• 0

Language drop-down menu icons: Flags, ISO codes, or something else?


Question

Hello chaps,

 

We are in the process of rolling out a multi-language version of the this site, and I am considering what kind of icons to show (if any?) beside each language name.

 

I like the appearance of country flags, however I appreciate that these are inaccurate (country ? language), and may therefore offend some visitors.

 

148dksz.jpg

 

ISO 639-1 language codes are more accurate (and therefore less likely to offend), but visually uninteresting.  I wonder if using different colours (as the Gmail app shows for contacts without profile pictures) for each language would help here?

 

21y3wg.jpg

 

Or perhaps it would be preferable to simply show the language name, without any icon?

 

25pu9nk.png

 

What do you think?  All feedback/comments gratefully received!

 

Thank you.

6 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

Getting offended over using a flag is odd, but the bigger issue is that they're just not a good fit (Being from UK doesn't mean you speak English, etc.)

I'd just leave off the icons and include the plain text language names, looks nicer anyway.

  • 0

Personally I think flags are easier to recognise and so more user friendly, but if your webpage looks already structured and not too messy it doesn't actually matter.

  • 0

Flags have nothing to do with a language context (unless you deal with Esperanto?).

You should place the necessary accesibility notification and then list like:

[name of the language as text in the same language] ([name of the language in the language of the present page])

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • They always have. This just updates what's included out of the box during the initial install.
    • So basically their prebuilding it into the ISOs?
    • Microsoft shares Defender anti-virus update for new Windows 11/10 ISOs by Sayan Sen Following the one for Lumma last month, Microsoft has also published a new Defender update for Windows 11/10/Server installation images this month. This update package is necessary as a Windows installation image may contain old, outdated anti-malware definitions and software binaries. Aside from better security, these updates can also provide improved performance benefits in some cases. When a new Windows installation is set up, there may be a temporary security risk due to outdated Microsoft Defender protection in the OS installation images. This happens because the antimalware software included in these images might not be up to date. Thus Microsoft says that these updated definitions essentially help close this protection gap. Microsoft delivered the latest security definitions for Windows images via security intelligence update version 1.431.54.0. The Defender package version is also the same. It applies to Windows 11, Windows 10 (Enterprise, Pro, and Home editions), Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2016. Microsoft writes: From Microsoft's security bulletin, we learn that the security intelligence update version 1.431.54.0 was released this past week adds threat detections for various backdoor exploits, trojans, among others. For those wondering, the latest intelligence update is version 1.431.155.0 at the time of writing.
    • “In other news about OneDrive frustration, Microsoft recently locked out a user who was attempting to move a bunch of important data from old hard drives to OneDrive.” - It was probably CSMA..
    • Just what I needed! An extremely expensive pair of sunglasses that I will lose and cannot use indoors. My life will be complete. I trust Meta AI watching my entire life happen. It's going to be the best ever!
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      SekTheFirst earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      zayanhani earned a badge
      First Post
    • First Post
      HarryTaylor earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Year In
      Eternal Tech earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Eternal Tech earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      650
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      232
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      224
    4. 4
      +FloatingFatMan
      140
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      140
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!