WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: best practice for Americanized foreign words

for

From: Schulz, Leslie
Date: Jul 21, 2021 12:24PM

John,
I agree with you.
Code the French as French and the English as English.

I think when languages borrow from each other, it is difficult to know whether the speakers are pronouncing it in their own language or in the language of origin.
For example, if a French speaking person says, très cool, chances are they pronounce "cool" differently from a native English speaker.
Any attempts to try to guess the pronunciation, such as trying to make the screen reader say "tray" will probably not be successful.
Tray itself is NOT pronounced the same as a person speaking French and saying, très. The r in the 2 languages is definitely different, and the e in French is not exactly the same as the a in English.

I think it is good to mark French as French and English as English.

This has been a very interesting discussion.
I even started watching a new movie because of it: Bon Cop Bad Cop.
I recommend it as an enrichment experience for those interested in languages.
I especially laughed when the French speaking police officer's daughter called him "pas cool", meaning "not cool".
She said "cool" with a lovely French accent.

Looking forward to the next discussion!

Thanks,
Leslie



-----Original Message-----
From: John Northup < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2021 1:10 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] best practice for Americanized foreign words

I think this could turn into a never-ending battle for screen reader pronunciation. Consider the word "content." With emphasis on the first syllable, it's a noun. Emphasize the second syllable and it's either a verb or an adjective.

I think screen reader users are generally accustomed to this.

I myself would tend toward pure HTML and let the chips fall where they may:
<span lang="fr">très</span>

Of course this would only change pronunciation in the screen reader if the user had the French language installed--but as a coder, I've done my job.

All the best,

John B. Northup
Director of Evaluations, WebAIM
Institute for Disability Research, Policy and Practice Utah State University

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of David Engebretson Jr.
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 5:45 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [EXT] Re: [WebAIM] best practice for Americanized foreign words

Could you put a span around the word for "en" instances?
Example:
This is tres <span class="visually-hidden"> (tray)</span>

I haven't heard the word (tres (tray)) used in English vernacular since the early 90's, but I like it (probably since I was in my early 20's last time I heard it).

How about <span aria-hidden="true">tres</span><span class="visually-hidden">tray</span>

That way it is screen reader agnostic?

Peace,
David

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of USU. If this appears to be a USU employee, beware of impersonators. Do not click links, reply, download images, or open attachments unless you verify the sender's identity and know the content is safe.