Language and Translation Policy

1. Purpose

To explain in which languages hangel is available, how the interface, user content and legal texts are translated and which text prevails if translations differ.

2. Scope

The hangel interface, organisation and user content (events, listings, announcements, news), agreements and policies, e-mails and notifications, and certificates.

3. Principles

1. Everyone in their own language. The interface is available in 13 language options (two of them variants of Turkish): Türkiye Turkish, Cypriot Turkish, English, Russian, Arabic, Persian, Spanish, Hausa, German, Hungarian, French, Azerbaijani and Danish. Cypriot Turkish is not a separate translation but a variant of Türkiye Turkish: it uses the same text and changes only a few expressions that differ in Northern Cyprus (names of administrative units, phone number examples and the like).
2. Right-to-left languages. In Arabic and Persian the page layout is mirrored right to left.
3. Access to the original. For automatically translated content, the original text can always be seen.
4. Turkish prevails for legal texts. Versions in other languages are for information; if translations differ, the Turkish text prevails (existing Multilingual Agreements and Global Access Policy).
5. Plain language. Texts are written clearly, without jargon.
6. Links are language-neutral. Page addresses (URLs) are in English; page text is shown in the chosen language.

4. Roles and responsibilities

• Product team: adds new text in all languages and catches missing translation keys through pre-build checks.
• Organisations: are responsible for the accuracy of the language in which they write their own content.
• Board of Directors: approves the Turkish master text of legal documents.

5. How it works at hangel today

• Interface: 13 language options (12 languages, two of them variants of Turkish); languages other than Turkish and English are loaded only when selected. Pre-build checks catch missing translation keys and Turkish text written directly into user screens without translation.
• User content: Event, listing and announcement texts written by organisations can be translated automatically into the visitor's language with Google Gemini. Translations are cached; "show original" switches back to the original text. If the source text is already in the visitor's language, no translation is made.
• Legal texts: Agreements and policies are offered in several languages; the master text is Turkish.
• Certificates and documents: Documents are generated in the relevant language according to their type.

6. Not yet in place and our goals

• For automatically translated organisation content, a label stating that the text is machine-translated is not shown on every surface; the "show original" switch is available.
• Translations of legal texts have not been reviewed by a sworn translator or a lawyer.
• Translation quality in languages such as Hausa, Persian, Azerbaijani and Danish is not regularly tested with native speakers; the Danish translation is machine-made and has not yet been reviewed by a Danish speaker.
• There are no sign language or easy-read versions.

7. How to raise a concern

Translation errors: destek@hangel.org (with the page address and language).

8. Review

At least once a year and whenever a new language is added.

9. Related documents

Existing "Multilingual Agreements and Global Access Policy" · Accessibility Policy · AI Ethics Policy · Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy