Technical forums » Localization »
Good resources for implementing localization at a software company
Thread poster: Ben Shaw
Ben Shaw
Ben Shaw
New Zealand
Local time: 11:04
German to English
May 24, 2018

I'm a senior technical writer at a software company that develops a large suite of applications in the legal/financial domain. I have a background in translation and localization, so I am trying to push for my company to invest more thoroughly in a better localization solution (our current solution leaves a fair bit to be desired).

What are some good resources for me to ensure I am considering and planning for all issues? The main points I'm using to try to convince the powers-that-... See more
I'm a senior technical writer at a software company that develops a large suite of applications in the legal/financial domain. I have a background in translation and localization, so I am trying to push for my company to invest more thoroughly in a better localization solution (our current solution leaves a fair bit to be desired).

What are some good resources for me to ensure I am considering and planning for all issues? The main points I'm using to try to convince the powers-that-be that we need a more robust solution are:

- Context: all UI text in its editable form currently exists in an almost absolute vacuum - without asking specific questions to that end, translators have no idea of the context of a particular string (and our software is too vast and too tight with intellectual property to offer a test environment to every translator that works on our project).
- Consistency: with no approved terminology list, our current hands-off approach leads to a very unhealthy amount of inconsistency around common terms, structure, style, etc.
- Culture: localization should encompass differences in culture, not just language. We need to consider whether certain features should work the same way, whether certain fields are even useful for a foreign client, how foreign legal systems work and how that impacts how our software works.
- I could go on...

I'd love to find an article or resource out there that outlines at a fairly high level all the things to consider or cater for when beginning to implement a localization solution at a previously monolingual software company. Every day I think of something new, and I'm sure I'm missing a whole lot else - I need to make it clear to my superiors how big the role of a Localization Coordinator is and why offering our product to speakers of other languages isn't an easy or straightforward task! ▲ Collapse
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Maya Gorgoshidze[Call to this topic]
Mahmoud Akbari[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Good resources for implementing localization at a software company






TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »
Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »