Multilingual Website Design: Why Translation Alone Isn’t Enough
27 July 2026
A Digital Dispatch by Sian Jamieson, Partnership Lead
One of the things we love most about working on the web is the simple fact that there are no borders. A community archive created on a small island can be discovered by someone researching their family history thousands of miles away. A local charity can inspire supporters across the world. A specialist organisation can connect with people they may never meet in person, but who care deeply about what they do.
That is one of the incredible things about digital technology, it gives good ideas, important stories, and meaningful work the opportunity to travel.
But just because something can reach everyone, doesn’t automatically mean it works for everyone.
Lessons from WordCamp Europe: Why Translation Alone Isn’t Enough for Multilingual Website Design
At WordCamp Europe 2026, we listened to Wendy Huis in ’t Veld’s brilliant talk, How to Not Fail When Expanding Globally.
Although Wendy was talking specifically about businesses entering new international markets, one idea stood out: Internationalisation is not the same as translation.
And it applies to far more than ecommerce.
When organisations think about reaching wider audiences, translation is often the first thing that comes to mind. Change the language, job done. Except communication has never just been about words. It’s about meaning.
The assumptions hidden inside every website
Every website is full of tiny decisions. Some are obvious:
- the colours you choose
- the images you use
- the words you write.
But some are almost invisible. The format of your forms, the questions you ask, the instructions you give, the humour or references you use, the things you assume your audience already knows.
Those choices often make perfect sense to the people creating the website because they are based on their own experiences. But what happens when someone arrives with a completely different set of expectations?
Designing Multilingual Websites for Different Cultures, Not Just Different Languages
One of the examples Wendy shared was something as simple as a name field. Her Dutch surname contains spaces and an apostrophe, a tiny detail.
But when a digital system couldn’t accept that formatting, suddenly her name no longer matched her official documents.
The technology worked exactly how it was built, the problem was that it hadn’t considered enough humans.
These little moments happen all the time: A form that assumes every address follows the same structure. A date format that means different things in different countries. A phrase that loses its meaning when translated. A joke that makes perfect sense in one culture and none at all in another.
None of these things happen because people don’t care, they happen because it’s incredibly easy to design around what is familiar to us.
Putting People at the Heart of Multilingual Website Design
We are living through a fascinating moment in digital technology, AI tools can translate huge amounts of information instantly. They can help us work faster, communicate further, and remove barriers that would previously have felt impossible.
That is genuinely exciting, but language is more than a collection of words. It carries personality, emotion, culture, trust and humour.
A technically accurate translation can still miss what you were actually trying to say, and that’s where human experience matters.
Creating Better Experiences for Global Audiences
For charities, cultural organisations, heritage projects, and membership communities, digital success is rarely just about transactions. It’s about relationships. You’re not simply asking someone to click a button, you’re asking them to: Support a cause, protect a piece of history, join a community, experience something meaningful.
Those moments rely on trust, and trust relies on understanding.
Keeping the human in the loop
One of the biggest themes we took away from WordCamp Europe this year was that technology is moving incredibly quickly, AI, automation, and digital tools are changing what is possible.
But the more powerful our tools become, the more important it is to remember who we are building them for. People.
People with different experiences, languages, needs and expectations.
The future of great digital experiences won’t come from removing humans from the process. It will come from using better tools while keeping humans at the centre.
Because your website doesn’t just need to be found, it needs to be understood.
Need help creating digital experiences that connect?
At Pooka & Co, we build websites around the people who use them. We take time to understand your organisation, your audience, and the little details that turn a website from something that simply works into something that feels effortless.
Because behind every visit, enquiry, donation, or interaction is a person. And good technology should always remember that.
🎥 Watch Wendy’s WordCamp Europe 2026 session: How to Not Fail When Expanding Globally
Wendy’s talk is a brilliant reminder that technology can help us reach people anywhere in the world, but genuine connection still comes from understanding people.
Watch the full talk to learn why successful global websites need thoughtful planning, localisation, and a human touch.
About Wendy
At WordCamp Europe 2026, we joined Wendy Huis in ’t Veld for her talk, How to Not Fail When Expanding Globally, exploring what organisations need to consider when taking their digital experiences to new audiences.
Wendy has spent more than 15 years building websites and working with WordPress. Today, she works in support and customer success at Clonable, helping organisations expand internationally by creating multilingual websites that go beyond simply translating words.
Through her own experiences as a website builder, entrepreneur, and digital problem-solver, Wendy focuses on the human details that make global communication successful, from understanding local expectations and user journeys to making sure technology supports real people.
