Language Support

Modified on Thu, 29 Oct at 2:29 PM

ℹ️ This page is for study builders, Data Managers, and Site Administrators who plan studies in more than one language.

Language support in OpenClinica controls which languages Study Runner, the Participant Dashboard, forms, and system notifications display. This article lists the supported languages, explains which text OpenClinica translates and which text you translate, and describes how OpenClinica chooses a language for each user and Participant.

ℹ️ Note: Study Runner is the application that site staff use to enter and review study data. The Participant Dashboard is the application that Participants use to complete forms on their own devices.

Supported Languages

OpenClinica supports the following system languages:

Language	Language Code
English	en
German	de
Spanish	es
French	fr
Canadian French	fr-CA
Italian	it
Dutch	nl

All studies use English (en) by default.
To enable another supported language for your study, contact Customer Support or your Customer Success Manager (CSM). You cannot enable a language yourself.
To request a language that is not in this list, contact Customer Support or your CSM.

ℹ️ Note: French (fr) and Canadian French (fr-CA) are separate languages with separate translations. When you request French for your study, state which one you need. When determining which to use, be aware that Canadian French (fr-CA) is not available for form-specific text.

Types of Text

OpenClinica has three types of text. Each type is translated in a different way.

Diagram of the three types of text in OpenClinica: system-defined text, form-specific text, and study-specific text

Figure 1: The three types of text in OpenClinica

System-Defined Text

System-defined text is text that is the same in every study. Examples include menus (Tasks, Share, Settings), the login page, buttons in forms, and pages such as the Participant Details page, the Participant Matrix, and the Queries page.
OpenClinica translates system-defined text. New translations are delivered in stack releases.

Form-Specific Text

Form-specific text is text in the form definition. Examples include item labels, hints, constraint messages, and required messages.
Study builders add translations for form-specific text in Form Designer, with the Manage Languages button, or in the form template.
A form can use a language that is not in the Supported Languages list. In this case, the form content displays in that language, but the form interface (for example, button text and error messages) stays in a supported system language.

✅ Tip: When you add a language to a form, use the language code from the Supported Languages table (for example, fr for French). In Form Designer, enter it in the Language code field. In the form template, add it to the column header, for example label::French (fr). If the code does not match, the form cannot open in the user's language automatically.

ℹ️ Note: Canadian French (fr-CA) is not supported for form-specific text. Use French (fr) for form-specific text instead.

Study-Specific Text

Study-specific text is text that belongs to the study but is not part of a form. Examples include the study name, event names, form names, and calendaring notification messages.
Study-specific text displays in one language only. OpenClinica does not display a different version of this text for each study language.

ℹ️ Note: Because study-specific text is not translated, a user can see a translated interface with an event name or form name in the original language. This is expected behavior.

ℹ️ Note: OpenClinica does not translate data that users or Participants enter.

How OpenClinica Chooses a Language

When a user or Participant accesses OpenClinica, the system chooses a language with the following rules.

Study Runner and the Participant Dashboard

OpenClinica reads the preferred language in the browser settings.
If the preferred language is enabled for the study, the interface displays in that language.
If the preferred language is not enabled for the study, the interface displays in the default study language.

ℹ️ Note: OpenClinica uses only the first language in the browser's language list. For example, if a user's browser lists Italian first and German second, and the study supports German but not Italian, the interface displays in the default study language, not German.

✅ Tip: A browser set to a regional version of a language, such as French (Switzerland), displays the general version of that language, such as French (fr), when the study supports it.

✅ Tip: To view OpenClinica in a different language, move that language to the top of the language list in your browser settings, then reload the page. The language must be enabled for the study.

System Notifications to Study Runner Users

If the user has not yet accessed OpenClinica, notifications are sent in the default study language.
If the user has accessed OpenClinica, notifications are sent in the language that OpenClinica chose for that user at their most recent access.

System Notifications to Participants

If the Participant has not yet accessed the Participant Dashboard, notifications are sent in the language of the user who sent the most recent invitation.
If the Participant has accessed the Participant Dashboard, notifications are sent in the language that OpenClinica chose for that Participant at their most recent access.

Forms

When a user or Participant opens a form, the form opens in the language that Study Runner or the Participant Dashboard currently displays, if the form includes that language.
If the form does not include that language, the form opens in one of its other languages. The user or Participant can select a different form language from the language menu in the form.