{"id":7772,"date":"2026-06-11T07:32:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T07:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poeditor.com\/blog\/?p=7772"},"modified":"2026-06-11T07:32:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T07:32:05","slug":"inclusive-localization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poeditor.com\/blog\/inclusive-localization\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive localization for modern digital products"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To be inclusive means avoiding assumptions about what\u2019s \u201cnormal\u201d and making space for a wider range of identities and experiences. This applies to many aspects of life and business, including localization. Inclusive localization considers the full experience surrounding translated text to ensure all users feel accommodated. If you\u2019re interested in making all your users feel seen, keep reading as we explore the topic in more depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is inclusive localization?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Inclusive localization means to adapt content, products, and experiences so they work for people with different identities, backgrounds, abilities, and cultural contexts. With traditional localization, we focused on language and regional adaptation. Inclusive localization takes it further, as we would also review whether the language excludes certain groups, whether screen readers work correctly in the target language, whether images reflect the local audience, and whether forms support different naming conventions. Translation is just part of the job, not the whole job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First off, prepare the source content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, inclusion problems are already baked into the product, and you shouldn’t expect a translator to fix that. The best source content is flexible. It doesn’t assume a user’s gender, family structure, education level, religion, nationality, or physical ability unless that information is genuinely relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t use<\/th>More inclusive approach<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Dear Sir\/Madam<\/td>Hello<\/td><\/tr>
Husband\/wife<\/td>Partner\/spouse<\/td><\/tr>
First name\/Last name<\/td>Full name<\/td><\/tr>
The salesman will contact you<\/td>A sales representative will contact you<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you write your source content in a more inclusive way, translators will spend less time trying to solve the problems found in the original text. Don’t worry, the changes you make won’t make the content less clear. What you’ll achieve instead is much more natural translations and fewer review cycles. Overall, you’ll give your users a better experience, and that’s always our goal with localization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be careful with gendered language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gender is one of the most discussed topics in localization, and that’s because languages handle it differently. Gendered language is a linguistic system that categorizes the world through the lens of the male\/female binary. It comes in three distinct ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n