arabic, and Polish), as well as former startup employee responsible for FMCG product database development, I can’t help but notice an apparent underrepresentation of the Arab World when it comes to content and user-centered design. Interestingly, it doesn’t correspond to low internet penetration in the Middle East, when compared to the rest of the world. As of March 31st, 2017, there were nearly 142 million users in the region. It means that 57.4% of its inhabitants were online — in comparison to the world average of 49.2%(1).

作为拥有+10年经验(英语，阿拉伯语和波兰语)的翻译，以及负责FMCG产品数据库开发的前创业雇员，我不禁注意到内容上阿拉伯世界的代表性明显不足和以用户为中心的设计。 有趣的是，与世界其他地区相比，这并不意味着中东的互联网普及率较低。 截至2017年3月31日，该地区有近1.42亿用户。 这意味着其57.4％的居民在线—相比世界平均水平49.2％( 1 )。

At the same time, 60% of Arabs (and as many as 97% in Saudi Arabia and Egypt) declare that Arabic would be their language of choice when browsing or shopping online. Meanwhile, only 5% of global content is in that language (2):

同时，有60％的阿拉伯人(沙特阿拉伯和埃及多达97％)宣称，阿拉伯语将是他们在网上浏览或购物时的首选语言 。 同时， 只有5％的全球内容使用该语言 ( 2 )：

A report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) also indicates the worldwide IoT market will reach a worth of $1.71 trillion by the end of 2020, of which $6.6 billion will come from the Middle East and Africa (3).

国际数据公司(IDC)的报告还指出，到2020年底，全球物联网市场的价值将达到1.71万亿美元，其中66亿美元将来自中东和非洲( 3 )。

The statistics above prove that Middle Eastern societies are as tech-savvy and active on social media as elsewhere in the world (4). Why is it, then, that they must turn to English-language sites and services to fully benefit from new technologies? Also, why do companies miss the incredible business potential of the region by not adjusting themselves to local sociological, linguistic, and cultural specificities?

上面的统计数据证明，中东社会与世界其他地方一样，都对社交媒体具有很高的技术意识和活跃度( 4 )。 那么，为什么他们必须转向英语站点和服务才能从新技术中充分受益呢？ 另外，为什么公司不适应当地的社会，语言和文化特点而错过该地区令人难以置信的商业潜力？

This does not solely concern small companies with limited exposure or small design teams. As noticed by UX consulting firm Yalantis, even Apple, which aspires to be the leader of innovative design, had not adjusted its iOS for the RTL (right-to-left) user fully until the release of iOS 9 in late-2015 (5).

这不仅仅涉及曝光率有限的小型公司或小型设计团队。 正如UX咨询公司Yalantis所注意到的那样，甚至渴望成为创新设计领导者的Apple都没有为RTL(从右到左)用户完全调整其iOS，直到2015年末发布iOS 9为止( 5 )。

Lastly, what may be done for the Arab user, so that he can use his native language, but still benefit from the copious resources in English?

最后，可以为阿拉伯用户做些什么，以使他可以使用他的母语，但仍然受益于丰富的英语资源？

Listed below are several aspects that shall be taken into consideration when designing for the native Arab speaker, whose sense of chronological order, display, etc., differs from users raised in LTR-script countries.

下面列出的是为阿拉伯语母语人士设计时应考虑的几个方面，按照时间顺序，显示方式等感觉与LTR脚本国家/地区的用户不同。

Mirror, mirror

镜子镜子

Mirroring is often named the 101 rule anyone who wants to launch an app in the Arab World should follow. While it is a generalization, the main concept is that the RTL layout ought to mirror those created for the LTR (left-to-right) user. While most images of movement in the Western world are shown from left to right (i.e. commercials of speeding cars), Arab script-using countries (so not only the Middle East, but also, for instance, Iran and Pakistan), are more likely to perceive progression and forward movement if shown from right to left.

镜像通常被命名为101条规则，任何想在阿拉伯世界中启动应用程序的人都应该遵循。 虽然这是一个概括，但主要概念是RTL布局应反映为LTR(从左到右)用户创建的布局。 虽然西方世界的大多数运动图像是从左到右显示的(例如，超速汽车的广告)，但使用阿拉伯文字的国家(不仅是中东，而且还包括伊朗和巴基斯坦)从右到左显示感知前进和向前运动。

This, exhaustively explained by Google’s Material Design guidelines, includes, among others, icons for direction (icons for “forward” and “back”) and other symbols and icons which indicate movement. It does not, however, mean that all symbols shall be changed accordingly. It must be kept in mind that Arabs are simultaneously users of LTR interfaces and programs, hence, certain symbols (think of Facebook or Google search), do not need to be changed.

这在Google的材料设计指南中进行了详尽的解释，其中包括方向图标(“前进”和“后退”的图标)以及其他指示运动的符号和图标。 但是，这并不意味着所有符号都应相应更改。 必须记住，阿拉伯人同时是LTR界面和程序的用户，因此，某些符号(例如Facebook或Google搜索)不需要更改。

Another important limitation of mirroring is bidirectionality, common not only in Arabic, but also Eastern Asian scripts. Namely, while text is aligned to the right, numbers are still read from left to right. What does that mean for the designer? He or she should take caution and consider that a long sequence of numbers may “clash” with Arabic script, if layout is not designed responsively.

镜像的另一个重要限制是双向性 ， 双向性不仅在阿拉伯语中很常见，在东亚文字中也很常见。 即，当文本向右对齐时，数字仍从左至右读取。 这对设计师意味着什么？ 他或她应谨慎行事，并考虑到，如果布局设计不及时，则较长的数字序列可能会与阿拉伯文字“冲突”。

Examples of digits in Arabic sentences:

阿拉伯语句子中的数字示例：

في فترة ما بين الحربين العالميتين 1919–1939English: In the years between the war: 1919–1939 (notice how the first date is written on the right and the end date to its left, despite the numbers being read from left to right).

فيفترةمابينالحربينالعالميتين1919年至1939年英语： 在战争之间的年份：1919年至1939年(注意，第一次约会是怎么写的右侧和结束日期，以左，尽管这一数字从左至右读取) 。

بلغ عدد سكان بولندا في ديسمبر 2007 حوالي 38,116,000 نسمةEnglish: In December, 2007, the number of inhabitants of Poland reached about 38,116,000.

بلغعددسكانبولندافيديسمبر 2007 حوالي 38,116,000 نسمةEnglish：2007年12月，波兰的居民人数约为38,116,000。

An interesting fact is that Arabs currently also use Hindu-Arabic numerals (mentioned above), which are also written from left to right.

一个有趣的事实是阿拉伯人目前还使用印度阿拉伯数字(如上所述)，这些数字也是从左到右书写的。

Translation and verification

翻译和验证

I can not underline strongly enough that it won’t just do the job to hire an interpreter to translate text into Arabic and consider the job of creating an Arabic version of a site/app done. Its a semi-tragedy to see a LTR design with Arabic script applied in place of, let’s say, English text. Its a full-fledged tragedy — and one that I have witnessed multiple times — when companies try using Arabic script, but, after processing text in a CMS or editor, letters fall apart and no longer form words. The only thing worse than a chaotic, unpractical design is one where Arabic letters are disconnected on screen/book/product cover and no longer constitute words.

我不能强调得太过分，以至于它不会仅仅雇用一名翻译来将文本翻译成阿拉伯语，并考虑完成创建站点/应用程序的阿拉伯语版本的工作。 看到LTR设计采用阿拉伯文字代替了英语文字是一个半悲剧。 当公司尝试使用阿拉伯文字时，这是一次完全的悲剧，也是我多次目睹的悲剧。但是，在CMS或编辑器中处理文本后，字母散开了，不再形成单词。 唯一比混乱，不切实际的设计更糟糕的是，阿拉伯字母在屏幕/书籍/产品封面上断开了连接，不再构成单词。

This is a common mistake which has roots in the fact that Arabic letters take on different shapes, depending on their place in a given word:

这是一个常见的错误，其根源在于阿拉伯字母的形状不同，具体取决于它们在给定单词中的位置：

If we don’t know how to read the Arabic script, we are at risk of having whole sentences displayed in an unreadable form. Below is an example which shows two errors:

如果我们不知道如何阅读阿拉伯文字，那么就有可能使整个句子以不可读的形式显示 。 下面是显示两个错误的示例：

• the letters are in their isolated form (so do not form words)字母是孤立的形式(因此不要形成单词)
• the letters are written from left to right instead of right to left (so, backwards).字母是从左向右书写的，而不是从右向左书写的(因此是向后的)。

Hence, it is best to always have an Arabic-speaking person proof read any translated text before having it sent into production. Also, if there was one font I would recommend to use for translating text into non-Roman scripts, it would be Noto, a universal font designed by Google. It will, at least, eliminate the risk of “tofu”:

因此，最好始终让讲阿拉伯语的人证明将任何翻译过的文本发送到生产中之前。 另外，如果我建议使用一种字体将文本翻译成非罗马脚本，则应该使用Noto ，这是Google设计的通用字体。 至少将消除“豆腐”的风险：

1:1 translations

1：1翻译

Avoiding technical errors is not the only thing to look out for, as word to word translation doesn’t always cut it either. While certain Arab countries are quite liberal with the use of foreign words in case of no literal equivalent, some prefer to use descriptive translations. The first case is especially true of apps which are designed for the young customer, and are often created in local, colloquial dialects. Others, such as apps used for work or academic purposes, applicable for multiple Arabic markets, are more likely to be written in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is quite formal and standardized. As a result, a word of 10 letters in English, translated to formal Arabic, may result in a descriptive Arabic phrase of 2–3 words (thus taking up more space). Also, keep in might that there are relatively few abbreviations in Arabic, so no shortcuts there.

避免技术错误并不是唯一需要注意的事情，因为单词到单词的翻译也不总是那么容易。 尽管某些阿拉伯国家在没有字面等价的情况下使用外来词是相当自由的，但有些国家更喜欢使用描述性翻译。 第一种情况尤其适用于为年轻客户设计的应用程序，这些应用程序通常是用本地口语方言创建的。 其他诸如适用于多个阿拉伯市场的用于工作或学术目的的应用程序，则更有可能用相当正式和标准化的现代标准阿拉伯语(MSA)编写。 结果，一个10个英文字母的单词，翻译成正式的阿拉伯语，可能会产生2–3个单词的描述性阿拉伯语短语(因此占用更多空间)。 另外，请记住阿拉伯语的缩写相对较少，因此那里没有捷径。

Here are some examples of words with their translation in Arabic (notice the lenght of the words):

以下是一些单词的示例，这些单词及其阿拉伯语翻译(请注意单词的长度)：

TV — تلفزيون (this is a loanword read: te-le-fee-syoo-n)

电视—تلفزيون(这是一个借来的单词，读作：te-le-fee-syoo-n)

KFC — دجاج كنتاكي

肯德基—دجاجكنتاكي

TV show — برنامج تلفزيوني

电视节目—برنامجتلفزيوني

Another challenge is that most Arabic letters are written together, many have dots (look at: ب, ت, ج, ث, ي), and, in certain cases, diacritics (small symbols for vowels) are written above the letters (read into it here). This all means that, in order to make reading comfortable for the end user, a bigger font may be required than that used for the same word in English.

另一个挑战是，大多数阿拉伯字母都写在一起，许多带有点(请看：ب，ت，ج，ث，ي)，在某些情况下，在字母的上方写着变音符号(用于元音的小符号)(读入在这里 )。 所有这些都意味着，为了使最终用户感到舒适， 可能需要比用于相同英文单词的字体更大的字体 。

The following example shows Arabic font 3 points larger than English text (first image) and fonts of same size (second image):

下面的示例显示比英文文本大3点的阿拉伯字体(第一张图片)和相同大小的字体(第二张图片)：

To read more about the Arabic alphabet, click here.

要了解有关阿拉伯字母的更多信息，请单击此处 。

I worked on a similar language task while employed at an FMCG-targeted startup. The product, a daily shopping app, was to accommodate both Polish and English-language speakers. The original JSON texts, written in English, were then to be translated into Polish, and eventually launched in Apple Store and Google Play for Polish-speaking users. While Polish vocabulary is rich, and both the original and target languages are LTR scripts, it was quite a challenge to translate all strings of text so that they do not derange the layout, and maintain consistent communication style (casual) in both languages. It is therefore crucial that translators be engaged in the design process, have access to prototypes, and are aware of where each translated text will go in the app.

在以FMCG为目标的初创公司工作期间，我从事类似的语言任务。 该产品是日常购物应用程序，可以同时容纳波兰语和英语使用者。 然后，用英语编写的原始JSON文本将被翻译成波兰语，并最终在讲波兰语的用户的Apple Store和Google Play中推出。 尽管波兰语词汇丰富，并且原始语言和目标语言都是LTR脚本，但翻译所有文本字符串以确保它们不会改变布局并保持两种语言的一致交流风格(随意)是一个很大的挑战。 因此，至关重要的是，翻译人员必须参与设计过程，可以访问原型，并了解每种翻译文本在应用程序中的位置。

English language Internet as an alternative

英语互联网替代

While various reports indicate that Arab users are online and would very much appreciate browsing and using services in Arabic, it will take years for online businesses and services to deliver the amount and type of content that would make a monolingual experience possible. Device interfaces, available fully in Arabic, are one thing; another is performing a task, such as searching for a complex topic in Arabic or purchasing online, and finding sufficient information in the given language.

尽管各种报告表明阿拉伯用户在线，并且非常喜欢浏览和使用阿拉伯语服务，但在线业务和服务要花费大量时间和时间才能提供使单语体验成为可能的内容和类型。 设备接口(完全可用阿拉伯语提供)是一回事。 另一个是执行一项任务，例如搜索阿拉伯语中的复杂主题或在线购买，并以给定的语言查找足够的信息。

Wikipedia’s referring system is a great example of how a user may be referred to information in English, if their language of choice was not enough. The same could successfully be applied by other websites — an Arabic interface user could be referred to English language content, or English results could be incorporated in results of an Arabic language search.

Wikipedia的引荐系统是一个很好的示例，说明如果用户选择的语言不够，如何可以用英语引荐用户。 相同的方法也可以成功应用于其他网站-可以将阿拉伯语界面用户称为英语内容，或者可以将英语结果并入阿拉伯语搜索结果中。

This would definitely enhance user experience and, in effect, raise sales and exposure of a given service. Let us imagine a product we have in stock, but with no content available in Arabic apart from the product name. This should not stop us from showing an Arab consumer product information in English — he or she is more likely to purchase if an English description, terms of delivery, and availability details are available in place of empty fields. A properly designed interface should make this flexible LTR and RTL mix possible.

这肯定会增强用户体验，并有效地提高特定服务的销售量和曝光率。 让我们想象一下我们有库存的产品，但是除了产品名称之外没有阿拉伯语可用的内容。 这不应阻止我们用英语显示阿拉伯消费品信息-如果可以使用英语说明，交货条款和可用性详细信息代替空白字段，则他或她更有可能购买。 正确设计的接口应使这种灵活的LTR和RTL混合成为可能。

Conclusion

结论

Designing for Arab script users does not finish with having content translated from a foreign language. It requires consideration, attention to detail, and the conscience that, while common practices, such as mirroring, may be applied, Arab users are already used to certain tools and solutions of left-to-right interfaces. Businesses should observe the MENA market, its local startup scene, online trends, and sociopolitical changes. This, among other arguments I will write about in future posts, shall provide a consistent way to communicate and deliver services for the Arab market.

为阿拉伯语脚本用户设计并不能完成从外语翻译的内容。 它需要考虑，注意细节和良心，尽管可以应用诸如镜像之类的通用做法，但阿拉伯用户已经习惯于某些工具和左右界面的解决方案。 企业应观察MENA市场，其本地创业现场，在线趋势和社会政治变化。 除其他我将在以后的帖子中讨论的论点外，这将提供一种一致的方式来交流和为阿拉伯市场提供服务。

If you’re looking for Arabic UX consultations for your business/project, you’re more than welcome to contact me through my LinkedIn page.

如果您正在寻找适合您的业务/项目的阿拉伯用户体验咨询 ，欢迎您通过我的LinkedIn页面与我联系。

Enjoyed this article? You might also like my articles on the UX of Hajj and Reinventing Arabic Typography.

喜欢这篇文章吗？ 您可能还喜欢我在《 朝圣的用户体验》和《 重塑阿拉伯字体》上的文章。

Recommended reading:

推荐阅读：

A great 3-part guideline for creating Arabic interfaces:http://uxbert.com/designing-an-arabic-user-experience-usability-arabic-user-interfaces/

建立阿拉伯文介面的3个主要指南： http : //uxbert.com/designing-an-arabic-user-experience-usability-arabic-user-interfaces/

Harvard Business Review on understanding the Arab Consumer:https://hbr.org/2013/05/understanding-the-arab-consumer

关于了解阿拉伯消费者的《哈佛商业评论》： https ： //hbr.org/2013/05/understanding-the-arab-consumer

Smashing Magazine on Web Design in the Arab World:https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/09/showcase-of-web-design-in-the-arab-world/

阿拉伯世界网页设计Smashing杂志： https ： //www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/09/showcase-of-web-design-in-the-arab-world/

Why is it so difficult to design Arabic typefaces:https://www.wired.com/2015/10/why-its-so-hard-to-design-arabic-typefaces/

为什么设计阿拉伯字体如此困难： https ： //www.wired.com/2015/10/why-its-so-hard-to-design-arabic-typefaces/

Arabic website design resources by CXPartners:https://www.cxpartners.co.uk/our-thinking/arabic-website-design-resources/

CXPartners提供的阿拉伯语网站设计资源： https ://www.cxpartners.co.uk/our-thinking/arabic-website-design-resources/

A fascinating article and app for those interested in designing for Urdu speakers:http://wahibhaq.com/blog/introducing-urdu-font-comparator-app/

对于那些有兴趣为乌尔都语设计者设计的文章和应用程序： http : //wahibhaq.com/blog/introducing-urdu-font-comparator-app/

翻译自: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/designing-for-the-arab-user-basic-arabic-ux-for-business-6ff29d4c7c60/

阿拉伯语排版设计