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Building Arabic-first responsive layouts (and why the order matters)

Jan 18, 2026
Optimalpass Team
1 Min Read
Building Arabic-first responsive layouts (and why the order matters)

The classic mistake on bilingual UAE projects is to build the English UI first, then "flip" it for Arabic. The flip almost works - until punctuation, mixed-direction strings or a dropdown icon end up on the wrong side of a control.

We design Arabic first now. Logical CSS properties (margin-inline, padding-block) replace left/right. Typography starts with IBM Plex Sans Arabic and is then verified in Inter. Component variants store directionality in a token, not in the component, so the same React tree renders correctly in both languages without conditionals.

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