Decide what both audiences need
Start with the information your customers need before contacting you: what you offer, who it is for, examples of your work and the next step. Those facts should agree across languages. The sentences do not need to have identical lengths or follow the same rhythm. A good Arabic description often needs a different construction to sound natural.
Prepare real sample content before choosing a layout. Include a long Arabic service name, a short English heading, a phone number with its country code and a mixed-language product name. These reveal problems that a one-word placeholder hides. If you serve several GCC countries, keep the contact details and service coverage accurate rather than inserting country names for decoration.
Inspect direction and typography together
Right-to-left layout affects the reading order and the relationship between a label, an icon and its content. It does not mean every item should be mirrored. Logos, photographs and many familiar symbols retain their orientation. Mixed Arabic and English text needs particular care around parentheses, punctuation, email addresses and numbers.
Use an Arabic typeface with suitable letterforms and enough line height for the chosen size. Compare a heading, a paragraph and a small form label rather than judging the typeface only from a large word. The aim is comfortable reading. Avoid forcing Arabic into the exact number of lines used by the English version if that makes the text cramped.
Use the catalog to build a meaningful shortlist
Talal Portfolio offers a bilingual product-designer portfolio with a portrait opening, an interactive grid and an experience timeline. Personal Showcase is described as a minimal portrait portfolio with rolling typography and a responsive navigation drawer. Wearlucia is a bilingual editorial jewelry storefront, with cinematic film and scroll-led product reveals.
Use those differences to guide your selection. A consultant’s personal introduction is a different task from presenting jewelry or showing a designer’s project history. Start with the structure closest to your material, then inspect its Arabic and English previews. A catalog description can tell you what to look for; it cannot replace checking your adapted website.
- Compare the same section in both languages.
- Check a long Arabic heading at the narrowest phone width you expect to support.
- Open and close the menu with touch and with a keyboard.
- Check that contact links keep the correct number or address.
- Confirm that changing language keeps visitors in the corresponding content.
Write a bilingual customization brief
Give the assistant the approved Arabic and English text together. Identify which names should remain in their original spelling and which have an established Arabic form. Mark facts that must not be invented, including prices, locations, client names and delivery promises. For missing information, ask for a question instead of a plausible placeholder.
Describe the desired language experience explicitly: an accessible switcher, readable right-to-left Arabic, left-to-right English, and complete content in each version. If your site uses separate language URLs, each should open directly in the expected language. Do not rely on your own saved preference as the only test; a first-time visitor should receive a coherent page.
Review the whole journey on a phone
Begin in a fresh browser session. Open the Arabic page, read the main content, switch to English and follow the primary contact action. Repeat from the English page. Check the result after a reload and after visiting a second page. A successful switch on the homepage alone does not prove that every route has been translated.
For a preview sent from a computer to a phone, ask for a link the phone can actually open. A localhost address belongs to the device running the server and will not usually open the same project on another device. Review the exact shared link with your real content, including images, forms and language controls. Keep notes by page and language so corrections are specific.
Sources and further reading
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