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Abhishek Joshi
Independent Researcher
Maharashtra, India
Abstract
Digital government education portals have emerged as transformative platforms for delivering policy information, learning resources, and citizen services at scale. These portals promise equitable access to education and training across diverse populations, yet linguistic diversity remains a critical barrier. In multilingual nations like India—with 22 officially recognized languages and hundreds of dialects—portals designed primarily in English or Hindi risk marginalizing speakers of regional languages. This study offers a comprehensive evaluation of language inclusivity features in three leading Indian government education portals (DIKSHA, SWAYAM, and e‑Pathshala). We analyze portal architectures, translation workflows, and user interface designs, focusing on multilingual support, machine‑ versus human‑translated content, and user‑driven language preferences. A mixed‑methods approach combines survey data from 200 participants across eight linguistic groups with usability testing—measuring task completion times, comprehension scores, and satisfaction ratings. Findings reveal that portals offering at least three major regional languages see a 35 % increase in engagement and a 25 % reduction in navigation errors compared to monolingual counterparts. However, purely automated translations exhibit a 20 % higher incidence of terminology inconsistencies, undermining trust. Qualitative feedback underscores the importance of culturally contextualized translations, intuitive language‑toggle controls, and transparent labeling of machine versus human translations. Building on best practices from international e‑governance initiatives, we propose a hybrid localization model integrating community‑driven post‑editing with continuous localization pipelines. By embedding robust language inclusivity at the core of portal design—through dynamic language detection, crowd‑sourced translation validation, and adaptive machine‑learning improvements—governments can foster meaningful digital participation, enhance policy comprehension, and uphold linguistic rights.
Keywords
Digital government education portals; multilingual interfaces; language inclusivity; user satisfaction; e‑governance
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