A checklist for an Arabic and English website.

• The Arabic version uses dir="rtl" on the page, so the layout mirrors: the menu, text alignment, and the order of columns.
• Icons that show direction flip too: arrows, "next" and "back" buttons, and progress steps.
• Things that shouldn’t flip stay as they are: logos, phone numbers, prices in dollars, product photos, and video controls.
• Mixed text, like an English brand name inside an Arabic sentence, displays in the right order.

• The Arabic font is chosen on purpose, not left to the browser. It should match the feel of the English font and stay readable at small sizes.
• Arabic text gets a slightly larger size and more line height than English, because the letters are more detailed.
• Letter spacing and all-caps styles are removed in Arabic. Arabic letters connect, and extra spacing breaks them.

• Decide once whether to show Western digits (1, 2, 3) or Arabic-Indic digits (١، ٢، ٣), and use the same choice everywhere.
• Prices show the currency clearly, for example "$25" or "25 دولار", and phone numbers stay readable left to right.
• Dates are written in a format Arabic readers expect, or as words to avoid confusion between day and month.

• Labels, placeholders and error messages are all translated, including the ones that only appear when something goes wrong.
• Email and website fields stay left to right even on the Arabic page, so addresses are typed correctly.
• Name fields accept Arabic letters.

• Each language has its own address, such as /en/ and /ar/, rather than switching language without changing the page address.
• Every page tells Google which other languages it exists in, using hreflang links.
• Page titles and descriptions are written separately in each language, not left in English.
• The sitemap lists every language version.

• A person who speaks the language reviews the text. Machine translation is a starting point, not the final copy.
• Lebanese readers may expect a different tone than readers elsewhere. Decide between formal Arabic and a lighter tone for your audience.
• The Arabic version isn’t a smaller copy: it has the same pages, the same calls to action, and the same contact options.

1. 01

   Open every page in Arabic on a phone and check nothing overlaps or runs off the screen.

2. 02

   Fill in every form in Arabic and trigger every error message.

3. 03

   Switch languages from different pages and check you land on the same page in the other language.

4. 04

   Search your business name in Arabic on Google after a few weeks, to check the Arabic pages are listed.

If you’d like a second opinion on your current site, the free website check tests the basics in a minute, and I build sites in English, Arabic and French.