Language Support

HarvardSites Drupal supports content in multiple languages. When language settings are applied, browsers can display characters and scripts correctly and text-to-speech software like screen readers can apply the correct pronunciation. There are several steps to adding language support to a website.

Website language settings

English is the default language when sites are created on HarvardSites Drupal. If you wish to enable a language other than English, submit a ticket through the HUIT Service Desk. Provide a list of the languages you need to support and specify the default language to be applied when no other language is selected. Once language settings are configured, you will be able to select languages in the editing interface.

Web page language settings

Language settings can be applied at the page level, in the Language section in the right sidebar of the content edit view. This setting can be used when the predominant language of the content is other than the default language of the website. Languages that are defined in the website language settings will display as options in the Language menu of the content, and the selected language will be used as the default language for page content that is not otherwise specified. 

Note that it’s not possible to change the language of site menus, headers, and footers at the page level. For example, the Historia page on the Department of Rocket Science demo site is set to Spanish, but the header, footer, and menus are provided in English. In this case, screen reader software reads both the English and Spanish text using Spanish pronunciation.

Language settings for specific content

Language settings can also be applied to specific content using the text editor. This approach is helpful for pages that have passages of content in a language other than the default language. In these cases, the language will be applied only to the specified content. Languages that are defined in the website language settings will display as options in the Choose Language menu of the text editor. Selecting content and then selecting the appropriate language will apply the language to the selected text (see Text Editor for details about using the text editor toolbar). 

For example, the description of the Thermodynamics and Fluid Dynamics in Rocketry course on the demo site is provided in English and Spanish. Screen reader software will read the English description using the default language (English) and the Spanish description using Spanish pronunciation.