Herdict Chinese is live
(updated June 2)
May 21: Herdict Web -- Berkman's tool for tracking global web (in)accessibility -- is now available in Mandarin!
- Twitterers can follow Herdict Chinese for the latest on our new localization: http://twitter.com/HerdictChinese.
- Leonard Chien has already blogged the release: When Herdict Sheep Speaks Chinese.
- And the Herdict blog is a great way to keep tabs on interesting data emerging from the Herdict community.
June 2 update: It's being widely reported that China is blocking Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail and many other sites and services ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the protests in Tiananmen Square (e.g., Twitter Goes Down in China and China Blocks Twitter, Flickr, Bing, Hotmail, Windows Live, etc. Ahead of Tiananmen 20th Anniversary). Herdict data from China bears out the reporting; see:
- Herdict on Twitter.com in China;
- on Flickr.com;
- and on Hotmail.com.
Herdict is also showing a spike in inaccessibility for YouTube. For deeper background on China's Internet filtering, see the OpenNet Initiative reports on China.
The Chinese version of Herdict joins the previously released Arabic version, with more to come, as the team continues to tweak the algorithm for the Reporter, a.k.a. Am I blocked or not? and to add features and updates.
Please join us -- and lots of other people around the world -- in participating and helping to build up a live picture of global web accessibility. And please help spread the word. Herdict's video mascot, Shep the Sheep, speaks Chinese and several other languages to boot!
