A survey conducted by Common Sense Advisory, an international consulting firm in the translation market, indicated that most consumers prefer to buy products and services in their own native language. With this in mind, software and website developers worldwide consider localization a crucial factor for breaking language barriers and expanding business globally.
Both websites and software have major visibility and influence over a company’s image. Translation or functionality errors on platforms can cause an effect contrary to the intention, driving customers away and damaging the brand’s reputation. This makes some precautions necessary when foraying into a new market with your product.
One of the points to pay special attention to is spatial sizing, given that a text translated into another language may significantly increase or decrease in size. However, when dealing with software or a website, the translation must often fill no more than the same space as the original text, as is the case with clickable buttons, and even with this limitation, the communication must remain instructive and intuitive.
Professional translation and localization agencies don’t only guarantee the use of translators specialized in different business markets and residing in the country where the content will be used. They also offer a Project Manager who will coordinate all stages of the work to be performed. Such agencies also use tools that ensure the quality of the final material, such as a program that separates programming language (code) from the text to be translated.
Localization Testing
As soon as a software or website translation is completed, Localization Testing comes into play. In this stage, a Quality Assurance (QA) team member creates a comparison between the original and translated versions, simulating all features and the end user’s experience.
This is a critical stage for ensuring the success of your product, because it identifies all potential problems and ensures that the information matches the technical, cultural and linguistic aspects of the country where it will be marketed, prior to its release.
When conducting Localization Testing for your software or website, the QA professional will assess:
- The functionality of translated versions;
- Visual problems, such as untranslated text, truncated portions and formatting issues; and
- Linguistic adaptation of the translation to the context of the material.
After understanding the factors to be taken into consideration when having software translated, it will be easier to choose the ideal translation partner. Get informed and always choose a company with suitable infrastructure to handle your project with the care it deserves!
About Netwire
Created in 2000, Netwire is the Latin American market leader, offering translations into any language. With offices in Brazil and Argentina, the company serves approximately 25 market segments and has a network of hundreds of tested native translators, residing all over the planet. In the past five years alone, Netwire processed over 110 million words, delivering an average of 400 projects per month.
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