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I'm working on a software product, currently based in the EU. The documentation is currently all written in British English. Senior management have recently announced their desire to market the product for US audiences.

All of our competitors' products' documentation are in US English.

My team-lead is also the documentation champion, and he is British. When I suggested that we should consider using "International English" in our documentation, his response was based on his discomfort in having to write in US English, rather than on what is best for the product.

I am British-American. I am also the only American on the whole project, so, I feel like my position is seen by others as biased. However, it is my intuition (based on experience of living in both countries) that Americans are more alienated by British English than the British are by American English in a software product's documentation.

However, I currently can't back this up objectively. So, I would like to present some findings from professional studies on the topic. Whether or not they support my intuition.

The marketing of the software product in question would not necessarily benefit from appearing "foreign" in the US, nor are we attempting to hide that fact. We would just like to grow our market share.

Can someone point me to anything relevant and objective?

user61277
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    If the situation was reversed and the product and existing documentation was in US English and the product was being marketed in the UK: would the documentation be updated to British English? Almost definitely yes. Translation to locales, whether minor or major is just a no brainer. – Fractional Jan 15 '15 at 14:30
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    Also, consider the date format as used in the documentation. No changing this would just end up being misleading instead of just 'differently correct'. – Fractional Jan 15 '15 at 14:31
  • Continuous translation of the documentation is not an option in this project at this time. I am fully aware of i18n/l10n concepts. This isn't about just spelling at all. – user61277 Jan 15 '15 at 15:12

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I can give anecdotal evidence of one good example scenario I'm personally involved in.

I'm British and am working with an American client on a product for the US market.

Naturally for a US product, documentation and in-product language is US English. However, in some areas of documentation, labelling, copy and microcopy in which I am involved, my English phrases or spelling has got through.

When discovered, the reaction seems more often than not to be, 'this is wrong - can you correct it'. Explanations about British English ensue...if I can be bothered!

However, my reaction on seeing the US version is 'oh that's US English' - but that's what we need. No explanations about US English necessary.

So, from the UK perspective it's British or US English, and from the US perspective, it's right or wrong.

Take that as you will :)

Roger Attrill
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  • Thanks for your input! I think your bolded conclusion is spot-on. I'm still hoping for some objective evidence though. – user61277 Jan 15 '15 at 20:28
  • I think its mainly down to the relative sizes of the two countries populations and the exportation of US products such as the US film and TV industry. The British will have far more exposure to American English than the Americans get to British English, so the Americans are less used to British usage. – PhillipW Jan 15 '15 at 22:07
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It is a small quality of life improvement which may or may not help. If US English users will perceive UK English as mistakes it might lower the 'quality' of the products. We are all bothered when we see a spelling mistake.

I have often used US English instead of UK English, because most of the internet and operating systems use US English (this is industry dependant however).

Daniel Zahra
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This is really the sort of thing that needs to be part of you Internationali[z|s]ation efforts. As RedSirius pointed out above, it is not just a matter of a few spelling differences (Color/Colour, etc), but the data formats, money formats, etc.

In my case, everything is created in British English, as I'm UK native, but I expect to translate into various other languages/locales, including US English.

Steve Jones
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Just want to point out who your primary target audience are may factor into your decision. Are the majority of the user base/prospects also in the EU? Or are your users predominantly in United States.

If your target market is in the EU, using UK English may help endear your product for them because it's "local".

I'm from Canada. The sales reps in our company definitely highlights the fact that we're Canadian to our Canadian prospects for this purpose.

nightning
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  • I'm not convinced that being British is generally seen as a positive in the EU ;) – Jon Story Jan 15 '15 at 23:22
  • I think that that would seem to make sense, but in reality, I think many "continental" Europeans, would probably prefer International English, if it has to be in EN at all. – user61277 Jan 16 '15 at 00:06
  • Good point. Culture here in Canada probably places a bit of emphasis on being local precisely because we're so close to the States. Not the same case in the EU. – nightning Jan 16 '15 at 00:23