[EPIC] Translation: Build dynamic translation capability into Benefit Hub & R&S pages

[wesrowe]

Background

User Story or Problem Statement

AS A Veteran, Family Member, Beneficiary, or Caregiver who prefers non-English content
I WANT translated pages to be published automatically
SO THAT I can have access to content that I understand as quickly as it is ready.

AS A PO or Content Lead
I WANT the VAgov front-end to automatically publish translations for pages in Resources & Support and Benefit Hubs when they're published in the CMS
SO THAT the system is quick, sustainable, and no longer relies on a developer-dependent hard-coded workflow.

Notes and background

• Relevant issues / epics
  • Public Websites has been supporting a manual translation toggle on a hard-coded, page-by-page basis via this epic: FE Translation Support #11344
  • PW did some discovery into the Drupal side of translation and handed off to the CMS team: Drupal translation integration #9622
  • Tim C provided analysis of how translation would work with content-build in 12186

Acceptance Criteria

• CMS changes (if needed)
  • Determined whether any additional fields are needed to support automated publishing
  • Designed any changes to CMS UI
• Front-end design (both R&S and Benefit Hubs)
  • UX - designed any changes to the old FE toggles UI
• Design cut-over plan to ensure:
  • At no time will translated pages be unavailable
  • At no time will duplicate toggles be visible to Veterans
• FE implementation
  • Language toggles display automatically on any page in R&S or Hubs when one or more non-English translation of that page is in the published state in Drupal
  • Toggles display for each available language, including English
  • Toggles do not display if only English version is available
  • Selecting a different language loads the appropriate version of the article in the main content area of the page
  • All headings and template copy in the main content area is translated
  • Header, footer, and other content not specific to that page is not translated
  • The currently-displayed language is displayed differently in the toggle
• Executed cut-over plan
• Removed old hard-coded toggles and all related code

Design principles

Veteran-centered

• Single source of truth: Increase reliability and consistency of content on VA.gov by providing a single source of truth.
• Accessible, plain language: Provide guardrails and guidelines to ensure content quality.
• Purposely structured content: Ensure Content API can deliver content whose meaning matches its structure.
• Content lifecycle governance: Produce tools, processes and policies to maintain content quality throughout its lifecycle.

Editor-centered

• Purpose-driven: Create an opportunity to involve the editor community in VA’s mission and content strategy goals.
• Efficient: Remove distractions and create clear, straightforward paths to get the job done.
• Approachable: Offer friendly guidance over authoritative instruction.
• Consistent: Reduce user’s mental load by allowing them to fall back on pattern recognition to complete tasks.
• Empowering: Provide clear information to help editors make decisions about their work.

Runbook

Team

Please check the team(s) that will do this work.

• CMS Team
• Public Websites
• Facilities
• User support