EPFL automatic translation module on www.epfl.ch; legal compliance for German, French, Italian main content

EPFL automatic translation module on www.epfl.ch; legal compliance for German, French, Italian main content

WEB: Automatic translation of the EPFL website - EPFL

WEB: Automatic translation of the EPFL website

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Tour de Babel par Pieter Brueghel l’Ancien © originally from Google Art Project

Since April 1, 2026, an automatic translation module has been available on pages of the www.epfl.ch website to comply with the Federal Ordinance on National Languages (441.11). The Google Translate plugin was chosen for its good cost-performance ratio. Laboratory or conference websites (as well as independently managed sites) are not concerned, but it is possible to request it viaour Service Desk.

The Federal Ordinance on National Languages requires that the main content of EPFL web pages be published in German, French, and Italian.

At present, the main EPFL website is primarily bilingual (French

English). Some pages are also available in German and, to a more limited extent, in Italian.

To better meet legal requirements and facilitate access to information, a new automatic translation feature has now been implemented. This option allows visitors to automatically translate the content of a page, providedit is not already availablein one of the site’s four main languages (French, English, German, Italian). To do so, users simply need to use the language selector located at the top right of the pages.

A warning message indicates that the translation is generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies. In case of doubt, users are invited to read the original version of the content.

By the way, our colleagues at ETH Zurich and research institutes also rely on automatic translation.

One limitation of the module is the following: when automatic translation is activated on a page and a link is opened from it (to another page on the EPFL site or even to an external page), the module remains active and applies its own translation. This occurs even when an official translated version already exists for the destination page.

How to replace already translated pages with the automatic translation module

If you manage a site on www.epfl.ch and wish to stop maintaining a translation,follow these four stepsto avoid losing visitors:

Set the page in the language to be disabled to “private” status.

Remove this page from the menu in the relevant language.

Open the corresponding page in the language you are keeping, then remove the correlation using the “Translation” button on the right.

Ask 1234 to set up a redirect from the disabled page to the active page, to avoid 404 errors.

Authors:Natalie Meystre,Natalie Meystre,Xurxo Adrian Entenza

The Federal Ordinance on National Languages requires that the main content of EPFL web pages be published in German, French, and Italian.At present, the main EPFL website is primarily bilingual (French

English). Some pages are also available in German and, to a more limited extent, in Italian.To better meet legal requirements and facilitate access to information, a new automatic translation feature has now been implemented. This option allows visitors to automatically translate the content of a page, providedit is not already availablein one of the site’s four main languages (French, English, German, Italian). To do so, users simply need to use the language selector located at the top right of the pages.A warning message indicates that the translation is generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies. In case of doubt, users are invited to read the original version of the content.By the way, our colleagues at ETH Zurich and research institutes also rely on automatic translation.NavigationOne limitation of the module is the following: when automatic translation is activated on a page and a link is opened from it (to another page on the EPFL site or even to an external page), the module remains active and applies its own translation. This occurs even when an official translated version already exists for the destination page.How to replace already translated pages with the automatic translation moduleIf you manage a site on www.epfl.ch and wish to stop maintaining a translation,follow these four stepsto avoid losing visitors:Set the page in the language to be disabled to “private” status.Remove this page from the menu in the relevant language.Open the corresponding page in the language you are keeping, then remove the correlation using the “Translation” button on the right.Ask 1234 to set up a redirect from the disabled page to the active page, to avoid 404 errors.