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Web design for Cardiff.
In two languages, properly.

Cardiff is the only city on this list where the build has a language decision in it, and it is worth getting the facts straight before anyone spends money on it. Welsh Language Standards are imposed on bodies named in the Measure, and each body’s duties come from its own compliance notice; the Welsh Government’s own guidance on the first set of standards says they do not apply to private sector organisations. So for most Cardiff businesses, bilingual is a commercial choice rather than a legal duty — and if you are tendering for public sector work, the contract may ask for it anyway.

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Where bilingual actually stands, legally

Stated carefully, because this is routinely oversold by agencies in both directions.

The duties fall on named bodies

Only bodies named in, or in a category listed in, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 can be required to comply with standards, and what each must do comes from its individual compliance notice rather than one general rule.

Private firms are generally outside it

The Welsh Government’s guidance on the first set of standards states they do not apply to private sector organisations. The Commissioner works with businesses voluntarily rather than by compulsion.

But a public contract can require it

If you supply a Welsh public body, the obligation can arrive through the contract, which is a procurement question rather than a language-law one. Check the tender, not the legislation.

And it is a commercial decision regardless

For a Cardiff business with Welsh-speaking customers, being bilingual is worth doing because it is worth doing, not because somebody is making you.

Sources, checked 31 October 2026

  1. Welsh Language Commissioner, Code of Practice on the Welsh Language Standards (No. 1) Regulations 2015: only bodies named in, or within a category listed in, the Measure can be required to comply, and each body’s duties come from its own compliance notice
  2. Welsh Government, Welsh Language Standards frequently asked questions: the first set of standards in the draft Regulations do not apply to private sector organisations

Building for two languages without making a mess

The technical half, which is where badly-done bilingual sites go wrong.

  • Two sets of URLs, not a translation widget Each language gets its own addresses and its own pages, declared to search engines as alternates. A machine-translated overlay is invisible to search and insulting to read.
  • Translation is content, so it needs an owner The failure mode is an English site updated weekly and a Welsh one frozen in 2024. Build the admin so a page cannot be published in one language without flagging that the other is now stale.
  • The system, not just the pages Emails, receipts, SMS, error messages, the till and the kitchen ticket. A bilingual brochure with English-only confirmation emails fools nobody.
  • Let the visitor choose, and remember Guess from the browser once, then honour what they pick, on every visit and every device.

When we are the wrong firm for this

We do not speak Welsh and we will not translate your content. We build the structure, the admin and the publishing rules that make a bilingual site maintainable, and you or a translator supply the language. Any agency offering you Welsh content as part of a web build without naming a translator is machine-translating it, and that will be obvious to every Welsh speaker who reads it.

If your audience is bilingual, budget for the translation separately and properly. That is the honest version of this service.

Questions

Before you ask.

Does my Cardiff business legally need a Welsh website?

Generally no. Welsh Language Standards are imposed on bodies named in the Measure, through each body’s own compliance notice, and the Welsh Government’s guidance on the first set says they do not apply to private sector organisations. If you supply a Welsh public body, the requirement can still arrive through the contract.

Will you translate our content into Welsh?

No. We build the structure, the admin and the publishing rules that keep a bilingual site in step; the translation needs a translator. Anyone including Welsh content in a web build without naming one is machine-translating it.

Does bilingual mean two websites to maintain?

Two sets of pages, one system. The important part is admin that tells you when the English page has changed and the Welsh one has not, because that drift is how bilingual sites rot.
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