If you’re going to run an English-language web site, hire an English-speaking proofreader
April 18, 2009I was at Consumer Depot this morning, it’s a surplus electronics store here in Nashville. Sometimes they sell junk, and you have to be very careful about what you buy there. But with those caveats, sometimes you get pretty good deals. Like this morning I bought a Mio P550, mostly because I was looking for a PDA that had Wi Fi and Bluetooth. This thing fit the bill, and their price was $40 cheaper than I’d ever seen for this device.
So anyway, I went to the Mio support site when I got home. Mostly to see if there’s any software updates or patches I have to install for the thing. And when I was looking through the FAQ, one of the items on the list was:
I see fetal error on my screen what should I do?
A “fetal” error? I’m quite certain they meant “fatal” error.
Seriously, if you’re going to run an English-language site make sure you hire at least some people who speak the language fluently. Don’t have to be native speakers but they should be fluent.
The funniest part is that the P550 is a discontinued product at least here in the US. So it’s been out a while, meaning this “fetal” error has probably been listed on the support site for a couple years or more.