OPTIMIZING CONTENT FOR TRANSLATION ACROLINX AND VISTATEC
We ll look at these questions. Why does translation cost so much? Why is it hard to keep content consistent? Why is it hard for an organization to create good quality content? What can we do to optimize content for translation? What do we need to consider for multilingual search engine optimization (SEO)?
Content used to be simple +
Now it isn t
Even Life Saving Content
Even Life Saving Content
CONTENT IS CREATED IN SILOS Marketing Support Tech Docs Training Development Customers
Silos might be external
Causes complexity and inconsistency From Marketing 1. Acme Wonder Widget From Website From Website From Development From Training 2. www.acme.com/aww 3. Thank you for purchasing the world s finest widget, built by an incredible team of professionals to meet your every need from now through eternity. 4. This document will be presenting operating instructions for Acme Wonderwidget. To begin, charge the battery for at least 8 hours. 5. Getting started with Acme WonderWidget Connect power cord to AC Power Supply. Charge the battery for at least 6 hours. Press red Power Button. After bootup, click Starting WonderWidget from the highlevel menu, and follow instructions on AWW screen.
English is difficult to translate Translator challenges To understand what is being communicated in the first place Must communicate concepts, which is often not possible by translating word for word Must know all the subtleties of the English language Phrasal verbs (2 or 3 words) are common in English, but not in other languages To turn on / turn off / turn over / turn around To get up / get over / get on with / get around / get down / get done To put on / put up with / put through English has definite and indefinite articles (the, an) Western European languages have both Asian and Slavic languages have neither Arabic and Hebrew have definite articles, but not indefinite articles
Machine Translation is really difficult Rule based MT, Statistical based MT, Hybrid Engines All pretty difficult and expensive to deploy, manage and customize Customizations are possible so you can focus on a specific area i.e. weather reports, legal documents, automotive manuals. Depending on how the content is consumed, it isn t great output MT doesn t cover all language combinations, FR, DE, SP, JP Raw Output isn t typically great. Process Customization Prep the translation Post editing Post translation These engines run much better if the English content is pre edited Shorter sentences Active voice Consistent terminology
EXPONENTIAL Sales Presentations French Japanese ERRORS German Italian French Japanese Incorrect Term, error, or phrase Tech Docs Website German French Italian Japanese German Italian French Japanese Marketing German Italian
What is the problem? Higher costs Poor translations Increased review time Increase customer issues Quality
EU S VIEW ON POOR QUALITY The cost of a badly drafted or badly translated text (e.g. a piece of EU legislation, a web page, press release, brochure, impact assessment, etc.) must be taken very seriously: unclear, ambiguous texts take more time to understand and risk being misinterpreted. This implies a cost, in the best case in terms of extra time needed to understand a text; in the worst case because an unclear legal text leads to a dispute between two parties, ending in a court case. This possible "chain reaction" of events gives an indication of the importance of clear texts and therefore of high quality translations. Quality Efforts and the Consequences of Poor Quality in the European Commission s Directorate General for Translation January 2012
What can you do about it? When you optimize a document for translation, you do the following: Create simple content that is easy to translate (more on this later) Eliminate culture specific references Reduce the amount of content Design the documents so that formats, layout, character set, fonts etc are flexible and can be changed for each locale By doing this these things you Create culturally neutral, intelligible content Simplify information for native AND non native speakers Improve usability for different levels of education, backgrounds, etc. Reduce translation costs and improve the quality.
Checklist Use good grammar and spelling Keep sentences short Consistently apply style guide rules Consistently apply company wide terminology and glossaries. Reuse content wherever possible Practice minimal content creation Write clearly and use simple English Be aware of formatting considerations like text expansion (audit your format) Consider using tools to help you control the above
Checklist Maintain consistency of content from different departments like Tech Pubs, Marketing, Support. Use clear and simple language Avoid the excessive use of commas Make sure that direct and indirect objects are unambiguous Avoid slang and idioms Define acronyms and abbreviations, store these in the glossary Include relative pronouns (which and that)
Checklist Use the active voice Avoid cultural references, such as gender specific roles, humor, ethnic or historical references Avoid the ambiguous use of modal verbs, such as will, would, may, might, can, could, shall, should, have to, ought to and must Customize formats to fit the target country (date and time formats, currency, etc.) Compile a Global English Checklist with these and other items
Don t forget Measurements Standard (Inches, gallons, etc.) vs. Metric Dates Month day, year vs. day month year Time and Seasons AM/PM vs. 24 hour clock Currencies Dollars vs. others Number separators 1,000.25 (One thousand and one quarter) vs. 1.000,25 (same) Addresses, phone numbers Styles vary across countries Keyboards Keyboards vary across languages
Formatting Considerations Text expansion is a key issue for Software UI Applies to content as well
Graphic Localization Avoid using text in graphics use legends instead If graphic does need to include text then use a separate layer Be Aware of icons and symbols that might not apply in different locales
How to help content creators Training sessions, workshops on localization. Localization 101. Style training, peer review meetings, process training Tools to help you with writing review meetings of outputs from tools Send samples to translations, ask LSP for specific feedback on translatability issues Customer support calls tracking Talk to your in market teams, sales teams etc. Customer Surveys ROI calculate out the impact of extra time and effort, pages, long sentences, too much content
Tangible Translation Costs Translation is charged by the word/hour Cost example of reducing the number of words 100,000 words at $.20 a word into 10 languages costs $200K 75,000 words in 10 languages at the same price costs $150K 25% fewer words, saves $50K Reused and Fuzzy words are charged at a lower rate (typically 25% 66%) Translation can be controlled by Reducing the volume Reuse as much as possible Building quality upfront Other factors include: Graphics Editing Needed Complex formatting or engineering work Printing and distribution costs (more words = more pages)
Intangible Costs of poor Quality
Global Search considerations
Search Engine optimization Keywords Keyword Research is the critical starting point to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Localized keywords require testing for frequency, appropriateness, relevancy and competition Requires on going maintenance as how and what people search for in markets changes constantly. Localizers may not have much knowledge about search so will need as much support from the source material as possible. i.e. they might need variations of keywords and context. If the source language keywords aren t developed managed and USED consistently and in line with a companies business then multilingual SEO efforts are compromised. SEO process requires localization not translation As with technical content it all begins with the quality of the English keywords and correct localization process of SEO keywords
Search Engine Optimization Content 79% of users scan your copy instead of reading every word and they re reading, at most, 28% of the words*. Make sure your pages are well written (check for grammar, spelling, etc.). Top recommendation from http://searchenginewatch.com It is essential to have consistent content in the source language so that an equivalent global market content aligns to it. Content that is inconsistent can negatively impact search results Don t forget different cultures use and react to pictures, colors, social media etc. differently *Source: Harald Weinreich, Hartmut Obendorf, Eelco Herder, and Matthias Mayer: "Not Quite the Average: An Empirical Study of Web Use,"
IN SUMMARY Improve Global customer satisfaction Enable self help Save on translation Communicate more effectively Increase search rankings
Thank You For more information, please contact: Connor Robinson connor.robinson@acrolinx.com