Exploit Interactive Issue 3: Extending Your Browser With An Automated Page Translation Feature

Brian Kelly describes how browsers can be extended to include a page translation service, and speculates on the usefulness of such a service.

Extending Your Browser With An Automated Page Translation Feature

You go to a web page. Perhaps you've been given the URL or maybe you've found the page using a search engine. You hope that the page will contain the information you've been looking for. The page arrives, and to your disappointment, the page is written in German - a language you failed to study at school. You notice the page contains a number of relevant abbreviations. Looking further you discover that the references include many of the key papers in this area. You ask youself "Should I use my limited funds to have the article translated? Or should I ask a favour from a German-speaking friend?"

This article describes how an automated translation facility can be easily added to your browser, and invites the reader to try it out and see if it provides a satisfactory solution to this problem.

Browser Extensions

The Netscape Personal Toolbar is a little-known feature of the Netscape browser. As illustrated in Figure 1 the personal toolbar enables the end user to add their own links to the top of the browser.

Figure 1: The Netscape Personal Toolbar

A similar feature is also available in Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

As described in an article in the Web Focus column in the Ariadne web magazine, issue 19 [1] the personal toolbar can be used to provide a range of browser extensions including:

HTML Validation: Enables the HTML of the page being viewed to be validated.
Spell Checker: Run a HTML-aware spell-checker on the page being viewed.
Translate: Translate the page into a predefined language
Accessibility: Report on any accessibility issues for the current page.
Validate XML: Check the syntax of the XML page being viewed
Validate CSS: Check the syntax of the CSS (cascading style sheet) file linked to or embedded in the current document.

The author makes use of browser extensions to audit web sites as described in an article on "An Analysis of NFP Web Sites" published elsewhere in issue 3 of Exploit Interactive [2].

BabelFish

BabelFish [3] is a web-based translation tool. It can be used by selecting the language you wish to translate to and from, and entering a URL. BabelFish will then translate the page specified. The output is displayed in the main web browser menu, and retains the look-and-feel of the original page, as can be seen in Figure 1 which provides a translation of the UKOLN home page.

	UKOLN Home Page
	UKOLN Home Page after translation
Figure 2: UKOLN home page, before and after translation

Adding BabelFish To Your Browser

The BabelFish web site now describes how access to the page translation service can be added to your browser [4].

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 users can simply download and install the AV Power Tools [5].

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 users should drag this link -- AV Translation -- on to the Links Toolbar (select the View and then choose Toolbars followed by Links) to get a button. Alternatively right-click on this link -- AV Translation -- and select Add to Favorites.

Netscape Communicator 4.0 users should drag this link -- AV Translation -- on to the Personal Toolbar and you'll get a button like in the example below. or right-click on this link -- AV Translation -- and select "Add Bookmark."

Netscape Navigator 3.0 users should right-click on this link -- AV Translation -- and select Add Bookmark.

Using BabelFish From Your Browser

Once you have added BabelFish to your browser it can be used whenever you are viewing a page, as illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - Using BabelFish From Your Browser

As an exercise in testing how useful the translations were the DigiCult home page [6] was translated. A summary of the translations is given below.

English Original: Digital heritage and cultural content; Digital heritage and cultural content is one of the five main areas for research and technological development under Multimedia Content and Tools - Key Action 3 of the Information Society Technologies (IST) programme. Work is aimed at expanding the contribution of libraries, museums and archives to the emerging culture economy, including economic, scientific and technological development. It is coordinated by the European Commission's Cultural Heritage Applications unit, DG XIII-E2, in Luxembourg.
French Translation: Héritage de Digital et contenu culture.; L'héritage de Digital et le contenu culturel est un des cinq domaines principaux pour la recherche et le développement technologique sous des multimédia contenu et outils - l'action principale 3 du programme des technologies de société de l'information (IST). Le travail est visé augmentant la contribution des bibliothèques, musées et les archives à l'émergence cultivent l'économie, y compris le développement économique, scientifique et technologique. Il est coordonné par les applications l'unité, la dg XIII-E2 du acquis culturel du Commission européen, au Luxembourg.
German Translation: Digitalerbe und kultureller Inhalt; Digitalerbe und kultureller Inhalt ist einer der fünf Hauptbereiche für Forschung und technologische Entwicklung unter Multimedia Inhalt und Hilfsmittel - Schlüsseltätigkeit 3 des Programms der Informationsgesellschaft Technologien (IST). Die Arbeit wird den Beitrag der Bibliotheken, Museen erweiternd angestrebt und Archive zum Auftauchen züchten Wirtschaft, einschließlich der ökonomischen, wissenschaftlichen und technologischen Entwicklung. Sie wird durch die Anwendungen Maßeinheit, Gd XIII-E2 des kulturellen Erbes der Europäischen Kommission, in Luxemburg koordiniert.

As an illustration for English speakers, the German version of the page [6] (which, no doubt, was translated manually) was translated by BabelFish. The results are given below.

German Original: Ein Platz für Bibliotheken und andere Institutionen des intellektuellen und kulturellen Erbes im IST Programm der Europäischen Kommission; Mit Ablauf des vierten Rahmenprogramms für Forschung und technologische Entwicklung der Europäischen Kommission (4. RP, 1994 - 1998) endet auch eine fruchtbare Zeit für die Bibliotheken Europas. Das europäische Bibliotheksprogramm, bekannt zuletzt als Sektor (Telematik für Bibliotheken ) eines der großen Teilprogramme des 4. RP, konnte in den zirka zehn Jahren seines Bestehens (1988 - 1998) Mittel für immerhin nahezu 100 Projekte und sonstige Aktionen zur Verfügung stellen (vgl. den Aufsatz Offene Grenzen für die Bibliotheken Europas in B.I.T. online, Heft 3/98).
English Translation: A workstation for libraries and other institutions of the intellectual and cultural inheritance in IS program of the European commission; With flow of the fourth master program for research and technological development of the European commission (4th RP, 1994 - 1998) also a fruitful time for the libraries of Europe ends. The European library program, admits last as sector (telematics for libraries ) one of the large sub-programs 4. RP, knew into that zirka ten years of its existence (1988 - 1998) means for nevertheless almost 100 projects and other internal messages for the order places (viz. the essay open one boundaries for the libraries of Europe in B.I.T. on-line, number 3/98). Now that has 5. Master program (5th RP, 1999 - 2002) begun - with some innovations also in one of the largest areas, which is taken off traditionally by the European framework programs, the area Informations-und communication technologies. So far there were here three to separate promotion rails, ESPRIT , ACTS and TELEMATIK applications , with partial different participation rules and own in each case management. These three are replaced now by only one: by the program technologies for the information society , briefly IS (information Society Technologies) mentioned.

The English translation of the French version is given below.

English translation: Numerical inheritance and cultural contents; One of the fields of the third key action of the program of information technologies (STI) is dedicated to New Technologies and Multi-media. This last includes in its turn five principal sphere of activities for the Research and the Technological Development, where numerical Patrimoine and cultural contents come to be registered. Its objective aims at extending the contribution of the libraries, the museums and the files to an emergent cultural economy, including at the same time economic, scientific aspects and technological developments. This field is coordinated by the unit " Applications to the cultural inheritance " of the European Commission, DG XIII-E2, in Luxembourg.

Although the translations are far from ideal and some strange terms appear in the translations in the translation from the French the key points regarding a new program related to multimedia and relevant to the libraries and museums community is clear.

Making It Easy For Your Page To Be Translated

This article has described how to extend your browser to add a page translation feature. It is also possible for authors to add links to their documents which provide access to the BabelFish tranlation service. An example is shown at the bottom of this article.

What Next?

How useful is the BabelFish translation service? Would people who are likely to access multi-lingual resources find it useful to extend their browser in the way described on this article? Should documents which might be useful for a European (or wider) readership provide links to the BabelFish translation service?

The BabelFish translation service is freely available today. Are other translation products available which do a better job than BabelFish? For example how useful is the zip-translator English to Japanese translator [8]? Would one of the Systran translation products [7] do a better job?

If you have a comment of automated translation, please email the author or send a message to the Hypernews forum. The Exploit Interactive editors would be very interested to hear if a link to the BabelFish translation service should be added to the bottom of all articles.

References

Author Details

Picture of Brian Kelly Brian Kelly
UK Web Focus
UKOLN
University of Bath
Bath
BA2 7AY

URL: <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/>
Email: b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk

Brian Kelly is UK Web Focus. He works for UKOLN, which is based at the University of Bath

For citation purposes:
Brian Kelly, "Extending Your Browser With An Automated Page Translation Feature", Exploit Interactive, issue 3, October 1999
URL: <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue3/translation/>

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