Hey** @rocket-dev **
A language selector with country flags is definitely a much improved customer experience, you are right there! So there are a few ways to achieve this and I’ll go into that here. How are you with a bit of coding?
You can build a language selector to allow customers to manually choose their preferred language. For accessibility purposes, you should create a custom component for your selector. Native select elements can make navigation difficult for screen readers, and can lead to unexpected behavior for the user.
The selector needs to be placed inside a localization form. This form can be created using the Liquid form tag and the 'localization' parameter. The selector also needs to contain an input with the attribute name="language_code", whose value will be the selected language.
{% form 'localization' %}
form_content
{% endform %}
This code generates a form for customers to select their preferred country so that they’re shown the appropriate language and currency. The localization form can contain one of two selectors:
- A country selector
- A language selector
The available languages are accessible through the available_languages attribute of the localization object, and the currently selected language is accessible through the language attribute.
The localization object can be used in a localization form. To learn about how to offer localization options in your theme, refer to Support multiple currencies and languages.
Here a list of the properties and their links to our resources:
Note: You should only output a country selector if there’s more than one available language.
The following example includes a button and a popover containing each language option:
{% if localization.available_languages.size > 1 %}
{% endif %}
For an example of JavaScript that manages the visibility of the option list and submits the form on selection, refer to J_avaScript submission of the localization form_.
To implement a language selector with country flags in the Shopify storefront, you can follow the steps you provided with slight modifications. Here’s a step-by-step process:
-
Gather Country Flags:
- First, you’ll need a set of country flag images. You can find various free sources online that offer SVG or PNG flags by country or language code.
- Make sure to host these images in a place that can be accessed from your Shopify store, such as within your theme assets.
-
Modify the Liquid Template:
{% if localization.available_languages.size > 1 %}
{% endif %}
Replace path_to_flags_folder/ with the correct path to your flag assets. If you’re using SVGs, change .png to .svg.
-
Update the JavaScript:
- If you’re using the Shopify provided JavaScript for managing the visibility of the option list and submitting the form on selection, ensure that this script is included and working correctly.
-
Style and Accessibility:
- Ensure that the flags are visible and appropriately sized.
- Make sure to use the
alt attribute for the flag images to provide a textual description of the image. This is vital for screen readers and overall accessibility.
-
Test:
- Make sure to test the language selector on various devices and browsers to ensure it works as expected. Testing with a screen reader is also essential to ensure that your website remains accessible to all users.
With these steps and modifications, you’ll be able to add country flags to your Shopify language selector, providing a visual cue for your users.
