Right-to-Left, Left-to-Right: Rethinking Multilingual Design
Session Abstract
Open Science materials, created by open source often centre on English, sidelining 75% of the world who don’t speak it. In this session, we share the creation of „Open Science MOOCs“ for Arabic speakers blending videos, quizzes and RTL-friendly design. Learn how we navigated multilingual UX challenges to build truly inclusive Open Science resources
Session Description
Open Science aims to be inclusive, yet its materials are overwhelmingly designed for English-speaking audiences—excluding 75% of people globally. In this session, we’ll share how we tackled this challenge in our Arabic-speaking community by creating „Open Science MOOCs,“ a platform with videos, quizzes, and guides tailored for Right-to-Left (RTL) users.
We’ll explore the nuances of designing a user experience that works smoothly for both RTL and LTR audiences, where everything—from layout to navigation—mirrors each other to create true accessibility. Our presentation will focus on the practical lessons we’ve learned, the challenges of multilingual UX design, and how others can apply these insights to build more inclusive platforms.
Join us to rethink what it means to make Open Science/open source truly open for everyone.
