Based on a combination of your user's iTunes Store locale and operating system language settings, iTunes U translates strings for your site’s user interface elements (for example, control text and descriptions, date and time information, Tools area controls, track list column headings, buttons, and so on) and displays localized versions of your site’s pages to your users for English, UK English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch languages.
iTunes U does not translate your site’s content; whether it is the text you provide as titles for your pages, your track metadata, or the contents of your tracks themselves. Because of this, user’s might see language inconsistency. For example, if you have a course taught in English, using English content, and created your page for an English user, a user with an iTunes Store locale set to France and visiting your course sees a mixture of French (for example, interface elements) and English (for example, page data and track content). When a user browses a page in your site, if the language settings they specified match the language you are using within your page, users see a more homogeneous page.
When creating and editing pages within your site, keep the following guidelines in mind.
Use a single language for data and content. For continuity, create and edit the Course page data you control (for example, Course page titles and descriptions, Links box titles and links, group names, track metadata, and so on) based on the most appropriate language for the content in the Course page. For example, you should provide a course containing French tracks with a French course title, description, Links box content, and so on.
Use multiple courses for content in multiple languages. For consistency, create unique Course pages for content you might have in multiple languages instead of creating one Course page with multiple groups. For example, if you have content for a course in French, Italian, and Spanish, instead of creating one Course page with three groups you should create three Course pages: a French Course page, an Italian Course page, and a Spanish Course page.
Ensure better search and download integration. Organizing your site by Course pages that use the same language as the content of the tracks themselves ensures better integration with iTunes U searching by improving the relevancy, categorization, and ranking within top downloads.
Notes:
iTunes U does not translate its predefined categories. When picking a category for your content, select the most relevant category. If the content of your track does not match any of the subcategories, you should not select a subcategory. Instead, add information to the track’s metadata.
Currently, iTunes U does not localize your site’s administrative features and user interface elements.
© 2009 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2009-11-04)