Contributing to W3C Translations

Overview

This page provides information for volunteers who want to translate W3C resources into their own language. See the list of completed translations of W3C Recommendations.

The working language of W3C is American English. W3C encourages translations into other languages to help deliverables reach the widest possible audience.

W3C is grateful to all the volunteers who translate its deliverables.

Authorized Translations

This page provide instructions for translations that do not follow a formal review process and are not endorsed by W3C. When standards translations are meant for official purposes, they may be developed as Authorized W3C Translations by following a different process described in the Policy for Authorized W3C Translation.

What to translate?

W3C encourages translations of the following resources:

• W3C Technical Reports (see instructions for translating W3C Technical Reports below), especially:
  • W3C Recommendations (i.e. final standards), except for Recommendations under revision (e.g., documents that contain 'candidate corrections/additions' or 'proposed corrections/additions').
  • W3C Statements
  • Other types of Technical Reports might be updated frequently, so their translations risk becoming outdated quickly. Please check with W3C (by emailing w3c-translators@w3.org) about whether it's recommended to translate them.
• Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) resources — see Translating WAI Resources.
• Internationalization articles and tutorials — see Translation instructions for Internationalization resources.
• CSS Validator - see Translation of the W3C CSS Validator.

Instructions for translating W3C Technical Reports

1. Check that there is not already a completed or ongoing translation for the technical report in the language.
2. Verify you are willing to contribute under the IPR policies for W3C translations.
3. Read the review criteria for volunteer translation below.
4. Get a W3C account if you do not already have one. This will allow us to associate your translations with your W3C profile.
5. Inform others of your interest in translating the technical report:
   • If starting a new translation, send e-mail to the W3C translations mailing list using this e-mail template for Intention to Translate. (W3C will use this to update the translation database.)
   • If you are interested in updating an existing outdated translation or contributing to an ongoing translation effort, please contact the translation author directly.
6. Once the translation is finished, send email to the W3C translations mailing list using this e-mail template or Completed Translation. (W3C will use this to update the translation database.)

Review criteria for volunteer translations

• W3C expects translations to be in HTML, with valid markup, valid CSS and valid links.
• Do not change or adapt or add to the meaning of the English version in your translation. If you have suggestions for changes to the English version, provide them to the technical report editors as indicated in Status of this Document section of the technical report.
• As documented in the translation policy, translations of W3C specifications need to:
  • have a prominent link back to the original specification, and
  • indicate that only the English version is normative.
• If W3C determines that a translation is of poor quality (for example, based on reviews from the community), the link to that translation will be removed from the W3C website until the quality reaches an acceptable level.