Mastodon has an automatic language detector.
If you start writing a post on the website interface, the post language indicator will light up if it thinks you have the wrong setting. When you click on the lit-up indicator it will suggest which setting you should use instead.
The reason it doesn't set language automatically is because the detector is too unreliable for short posts (and Mastodon is by its nature full of short posts).
More info on language settings at https://fedi.tips/setting-your-language-preferences-on-mastodon-and-filtering-out-posts-in-other-languages
p.s. For anyone wondering what the post language setting is even for, it allows people to easily filter out posts in languages they don't speak, and also provides a "translate" button below your post if people don't speak your language.
However, this system relies on people using the correct language settings for their posts, so that the system knows which language each post uses.
You can find out more about language settings on Mastodon in the guide at https://fedi.tips/setting-your-language-preferences-on-mastodon-and-filtering-out-posts-in-other-languages
p.p.s. Using the correct post language setting is also important for accessibility:
The language setting of a post determines how a screen reader pronounces it when read out loud.
If you have the wrong language setting on your post, this can make it difficult for blind and visually impaired people to understand it because their screen reader software may not prounce it correctly.
Thank you very much to @elettrona@poliversity.it for pointing out this issue!
@FediTips@social.growyourown.services To set posts in correct language, is also meaningful for users relying on voice synthesizers to read (including blind people) as most screen readers now support language change
@elettrona@poliversity.it
Ah, interesting, thank you for that!
Just to check I have understood correctly, do screen readers include their own translation systems, or is this just for setting the post language on Mastodon?
@elettrona@poliversity.it
Ah, interesting, thank you for that!
Just to check I have understood correctly, do screen readers include their own translation systems, or is this just for setting the post language on Mastodon?
@FediTips@social.growyourown.services Nothing to do with translation. It's pronunciation. So, English is pronounced with English tts, and so on.
@FediTips@social.growyourown.services Nothing to do with translation. It's pronunciation. So, English is pronounced with English tts, and so on.
@elettrona@poliversity.it
Ahh, that is something that I am ashamed to say I had not even thought about. Thank you so much for raising this point!
@elettrona@poliversity.it
Ahh, that is something that I am ashamed to say I had not even thought about. Thank you so much for raising this point!
@FediTips@social.growyourown.services I honestly deactivate this function (screen reader pronunciation language change) because there are too many web sites which are badly tagged, so you find Italian-speaking web pages, which use English pronunciation instead. But as I'm a professional tester, I often use my test workstation which include every functionality possible.
@FediTips@social.growyourown.services I honestly deactivate this function (screen reader pronunciation language change) because there are too many web sites which are badly tagged, so you find Italian-speaking web pages, which use English pronunciation instead. But as I'm a professional tester, I often use my test workstation which include every functionality possible.
Fedi.Tips