First, let s take a moment to define a few terms. In this context, locale is a collection of standard settings, rules and data specific to a language and geographical region. For example, you could translate a web site into Spanish, but if all your Spanish-speaking customers are from Mexico, it may be more beneficial to localize it for Mexico, where the Spanish spoken is a different locale to the Spanish spoken in Spain. To streamline the localization of software, the first step is to include internationalization in the product development cycle. LISA defines internationalization as the process of generalizing a product, so that it can handle multiple languages and cultural conventions without the need for redesign.
Internationalization takes place at the level of program design and document development.
For example, ensure that the application supports double-byte characters, so the product can be translated into Chinese or Japanese. To adapt a Web site to the cultural and linguistic requirements of two or more locales is to globalize it. LISA defines Globalization as addressing the business issues associated with taking a product global Many of the decisions that web designers make during the design of the source language web site will have an impact on the ease and, therefore, the cost of globalization. Adaptation will also be easier if you use generic icons. For example, the picture of a US mailbox as the symbol for e-mail may be confusing to a European.