How to Test Multilingual Websites the Right Way

Ensuring Accuracy, Usability, and Accessibility Across Languages

Creating a multilingual website is a significant step toward reaching global audiences. But launching multiple languages is not the finish line—testing is.

Multilingual websites introduce a new layer of complexity. Even if the original content is perfect, things can go wrong during translation, layout rendering, SEO configuration, or accessibility implementation. If left unchecked, these issues can damage your brand credibility and alienate users.

This article outlines how to properly test a multilingual website, covering content accuracy, interface rendering, SEO settings, keyboard usability, and screen reader support. We’ll also look at a real-world example where poor Japanese translations led to a serious drop in engagement—until proper testing fixed it.

Why Multilingual Testing Matters

Without thorough testing, multilingual websites may suffer from:

• Mistranslations that change meaning or offend users

• Truncated or overflowing text that breaks layouts

• Incorrect search engine indexing due to bad hreflang tags

• Forms and buttons that are not keyboard- or screen reader-friendly in all languages

• Inconsistent user journeys between languages
  
  

In short, a website that functions well in one language may fail in others unless tested carefully.

Key Areas to Test in a Multilingual Website

Content Accuracy

The first thing to test is whether your content is correctly translated. This isn’t just about grammar—it’s about meaning, tone, cultural appropriateness, and technical accuracy.

• Is the translation faithful to the original meaning?

• Does it use the appropriate tone for the audience (formal, casual, professional)?

• Are all brand terms and product names consistent across languages?

• Are there cultural nuances that need adjustment (idioms, humor, images)?
  
  

Have native-speaking reviewers or professional linguists check the content. Even the best machine translations can produce misleading or awkward phrasing.

UI Rendering and Layout

Different languages affect layout in different ways. Some languages, like German, tend to use longer words. Others, like Chinese, use shorter words but require different font handling. Right-to-left (RTL) languages such as Arabic require mirror-image layout adjustments.

Things to watch for include:

• Text overflowing buttons or being cut off

• Misaligned labels or menus

• Broken line breaks or spacing inconsistencies

• Font issues, such as unsupported characters or illegible text

• Incorrect directionality in RTL languages (menus, icons, alignment)
  
  

Test your site on both desktop and mobile, using real content in each language. Avoid relying solely on placeholder text.

SEO Configuration

Search engines must be able to index and display the correct language version to the right users. Testing your SEO setup includes checking:

• Whether each language has a unique URL

• Correct implementation of hreflang tags

• Title tags, meta descriptions, and alt text that are fully translated

• Separate sitemaps for each language (if applicable)

• Canonical tags pointing to the right version
  
  

Incorrect hreflang or URL structures can confuse search engines and lower your rankings. Use tools like Google Search Console and SEO crawlers that support multi-language auditing.

Keyboard Accessibility

Keyboard accessibility is a legal and usability requirement in many countries, and it must be tested in every supported language. Users should be able to:

• Navigate menus, buttons, and form fields using the Tab key

• Activate dropdowns, links, and pop-ups using Enter or Spacebar

• See clear focus indicators for selected elements

• Navigate through content in a logical and consistent tab order
  
  

Multilingual testing may reveal that some languages break navigation flow due to text expansion or layout shifts. Always test tabbing through every page in each language version.

Screen Reader Compatibility

For visually impaired users, screen readers must read content clearly and in the correct language. If language declarations are missing or incorrect, screen readers will read text in the wrong voice or mispronounce words entirely.

Test the following:

• Each page has the correct lang attribute set (e.g., lang="ja" for Japanese)

• ARIA labels and alt text are translated and meaningful

• Form labels and buttons are described correctly

• All interactive elements are reachable and readable

• Text is read in the correct reading direction (LTR or RTL)
  
  

Use screen reader software such as NVDA (Windows), VoiceOver (macOS), or TalkBack (Android) to verify performance in every language.

Real-World Example: Fixing Mistranslations in Japanese

A popular health information website launched a Japanese version of its site to serve new users across Asia. However, within weeks of launch, they noticed an unusually high bounce rate among Japanese visitors.

Upon investigation, the team found:

• Critical medical terms were mistranslated using AI-generated content

• Some txt appeared informal or even misleading due to poor tone adaptation

• Buttons on mobile devices were displaying broken labels in Japanese

• Search snippets in Japanese Google results had incorrect meta descriptions
  
  

To fix the issues, the team:

• Conducted a full content audit with native Japanese healthcare specialists

• Replaced automated translations with professional ones for key pages

• Adjusted the mobile UI layout for Japanese-specific font scaling

• Re-indexed their Japanese sitemap after fixing metadata
  
  

As a result, bounce rates dropped, user engagement improved, and the site recovered its search visibility in Japan.

Final Testing Tips

• Always test with real translated content, not dummy or placeholder text

• Involve native speakers during testing—not just translation

• Create language-specific test plans and checklists

• Don’t assume your design will work the same across all languages

• Retest after every major content update or system change
  
  

Conclusion

Multilingual websites require more than just good translation—they demand a complete testing strategy across all supported languages. From content accuracy to accessibility compliance, every element must be verified to ensure a consistent, respectful, and usable experience for global users.

Proper testing protects your brand, improves performance, and ensures your investment in going multilingual delivers real value.