How to Translate Images

Overview

There are 3 steps to create translated versions of our resources’ images:

In accordance with the WAI Translations process, please always declare your intent and wait for reply from WAI team before starting a translation.

When an image from our website can be translated, it is usually provided with an SVG source file.

In general:

PNG images are located in the content-images/ folder of the repository
SVG source files are located in the content-images/source/ folder of the repository.

What you will need:

An SVG editor. The following instructions apply to the Inkscape editor that have been used by some volunteers.
The “Noto Sans” font family, including the Regular and Bold weights, installed on your computer.

Translating the SVG source file:

Duplicate the SVG file and add your language subtag in the filename. Example: bridge.fr.svg
Open the SVG file in your SVG editor.
In Inkscape, select the “Text Tool” on the lateral toolbar (or use the keyboard shortcut T)
Select the text objects and translate them. If necessary, you can slightly adjust the font size to prevent the text from going beyond the frame.
Change the language (dc:language) value of the file, with your language subtag. For example: fr instead of en.

In Inkscape, you can go to File > Document Properties…. Then, in the “Metadata” tab, change the value of the “Language” field.
Save the SVG file.

Export the file as a PNG image, with your language subtag in the middle. Example: bridge.fr.png.\

In Inkscape, go to File > Export… and make sure:
- the Export area is “Page” (not “Document”)
- “PNG” is the selected export format.
Then click on the “Export” button.
Move the PNG file in the same location as the English version (generally at the root of the content-images/ folder)

Include the PNG and the SVG source file.