This PR introduces native Arabic (ar) language support to the website.

[y1464892-cmd]

Description

Rather than relying on automated browser translation which often produces awkward or inaccurate phrasing this change provides high-quality, native translations to ensure a natural reading experience for Arabic-speaking users.

Related Issue

Resolves #282

Scope of Work & Current Status

• Initial setup for Arabic locale (ar)
• Complete translation of site components (~1.5 to 2 weeks estimated)
• Implement Right-to-Left (RTL) layout adjustments and toggle feature
• Testing for layout bugs and translation accuracy

Note: This PR is currently a Work in Progress (WIP). I will update this description and mark the PR as "Ready for Review" once all translations and QA checks are complete.

[y1464892-cmd]

My First open source project I am so excited !!! (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）

[snekxs]

Merged after a full pass over the branch. Thanks for the initial wiring, @y1464892-cmd — the locale plumbing (union, LOCALES, LOCALE_NAME_KEYS, LOCALE_LOADERS, and the set.arabic label across all tables) was correct and is what this is built on.

Before merging I completed the parts the description still listed as open:

• Native Arabic translation. src/i18n-ar.ts was 870/981 entries byte-identical to src/i18n-fr.ts; it is now a full native table covering all 1,050 current keys, matching the English key set and placeholder set exactly.
• Fork was behind main (missing gamereq.*, games.*, hw.*, nav.games, nav.hardwareTest, and others), and it didn't compile — App.tsx was missing the ar entry and the table carried a stale bridge.games key. Rebasing fixes both.
• RTL. The app never set dir, so Arabic rendered left-to-right. <html dir="rtl"> is now set for Arabic, and direction-sensitive CSS was converted to logical properties (margin/border/padding-inline-*, inset-inline-*, logical corner radii, text-align: start/end) so spacing and borders mirror on their own. A small [dir="rtl"] block covers transform-based direction (toggles, nav chevrons, expand chevron). LTR output is pixel-identical.
• Bundle budget raised to 1,845 kB for the new lazy i18n-ar-*.js chunk (~69 kB, loaded only when Arabic is selected), per the file's documented per-locale pattern.
• Dropped the unrelated allowScripts/esbuild entry from package.json.

Verified with npm run check (build + 265 tests), all CI checks green, and a headless render confirming the mirrored layout. Merged as 99076c1.

[y1464892-cmd]

Merged after a full pass over the branch. Thanks for the initial wiring, @y1464892-cmd — the locale plumbing (union, LOCALES, LOCALE_NAME_KEYS, LOCALE_LOADERS, and the set.arabic label across all tables) was correct and is what this is built on.

Before merging I completed the parts the description still listed as open:

• Native Arabic translation. src/i18n-ar.ts was 870/981 entries byte-identical to src/i18n-fr.ts; it is now a full native table covering all 1,050 current keys, matching the English key set and placeholder set exactly.
• Fork was behind main (missing gamereq.*, games.*, hw.*, nav.games, nav.hardwareTest, and others), and it didn't compile — App.tsx was missing the ar entry and the table carried a stale bridge.games key. Rebasing fixes both.
• RTL. The app never set dir, so Arabic rendered left-to-right. <html dir="rtl"> is now set for Arabic, and direction-sensitive CSS was converted to logical properties (margin/border/padding-inline-*, inset-inline-*, logical corner radii, text-align: start/end) so spacing and borders mirror on their own. A small [dir="rtl"] block covers transform-based direction (toggles, nav chevrons, expand chevron). LTR output is pixel-identical.
• Bundle budget raised to 1,845 kB for the new lazy i18n-ar-*.js chunk (~69 kB, loaded only when Arabic is selected), per the file's documented per-locale pattern.
• Dropped the unrelated allowScripts/esbuild entry from package.json.

Verified with npm run check (build + 265 tests), all CI checks green, and a headless render confirming the mirrored layout. Merged as 99076c1.

Thanks for pulling this in, rebasing, and setting up the logical CSS for RTL! Glad the initial locale wiring held up solid.
I’ll test the live build across a few different browsers and submit a quick follow-up PR if any of the hardware terms or phrasing need a native speaker's context. Appreciate the review and the merge! :D

[mh2n]

Merged after a full pass over the branch. Thanks for the initial wiring, @y1464892-cmd — the locale plumbing (union, LOCALES, LOCALE_NAME_KEYS, LOCALE_LOADERS, and the set.arabic label across all tables) was correct and is what this is built on.

Before merging I completed the parts the description still listed as open:

• Native Arabic translation. src/i18n-ar.ts was 870/981 entries byte-identical to src/i18n-fr.ts; it is now a full native table covering all 1,050 current keys, matching the English key set and placeholder set exactly.
• Fork was behind main (missing gamereq.*, games.*, hw.*, nav.games, nav.hardwareTest, and others), and it didn't compile — App.tsx was missing the ar entry and the table carried a stale bridge.games key. Rebasing fixes both.
• RTL. The app never set dir, so Arabic rendered left-to-right. <html dir="rtl"> is now set for Arabic, and direction-sensitive CSS was converted to logical properties (margin/border/padding-inline-*, inset-inline-*, logical corner radii, text-align: start/end) so spacing and borders mirror on their own. A small [dir="rtl"] block covers transform-based direction (toggles, nav chevrons, expand chevron). LTR output is pixel-identical.
• Bundle budget raised to 1,845 kB for the new lazy i18n-ar-*.js chunk (~69 kB, loaded only when Arabic is selected), per the file's documented per-locale pattern.
• Dropped the unrelated allowScripts/esbuild entry from package.json.

Verified with npm run check (build + 265 tests), all CI checks green, and a headless render confirming the mirrored layout. Merged as 99076c1.

Really happy to see this merged! This was my first accepted contribution to an open-source project, and I'm glad I got to work on it with my friend. Thanks to the maintainer for helping us get it across the finish line!❤️