While many DH tools are designed and implemented in English, their uptake remains limited due to linguistic barriers. As the Multilingual DH SIG of ADHO states, DH scholarship itself has often been questioned for being Anglo-centric and thus, culturally and technologically biased. There are consistent attempts being made to address the linguistic hegemony of English in DH, for instance, the ADHO Multilingual DH SIG (Special Interest Group) and DARIAH Working Group on Multilingual DH. As a team of collaborators working on Voyant Tools, we are offering a hands-on workshop to explore the processes, challenges and opportunities of translating interfaces of DH tools, with Voyant Tools as a primary case study as Voyant has had success in creating international language interfaces (of which there are currently 16).

Translating interfaces is not just a technical task of translating strings. Instead, it is a methodological intervention into multilingual representation, diversity, equity, and sustainability of the tool(s). Our workshop is in alignment with the sub-theme of “Translating | Translinguality in the Era of AI” of the conference. Our workshop invites participants from all career stages to collaboratively translate sections of Voyant’s interface into multiple languages that they are familiar with, including Korean, the language of the host institution. The workshop will introduce participants to a broader translation workflow and tool management workflow, and introduce them to version control mechanisms using GitHub. The workshop will be an opportunity to discuss and experiment with different ways to brainstorm such translations, including trying AI-assisted translation practices.

Workshop Structure

0:00–0:15 — Introduction

Framing multilingualism in DH, overview of Voyant’s skin architecture, and workshop goals.

0:15–0:30 — Case Studies and Best Practices

Lightning presentations on previous translation/localization efforts within DH; examples of complicated tasks.

0:45–1:15 — Hands-On Translation Sprint (Part 1)

Participants work in groups by language to translate selected interface strings of Voyant Tools using a collaborative platform (shared Google sheets).

1:15–1:30 — Discussion

1:30–1:40 — Break

1:40–2:00 — Hands-On Translation Sprint (Part 2)

Groups refine translations, test them in a live or preview environment, and address contextual ambiguities. Participants conduct peer review for the translations.

2:00–2:20 — Discussion

2:20–2:50 — AI Translation Experiment

Participants discuss and compare AI-generated translations with human translations, analyzing strengths, shortcomings, and implications for DH practice.

2:50–3:10 — Sustainability Planning

Discussion of workflows for maintaining translations, integrating new languages, and community-based governance models.

3:10–3:30 — Wrap-Up and Next Steps

Sharing outcomes, prototype translations, and proposals for a collaborative internationalization network.

Bios

Ayushi Khemka is a PhD student and Killam Doctoral Laureate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Alberta. Her research spans the intersections of digital humanities, the philosophy of race, and the philosophy and ethics of artificial intelligence. Her publications include articles in Applied Network Science and the Journal of Academic Ethics. She is the co-author, with Prof. Geoffrey Rockwell, of the forthcoming book Thinking-Through Voyant: Hands-on Text Analysis and Visualization, to be published by Open Book Publishers. She serves as Highly Qualified Personnel for the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF)–supported research initiative ‘Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides’. She is a Canadian Institute for Far-Right Studies (CIFRS) Fellow, an Association for Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) Communications Fellow, and a HASTAC Scholar. She also served as the Graduate Student Representative for the Canadian Society for Digital Humanities (CSDH) from 2023 to 2025.

Dr. Geoffrey Martin Rockwell is a Professor of Philosophy and Digital Humanities at the University of Alberta. He holds a Canada CIFAR AI Chair and is a Fellow at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Toronto and has published on subjects such as artificial intelligence and ethics, philosophical dialogue, textual visualization and analysis, digital humanities, instructional technology, computer games and multimedia. His books include Defining Dialogue: From Socrates to the Internet (Humanity Books, 2003) and Hermeneutica, co-authored with Stéfan Sinclair (MIT Press, 2016). Hermeneutica is part of a hybrid text and tool project with Voyant Tools (voyant-tools.org), an award-winning suite of analytical tools. He recently co-edited Right Research: Modelling Sustainable Research Practices in the Anthropocene (Open Book Publishers, 2021) and On Making in the Digital Humanities (UCL Press, 2023).

Dr. Arjun Ghosh is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi - Abu Dhabi. He was formerly a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. He is the author of A History of the Jana Natya Manch: Plays For the People, Freedom from Profit: Eschewing Copyright in Resistance Art and an annotated translation of Bijon Bhattacharya’s Nabanna (with a critical introduction). He is the President of the Digital Humanities Alliance for Research and Teaching Innovations (DHARTI) and a member of the Voyant Consortium. His research interests include: Digital Humanities; Performance and Theatre Studies; Authorship; Copyright and Intellectual Property; and Political Communication.