Quick answer: RTL website testing means opening every Arabic page on a phone and on a desktop and confirming that it really works right to left. The page direction is set to right-to-left, the header is mirrored, arrows point the right way, and forms align to the right. Numbers and English words inside Arabic sentences display in order, and tables, sliders and pop-ups follow the same direction. The 12 checks below cover the problems that appear most often.
A site can look finished in English and still be broken in Arabic. Many themes and plugins are built left to right first, and their Arabic version is a mirror applied afterwards, sometimes partly. The person who built the site often reads the English version daily and the Arabic version rarely. For a business in Kuwait, where many customers will read only the Arabic version, those gaps cost enquiries. Test the Arabic site as its own product, before launch and after every major update.
Why does the Arabic version break when the English one looks fine?
Three causes account for most issues. First, styles written with fixed “left” and “right” values do not flip automatically. Second, plugins such as sliders, forms and chat widgets may ship without right-to-left styles. Third, mixed text, such as an English brand name or a phone number inside an Arabic sentence, follows the Unicode bidirectional rules. Those rules can move punctuation and numbers in surprising ways when the markup gives the browser no direction.
Which 12 problems should you check?
| # | What to check | What goes wrong if you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Every Arabic page has lang=”ar” and dir=”rtl” on the html element | Browsers and screen readers treat the page as English. |
| 2 | The header is mirrored: logo on the right, menu reading from right to left | The page feels like a translation, not a site made for Arabic readers. |
| 3 | Directional icons are flipped: back and next arrows, chevrons, “read more” arrows | Arrows point the opposite way to the action. |
| 4 | Non-directional icons are not flipped: play buttons, clocks, checkmarks, logos | Mirrored logos and play buttons look like errors. |
| 5 | Paragraphs align right, and lists show bullets on the right | Ragged left-aligned Arabic text is hard to read. |
| 6 | Form labels, placeholders and error messages sit on the right, while email, website and phone fields stay left to right | Email addresses display backwards while typing. |
| 7 | English words and brand names inside Arabic sentences | Full stops and brackets jump to the wrong end of the line. |
| 8 | Prices, dates and phone numbers | Digit groups or the “+965” prefix appear in the wrong order. |
| 9 | Tables start from the right, with the first column on the right | Comparison tables read in the wrong order. |
| 10 | Sliders and carousels move in the reading direction, and swipe works naturally | The “next” slide arrives from the wrong side. |
| 11 | Pop-ups, cookie banners and chat widgets: close button position and text alignment | Visitors cannot find the close button and leave. |
| 12 | The Arabic font loads, line height leaves room for diacritics, and nothing falls back to a mismatched font | Text looks cramped, or mixes two typefaces in one line. |
How do you test quickly and thoroughly?
- Use the real Arabic content, never placeholder text. Lengths and line breaks change everything.
- Test on an iPhone with Safari and an Android phone with Chrome, then on a desktop browser.
- Open the English and Arabic versions of each template side by side and compare section by section.
- Submit every form in Arabic, including deliberate mistakes, to see the error messages.
- Log each issue with the page address, device, a screenshot and the expected result.
How do you fix mixed Arabic and English text?
When a sentence mixes directions, give the browser a clue. Wrap an English name, code or number in a span with dir=”ltr”, or use the HTML bdi element when the content comes from a database and its direction is unknown. For user-typed fields, dir=”auto” lets the browser choose from the first strong character. Developers can also replace “left” and “right” in styles with logical properties, such as margin-inline-start, that flip with the page direction.
Who should do the testing?
Pair a fluent Arabic reader with the developer. The reader notices when something feels wrong, such as an awkward line break, a mirrored logo or a sentence that reads oddly. The developer knows where the fix lives. Testing alone from screenshots misses interaction problems such as swipe direction and form behaviour.
Frequently asked questions
Should Arabic pages use Arabic-Indic digits?
Either Western or Arabic-Indic digits work. What matters is using one style consistently across pages, forms, emails and invoices.
Is flipping the whole layout with CSS enough?
It handles most of the layout, but images that contain text, icons and third-party widgets still need checking one by one.
Does right-to-left layout affect SEO?
Search engines read the text either way. Layout problems hurt indirectly, through visitors who leave quickly, and missing lang attributes or untranslated titles make the page less clear for everyone.
Our responsive design service page explains how we test and fix sites on phones and in right-to-left Arabic. To have your Arabic version reviewed, describe your site in our quote request form.
Sources
- W3C: Structural markup and right-to-left text in HTML
- W3C: Arabic and Persian Layout Requirements
- MDN Web Docs: The dir attribute
By the Creative 4 All team, building bilingual websites and campaigns since 2012. Reviewed for Kuwait in November 2026.
