Multilingualism | GNWT Design System

All GNWT digital services must support multiple languages in a way that honours the linguistic diversity of the Northwest Territories and meets residents’ needs regardless of device, location, or ability. Multilingual content is not a secondary feature — it is an essential part of building trustworthy and accessible services.

The GNWT Design System embeds multilingual-friendly design, content, and development practices so that services are inclusive, consistent, and easy to maintain. This page provides core guidance on multilingual implementation, roles and responsibilities, and how to integrate language support into your service from the start.

Why multilingualism matters

The Northwest Territories is home to speakers of many languages and dialects. Providing information and services in residents’ preferred languages supports inclusion, dignity, and trust. Digital services that respect language diversity reflect the GNWT’s commitment to equitable access.

At the same time, delivering multilingual content introduces linguistic, technical, and operational complexity. This guidance helps teams implement language support in a consistent, manageable way that aligns with territorial standards for content, design, and development.

Key guidelines

Language detection & switching

Respect the user’s language preference where possible (for example, via the browser or device setting).
Do not use intrusive language-selection pop-ups or splash screens.
When no preference is detected or supported, default to English.

Support for official languages

English and French are GNWT’s primary official languages; departments must plan for full translation of page text, headers, navigation, forms, images, and publications.
Exceptions may apply (e.g., for internal-use content, certain Indigenous-audience content, or where French translation is not required).

Consistent user experience across languages

Maintain consistent structure, navigation, and layout regardless of language variant.
Use the same design system component library in all language versions to preserve reliability and accessibility.
Ensure translations are accessible: alt text, image captions, ARIA labels, and link text must be translated or carefully localized.

Focus on content first

Build with the assumption that each language version is a full version of the content.
Use plain language and clear structure to help all users, regardless of first language or reading ability.

Roles & responsibilities

Designers consider how layouts, typography, icons, and spacing adapt for different languages (including right-to-left, where applicable, or longer vs shorter text strings).
Developers ensure language detection and switching mechanisms work, that text direction and locale are correct, and that components remain accessible in every language variant.
Content editors/translators coordinate translation workflows early, provide context for translators (e.g., cultural references), and ensure no content is missed (navigation, alt text, metadata).
Quality assurance testers review each language version for layout shifts, truncated text, broken translations, and accessibility compliance.
Design system team maintains the multilingual design system components and templates, reviews feedback across language versions, and evolves the system to support additional GNWT languages as required.

Implementation steps

Plan for languages early — Identify required languages, translation process, and publishing workflow before design begins.
Author content in default language — Then translate and validate into other supported languages.
Test each variant — Include device, browser, layout, content, and accessibility tests in each language version.
Monitor and iterate — Based on user feedback and analytics, improve translation quality, language switching usability, and consistency.
Extend when needed — If additional Indigenous languages or dialects are required, engage with the design system team early to integrate them into the shared component library and workflow.

Summary

Multilingual support is fundamental.
English and French are baseline; additional languages must be considered as services evolve.
Planning, consistent design, translation workflows, and accessibility must all work together.
The GNWT Design System helps you build multilingual services that are inclusive, reliable, and high quality.