The verdict in three sentences
A trilingual corporate website is not an English site translated twice: Arabic RTL requires mirrored templates, dedicated typography and its own QA, roughly 15% of the budget. For a listed cement group, the investor relations section is the most sensitive part, because regulated disclosures must go live on time, in every language, with no version mistakes. Plan a ballpark of 45,000 to 80,000 USD and 14 weeks for a well-built 60-page site.
What a trilingual site costs in the UAE in 2026
The figures below are 2026 ballpark ranges from Dubai agencies and international firms serving industrial groups.
| Workstream | Detail | 2026 ballpark (USD) | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery and sitemap | workshops with management, communications, finance, HR | 3,600 to 6,400 | 8% |
| Design and LTR templates | 12 to 15 page templates, components | 9,000 to 16,000 | 20% |
| Arabic RTL templates | mirrored layouts, Arabic font, numerals, directional icons | 6,750 to 12,000 | 15% |
| Development and CMS | three-language management, approval workflow | 11,700 to 20,800 | 26% |
| Investor relations section | regulated disclosures, financial calendar, share price feed | 5,850 to 10,400 | 13% |
| Translation of 60 pages | Arabic and French from English, technical review | 4,500 to 8,000 | 10% |
| QA, accessibility, launch | device testing, RTL, performance | 3,600 to 6,400 | 8% |
Translation is often underestimated. Cement terminology (clinker, CEM II, 28-day strength) and financial documents need a specialist translator, ideally reviewed by an engineer and by the finance team.
Arabic RTL: what makes the difference
A broken RTL template shows instantly: arrows pointing the wrong way, misaligned numbers, truncated menus. Requirements to write into the brief:
| Element | RTL requirement | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Document direction | dir="rtl" and lang="ar" per page | CSS flipped by hand page by page |
| Layout | CSS logical properties (start, end) | hard-coded left and right margins |
| Typography | dedicated Arabic font (Noto Kufi, IBM Plex Arabic), increased line height | Latin font with fallback Arabic rendering |
| Numerals | deliberate choice between Western and Eastern Arabic digits | both mixed in the same table |
| Icons | arrows and chevrons mirrored, logos not mirrored | logo shown mirrored |
| Financial tables | right-to-left columns, aligned figures | tables copied from the English version |
| SEO | hreflang ar, en, fr and one URL per language | one URL with JavaScript language switching |
Plan RTL testing on real devices, not only in a desktop browser: Arabic text wraps differently on small screens, and mixed Arabic and Latin strings (product codes, tonnages, ISIN numbers) are where bidirectional rendering breaks most often. Budget at least two full QA rounds with a native Arabic reader from your own team.
Investor relations for a listed company
For a company listed on the Dubai Financial Market, the investor section must make disclosures required by the Securities and Commodities Authority easy to find: annual and quarterly financial statements, board reports, general assembly notices, material announcements. Good practice:
- a dated, current financial calendar;
- a document library filterable by year, type and language, with the publication date shown;
- a two-step approval publishing process (communications and finance);
- version archiving, never overwriting a published document;
- email alert sign-up with consent aligned with the UAE Personal Data Protection Law.
Mini case study
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Omar, communications director of a cement group in Dubai, receives two bids. Bid A at 46,000 USD uses machine translation and simply flips the CSS for Arabic. Bid B at 66,000 USD includes RTL templates designed from day one and professional translation of all 60 pages.
He estimates the cost of fixing bid A: 20 Arabic pages to correct at 150 USD each, so 3,000 USD, plus 6,000 USD to rebuild Arabic templates after launch, and a two-month slip against the annual results calendar. Bid A's real cost rises to about 55,000 USD, with reputational risk among investors. The actual gap with bid B shrinks to 11,000 USD for a clearly better result.
FAQ
Can we launch in English first and add Arabic later?
You can, but designing RTL templates afterwards often costs 30 to 50% more than planning them upfront. Better to build all three languages together and publish in stages.
Is machine translation enough?
For a draft, yes. For product pages and financial documents, specialist human review remains essential, around 75 to 125 USD per page depending on length.
How long does it take?
A ballpark of 14 weeks for 60 pages: 3 weeks of discovery, 5 of design, 4 of development with translation in parallel, 2 of QA.
Which CMS handles three languages well?
Drupal, WordPress with a solid multilingual plugin, or a headless CMS like Sanity all handle Arabic well. The deciding factor is the multi-level approval workflow.
What does Kolonell charge for this kind of site?
Institutional sites are always quoted on request, after scoping pages, languages and investor section requirements. Languages and their scope are set in the quote.
Let's scope your project. A trilingual corporate site with RTL templates and an investor relations section, scoped page by page and delivered in about 14 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
