Community-language accessibility

Overview

In some projects, a full translation of the website or minisite interface is not necessary, but it is still important to make species information accessible in a community language. This can be especially relevant when co-developing interpretive materials with Indigenous peoples.

For this purpose, aRboretum provides the add_lang argument in arboretum_phrases(), arboretum_audios() and arboretum_labels(). This argument supports one additional language as a flexible accessibility layer, without requiring the full multilingual translation workflow used for the built-in package languages.

In this example, we use Tukano as an additional language. If aRboretum is not installed yet, see the installation section of the quickstart article.

How `add_lang` works

When add_lang is supplied:

arboretum_phrases() adds an editable field for the extra language to the phrase guide; its text is stored in the column full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE, which arboretum_phrases() creates in the data file.
arboretum_audios() creates one extra folder per species for optional personal recordings in the additional language.
arboretum_labels() adds one extra text option to the generated label when the dataset contains non-empty values in the column full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE.
The extra language text is read directly from full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE.
The extra language does not pass through the standard phrase-generation and translation workflow.

This is particularly useful when the website interface can remain in Portuguese, English, French, or Spanish, while species-level content is also made available in a community language.

Example workflow

Step 1. Prepare the dataset

Start from a dataset created with arboretum_data() and reviewed by you, for example in its data reviewing guide (arboretum_data/__data_reviewing_guide.html):

library(aRboretum)

arboretum_data(
  spp_list = c("Paubrasilia echinata", "Euterpe edulis"),
  printed_lang = c("pt", "en"),
  format = "xlsx",
  dir = "arboretum_data"
)

Then generate the phrases with add_lang = "TUKANO":

arboretum_phrases(
  data_path = "arboretum_data/arboretum_data.xlsx",
  printed_lang = c("pt", "en"),
  add_lang = "TUKANO"
)

This creates the phrase columns in the data file, including full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE, and writes arboretum_data/__phrase_generating_guide.html, which has an editable Tukano field for each species. Fill it, in the guide or directly in the data file, with the complete label text you want to display in the extra language. The resulting data look like this:

tukano_example <- data.frame(
  taxonName = c("Paubrasilia echinata", "Euterpe edulis"),
  family = c("Fabaceae", "Arecaceae"),
  full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE = c(
    "Texto completo em Tukano para Paubrasilia echinata.",
    "Texto completo em Tukano para Euterpe edulis."
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

tukano_example
#>              taxonName    family
#> 1 Paubrasilia echinata  Fabaceae
#> 2       Euterpe edulis Arecaceae
#>                             full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE
#> 1 Texto completo em Tukano para Paubrasilia echinata.
#> 2       Texto completo em Tukano para Euterpe edulis.

In practice, your file will also include the standard columns used by aRboretum, such as taxonomy, native distribution, uses, and notes.

Minimal column schema

For the add_lang = "TUKANO" workflow, the most important requirement is the presence of the column full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE.

A minimal input file should include at least the following columns:

Column name	Required	Purpose
`taxonName`	Yes	Scientific name used to identify the species
`family`	Yes	Family name used in file naming and label generation
`full_phrases_PT`, `full_phrases_EN`, etc.	Yes, for each language in `printed_lang`	Species phrases created by `arboretum_phrases()`
`full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE`	Yes, for `add_lang` labels	Full label text to display in the extra language, entered after running `arboretum_phrases()`
`plant_uses_PT`, `plant_uses_EN`, etc.	No	Language-specific uses text for built-in languages
`free_notes_PT`, `free_notes_EN`, etc.	No	Language-specific notes text for built-in languages
Other standard `arboretum_data()` fields	Usually yes	Taxonomy, native distribution, status, and other content used in the label

A more realistic toy example may also include built-in language note fields:

tukano_example_extended <- data.frame(
  taxonName = c("Paubrasilia echinata", "Euterpe edulis"),
  family = c("Fabaceae", "Arecaceae"),
  plant_uses_PT = c("Madeira e uso ornamental.", "Alimentação e paisagismo."),
  free_notes_PT = c(
    "Espécie simbólica no Brasil.",
    "Espécie importante da Mata Atlântica."
  ),
  full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE = c(
    "Texto completo em Tukano para Paubrasilia echinata.",
    "Texto completo em Tukano para Euterpe edulis."
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

tukano_example_extended
#>              taxonName    family             plant_uses_PT
#> 1 Paubrasilia echinata  Fabaceae Madeira e uso ornamental.
#> 2       Euterpe edulis Arecaceae Alimentação e paisagismo.
#>                           free_notes_PT
#> 1          Espécie simbólica no Brasil.
#> 2 Espécie importante da Mata Atlântica.
#>                             full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE
#> 1 Texto completo em Tukano para Paubrasilia echinata.
#> 2       Texto completo em Tukano para Euterpe edulis.

Step 2. Create folders for optional personal recordings

Use arboretum_audios() with add_lang = "TUKANO":

arboretum_audios(
  data_path = "arboretum_data/arboretum_data.xlsx",
  printed_lang = c("pt", "en"),
  add_lang = "TUKANO",
  verbose = TRUE
)

This creates the arboretum_audios/ folder and one additional recording folder per species using the TUKANO code.

A simplified folder structure looks like this:

arboretum_audios/
├── FABACEAE_Paubrasilia_echinata_PT/
├── FABACEAE_Paubrasilia_echinata_EN/
├── FABACEAE_Paubrasilia_echinata_TUKANO/
├── ARECACEAE_Euterpe_edulis_PT/
├── ARECACEAE_Euterpe_edulis_EN/
├── ARECACEAE_Euterpe_edulis_TUKANO/
└── __personal_audio_recording_guide.html

The HTML recording guide shows, for each species and language, the phrase to be read, including the Tukano text entered in full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE. In Chromium-based browsers, it can also record directly into the species folders.

Step 3. Add Tukano recordings if available

You may optionally place one personal recording file inside each *_TUKANO/ folder.

When a personal recording is available, it is used in the final label. When it is not available, the HTML label may fall back to browser text-to-speech. For additional community languages, browser speech synthesis may not work reliably unless the device has a compatible voice installed. Personal recordings are therefore recommended whenever possible.

Step 4. Generate HTML labels with the extra language included

Now generate the labels with arboretum_labels():

arboretum_labels(
  data_path = "arboretum_data/arboretum_data.xlsx",
  audio_dir = "arboretum_audios",
  printed_lang = c("pt", "en"),
  add_lang = "TUKANO",
  verbose = TRUE,
  dir = "html_species_labels"
)

When add_lang is provided and full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE contains non-empty text, the generated HTML labels include Tukano as an additional language option.

In this workflow:

Portuguese and English phrases come from the standard phrase generation of arboretum_phrases().
Tukano text is read directly from full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE.
Tukano audio is used when a personal recording is present.
The rest of the website or minisite interface can remain in the built-in package languages.

Why this workflow matters

This approach provides a practical intermediate solution for multilingual accessibility. It allows species-level information to be shared in a community language even when a full translation of the broader interface is not needed or not yet available.

This can be especially useful in collaborative projects where local knowledge holders or community members contribute curated text and recorded audio directly.

Practical notes

full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE should contain the complete final text to be shown in the extra language.
The extra language text is not automatically translated by aRboretum.
If this column is empty for a species, that species will not have meaningful custom-language text to display, and if it is empty for every species, the extra language is not added to the labels.
arboretum_phrases(overwrite = TRUE) regenerates the built-in language phrases but never overwrites full_phrases_ADD_LANGUAGE.
For custom languages, personal audio recordings are strongly recommended.

Martin Boucknooghe & Domingos Cardoso

2026-10-05

Overview

How `add_lang` works

Example workflow

Step 1. Prepare the dataset

Minimal column schema

Step 2. Create folders for optional personal recordings

Step 3. Add Tukano recordings if available

Step 4. Generate HTML labels with the extra language included

Why this workflow matters

Practical notes

Community-language accessibility

Martin Boucknooghe & Domingos Cardoso

2026-10-05

Overview

How add_lang works

Example workflow

Step 1. Prepare the dataset

Minimal column schema

Step 2. Create folders for optional personal recordings

Step 3. Add Tukano recordings if available

Step 4. Generate HTML labels with the extra language included

Why this workflow matters

Practical notes

How `add_lang` works