Do you have foreign employees and do you want your Access database to be multilingual?
You have a well-functioning MS Access database application that was created especially for you. The application actually supports the processes within your company perfectly and suddenly the need arises to open a foreign branch. Or maybe you are about to acquire a foreign company and want them to work with your custom application. I would like to take you through the possibilities.
Your Access database in multiple languages, for a consistent user experience
Not so long ago, the director of an existing Dutch customer called. He told me that he was planning to acquire an English and a German company. His only concern was that the CRM application I had built for his company a few years ago was in Dutch.
That was a logical thing to do at the time, since they only have Dutch employees, but now that the takeover plans were on the table, it was a thing. He wanted to be able to follow the business in Engelen and DFuistland as closely as in the Netherlands, but you don’t have to present a Dutch CRM to an Englishman or a German.
The choice was limited; switch to another CRM system that is multilingual and then migrate all existing data to that new system. That seemed like an obvious choice, but where can you find such a package that supports your business processes down to the last millimeter? And how will the employees react to it?
So the choice was actually made quickly. The package we created for his company had to be multilingual.
A fun but also tough challenge. You have to think incredibly carefully about what you will encounter when translating; in queries, reports, forms, exports, etc. etc. And you want to be able to set at user level which language someone should receive. Then find someone who actually speaks the language who can check whether all translations fit the context.
The result is impressive and it works like a charm. During the construction, we immediately took into account that additional languages may be added in the future, so that the intervention is very clear.
A translation plugin for Access
If only it were so easy that, like with WordPress, you could install a plugin to make your entire application multilingual. It doesn’t work that way with Access; you need to create a translation table and then translate all Dutch labels and (error) messages so that you can then call them in reports, forms and notifications. That’s quite a job, but when you see it work, it’s truly magical.
And when we finished that, we realized that there must be more companies that have a similar issue. So if you are reading this and are curious about the possibilities for your Access application, please contact us without obligation. Then we will look at it together and discuss the possibilities.
Meer weten?
Bel of mail gerust als je benieuwd bent of jouw Access toepassing ook meertalig gemaakt kan worden: 06-22716555 of c.keyzer@keyware.nl
Wil je dat wij contact met jou opnemen? Dat kan natuurlijk ook; laat dan hieronder je gegevens achter en we nemen zo snel mogelijk contact met je op
