2.3 Language Support

This document provides a step-by-step guide to understanding the language support available in OpenClinica. It will explain how you can implement this model in your own study.

There are three types of text within OpenClinica that you may want translated:

Types of Text

OpenClinica includes three types of text that may be translated:

System-Defined Text

• Text that is not study-specific, such as menus (Tasks, Share, Settings) and other standard system-generated text.
• Translations are provided by OpenClinica.
• Current supported languages: English (en), German (de), Canadian French (fr-ca), and Spanish (es).
• Contact Customer Support or your Customer Success Manager if you would like additional languages added.

Form-Specific Text

• Text that is specific to the form definition, such as item labels, constraint messages, and instructions.
• Translations are provided by study builders in the form template during study configuration.
• Forms can use languages not currently supported by the OpenClinica system. In this case, the form interface (for example, button text and error messages) will remain in the system-supported language.

Study-Specific Text

• Text that is study-specific, but not defined within the form (for example, Study Name, Event Names, Form Names, and Calendaring Notification Messages).

ℹ️ Note: OpenClinica studies are configured to use only English (en) by default. You can change your study to use any available system languages by contacting Customer Support or your Customer Success Manager.

Language Determination

When a user or participant accesses OpenClinica, the system determines which language to display based on the following rules:

• Study Runner or Participant Dashboard
  • If the browser language matches a study-supported language, the UI is localized to that language.
  • If the browser language does not match a study-supported language, the UI uses the default study language.
• System Notifications (to Study Runner users)
  • If the user has not accessed the system, notifications are sent in the default study language.
  • If the user has accessed the system, notifications are sent in the language determined by their access.
• System Notifications (to participants)
  • If the participant has not accessed the Participant Dashboard, notifications are sent in the language selected by the user who sent the most recent invitation.
  • If the participant has accessed the Dashboard, notifications are sent in the language determined by their access.
• Forms
  • When a Study Runner user or participant opens a form, it opens in the same language currently used in Study Runner or the Participant Dashboard—provided the form is configured to support that language.
  • If the form is not configured for that language, it will open in one of the other available form languages.

The below table describes what Internationalization capabilities OpenClinica has for each component of the OpenClinica system.