What you need to know about the law on Ukrainian language?
On May 15,
President Petro Poroshenko signed the law on ensuring the functioning of
the Ukrainian language as the state language. This
document regulates the use of the Ukrainian language in most areas of
life, including for Internet business and software developers.
What does law mean for internet business?
Companies selling in Ukraine should maintain websites and social media pages in the Ukrainian language (Art. 27. part 6). The site may have a different language version, but Ukrainian should be loaded by default. Also, it can not be "poorer content" than, for example, Russian-speaking. That is, a conditional online store that does not have a Ukrainian version of the site will have to translate the main one, as well as all product cards, interfaces, mailing lists, advertising messages, etc. to the state language.
This also applies to foreign companies that have subsidiaries or branches in Ukraine: their website must have a Ukrainian version, in which there is enough content for “understandable navigation and disclosure of the activities of the website owner”.
According to art. 30 h.2. customer service, including in online stores and online catalogs, should be in Ukrainian. But at the request of the client, personal service can be conducted in another language.
What does the law mean for developers?
The development of computer programs is governed by art. 27 of the law. The program with the user interface, which is sold in Ukraine, must have a Ukrainian and / or English version, or a version in another official language of the EU. A program installed on products that are sold in Ukraine must have an interface in the Ukrainian language, and it must be no less in volume and content than other language versions. For example, computer games that have an English (or French, Spanish, etc.) version, and which are sold in Ukraine, are not necessary to translate into Ukrainian, but if an entrepreneur is going to sell a batch of custom gadgets in Ukraine, they should have Ukrainian interface version.
What should media and book publishers do?
The law regulates, inter alia, the use of the Ukrainian language in the print media, this is devoted to Art. 25. The media may be published in other languages, provided that at the same time not less circulation is published in Ukrainian. All language versions must be identical in name and content. At the points of sale the print press in Ukrainian should be at least 50%. These requirements do not apply to publications in the Crimean Tatar language and other indigenous languages of Ukraine, as well as publications in the official languages of the EU.
Book publishers are required to publish at least 50% of publications in Ukrainian over the course of a year (for details, the rules on book publishing are spelled out in Article 26). In bookstores, part of books in Ukrainian should not be less than 50%.
When will the law work?
The law was signed by the President on May 15, 2019, but has not yet been published in the official press. In Ukraine, laws come into force 10 days after the official promulgation (publication in the official press), unless the law itself provides for other terms. The rules of this law come into force two months after publication. The law was published on May 16, 2019. But for art. 27 and 30, which regulate the use of the Ukrainian language on websites and in computer programs, provides for a transition period of 18 months (one and a half years). More specifically, it is valid for hours 2-8 of art. 27 and h 2, 4-8 st. 30. These parts relate to the Ukrainian version of the site and service in the Ukrainian language.
Those. Internet business owners will have a year and a half after the law is published to translate their sites. Article 25, which regulates the print media market, enters into force 30 months after the entry into force of the law.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
The law also provides for a mechanism for holding companies accountable if they do not take into account the changes. For violation of the provisions of the law faces administrative liability. According to Marina Kislovaeva, Juscutum, a lawyer with the conflict management practice, if for the first time the company violates the requirements of the law, it will be warned about the violation and be obliged to eliminate it. Repeated violation threatens with a fine, which can be up to 6800 hryvnia. For print media, the fine is slightly higher and amounts to 8500 hryvnia. Criminal liability for business representatives is not provided for by law.
How to quickly translate your website into Ukrainian?
Earlier we published detailed recommendations on this matter from experts in the field of translation. In short, the site owner should first:
Determine with programmers how to automate the translation process.
Determine whether the translation is “human”, machine-based or mixed. For example, it is better to hire a good translator for an important advertising text, Google Translate is suitable for the secondary at first, but such translation needs to be read.
Decide how to upload site content for translation. To automate this process, there are a number of plugins, including: for Joomla there is a free J2XML plugin, for WordPress there are WPML modules, Zanto WP Translation, etc.
Take into account that the “human” translation is not very fast. During a working day, one person can translate approximately 2500-3000 words, edit - 15 000-20 000 words per day.
How much is it?
According to estimates by ProfPerklad, a high-quality human translation costs between 50 and 60 kopecks per word. For the text of 5000 characters (about 700 words) - this is about 350 UAH.
What does law mean for internet business?
Companies selling in Ukraine should maintain websites and social media pages in the Ukrainian language (Art. 27. part 6). The site may have a different language version, but Ukrainian should be loaded by default. Also, it can not be "poorer content" than, for example, Russian-speaking. That is, a conditional online store that does not have a Ukrainian version of the site will have to translate the main one, as well as all product cards, interfaces, mailing lists, advertising messages, etc. to the state language.
This also applies to foreign companies that have subsidiaries or branches in Ukraine: their website must have a Ukrainian version, in which there is enough content for “understandable navigation and disclosure of the activities of the website owner”.
According to art. 30 h.2. customer service, including in online stores and online catalogs, should be in Ukrainian. But at the request of the client, personal service can be conducted in another language.
What does the law mean for developers?
The development of computer programs is governed by art. 27 of the law. The program with the user interface, which is sold in Ukraine, must have a Ukrainian and / or English version, or a version in another official language of the EU. A program installed on products that are sold in Ukraine must have an interface in the Ukrainian language, and it must be no less in volume and content than other language versions. For example, computer games that have an English (or French, Spanish, etc.) version, and which are sold in Ukraine, are not necessary to translate into Ukrainian, but if an entrepreneur is going to sell a batch of custom gadgets in Ukraine, they should have Ukrainian interface version.
What should media and book publishers do?
The law regulates, inter alia, the use of the Ukrainian language in the print media, this is devoted to Art. 25. The media may be published in other languages, provided that at the same time not less circulation is published in Ukrainian. All language versions must be identical in name and content. At the points of sale the print press in Ukrainian should be at least 50%. These requirements do not apply to publications in the Crimean Tatar language and other indigenous languages of Ukraine, as well as publications in the official languages of the EU.
Book publishers are required to publish at least 50% of publications in Ukrainian over the course of a year (for details, the rules on book publishing are spelled out in Article 26). In bookstores, part of books in Ukrainian should not be less than 50%.
When will the law work?
The law was signed by the President on May 15, 2019, but has not yet been published in the official press. In Ukraine, laws come into force 10 days after the official promulgation (publication in the official press), unless the law itself provides for other terms. The rules of this law come into force two months after publication. The law was published on May 16, 2019. But for art. 27 and 30, which regulate the use of the Ukrainian language on websites and in computer programs, provides for a transition period of 18 months (one and a half years). More specifically, it is valid for hours 2-8 of art. 27 and h 2, 4-8 st. 30. These parts relate to the Ukrainian version of the site and service in the Ukrainian language.
Those. Internet business owners will have a year and a half after the law is published to translate their sites. Article 25, which regulates the print media market, enters into force 30 months after the entry into force of the law.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
The law also provides for a mechanism for holding companies accountable if they do not take into account the changes. For violation of the provisions of the law faces administrative liability. According to Marina Kislovaeva, Juscutum, a lawyer with the conflict management practice, if for the first time the company violates the requirements of the law, it will be warned about the violation and be obliged to eliminate it. Repeated violation threatens with a fine, which can be up to 6800 hryvnia. For print media, the fine is slightly higher and amounts to 8500 hryvnia. Criminal liability for business representatives is not provided for by law.
How to quickly translate your website into Ukrainian?
Earlier we published detailed recommendations on this matter from experts in the field of translation. In short, the site owner should first:
Determine with programmers how to automate the translation process.
Determine whether the translation is “human”, machine-based or mixed. For example, it is better to hire a good translator for an important advertising text, Google Translate is suitable for the secondary at first, but such translation needs to be read.
Decide how to upload site content for translation. To automate this process, there are a number of plugins, including: for Joomla there is a free J2XML plugin, for WordPress there are WPML modules, Zanto WP Translation, etc.
Take into account that the “human” translation is not very fast. During a working day, one person can translate approximately 2500-3000 words, edit - 15 000-20 000 words per day.
How much is it?
According to estimates by ProfPerklad, a high-quality human translation costs between 50 and 60 kopecks per word. For the text of 5000 characters (about 700 words) - this is about 350 UAH.
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