Which one do you prefer? MM/DD/YY or DD/MM/YY
> Localization/ Date format
Most of our answers will be DD/MM/YY if you are from somewhere other than the United States of America. Why so? Let’s see.
Before getting into the topic, let’s brush up on localization.
What is localization?
Localization makes content culturally relevant and appropriate.
Things to consider when localizing.
- Context, Relevance, and Tone of voice
- Date and units Format (SI) and
- Local laws and Regulations
Most importantly, translation is not localization.
Previous Article for reference
Okay, Let’s get back to your topic localization> Date Format.
MM/DD/YYYY Vs DD/MM/YYYY
Predominantly American familiar with MM/DD/YYYY date format. Rest of the world use DD/MM/YYYY, YYYY/DD/MM, etc. There is no big historical reason or explanation for that date format.
How would it have happened?
Looking back, we notice that British colonization used the month-first-date format for a long time, and when America was under British colonization, they inherited this format. And America got busy building its modern America. But the British drifted to the European date format, which is date first.
Note: There is no significant reason why they shifted.
Whatever the reason. We will be much more comfortable with our local date format only. So, whenever you are addressing/ building the target region audience, use the local date format and have an ISO 8601 define format( YYYY-MM-DD ) as a fallback.
Thanks for reading. ✌️
