Arabic Web Sites
Translation & Localization Steps

Translation:The first step in this process is the translation of the content into Arabic.

Deciding about whether to use Arabic Text or to Convert Arabic Text into graphics:Arabic Text:
The norm is to use Arabic Text, but not all browsers support it and also it doesn’t run on Mac systems, because of different character sets. Internet Explorer browser 3.0+ supports Arabic, while Netscape only supports Arabic in new version 7.0 and above. There are differences in how each browser handles some special formatting, such as bullets.

Converting Text into Graphics:
To support all platforms and browsers, the old method of converting the Arabic Text to graphics apply.
Or, you can restrict the users to use Internet Explorer from Microsoft.
 
Graphics:
All graphics that include text need to be translated into Arabic, by overwriting the original graphics with Arabic and shifting the direction Right to Left. Two copies of the original graphic files are better, one with the text and one without the text, so when Arabic is placed, it does not overlap with the original text.
 
Layout:
The layout of an Arabic web site must be Right to Left and that includes moving graphics and menus. Also, tables formatting must be also moved from left to right, as tables are used for positioning when formatting web pages.
 
Scripts:
Usually, scripts don’t need to be changed Right to Left, as simply they are small programs and can be written only in English. However, scripts’ output direction needs to be changed Right to Left to suit Arabic. In addition to that, modifications and testing are required.
When a database is used, some settings in the database itself must be made and that doesn’t apply to the structure of the database.