Translation has and continues to help organizations, especially businesses, explore the global markets. This is essential, more so in the modern internet-driven market. Exploring the international market gives your business an edge since you can win considerable clients. Nonetheless, this only works if your translation quality is spot on. This makes it easier for varying users to consume your content, reel them in, and win their business. That’s where localization QA tools come in. Localization quality assurance is critical as an organization strives to communicate to a local audience. When talking about translation quality, among the essential considerations is linguistic quality assurance.
Linguistic quality assurance (LQA), simply put, entails the verification of correctness of a translation’s cultural, terminology, and linguistic phrasing, among other considerations. LQA ensures that the final content is linguistically, technically, and culturally precise. It ensures you only use the highest quality of localized content, a meticulous process that accounts even for those seemingly small concerns like:
- Grammar slip ups
- Spellings
- Idiomatic expressions, to mention a few
Such errors, while easily overlooked, can distort the message.
How LQA works
LQA is integrated at the end of every step of the translation process. This entails reviewing the translation following a set methodology. The approach establishes if objective errors, grouped in specific categories, exist. The objective errors include concerns such as:
- Poor spelling and grammar
- A translation that is out of context
- Inconsistencies and inaccuracies in regards to the glossary, style guide, and translation memory, among other set parameters
The errors are categorized and described by following set severity levels. With such categorization, it is easier to spot and correct mistakes on stage by stage basis.
LQA evaluates the translation also following industry correctness. For instance, when localizing a software product, the process needs to account for more than the content translation. This is considering that you want to address elements such as:
- Operating systems
- Programming interfaces
- Icons, since they can have different cultural meanings
- Calendar and currency systems, to mention a few
A single mistake in such localization flow can cause untold damage. This emphasizes the need for LQA accounting for context in your industry’s specifics.
LQA is a pre-emptive measure. It helps you avoid errors that could cause significant problems later. Such concerns could force you to start the translation from scratch. Such situations can be costly and time-consuming. While the LQA can be labor-intensive, it facilitates a practical localization process. The good news is that modern tools cut the time and human resources needed.
Modern LQA tools include procedures, processes, tech, and a mix of human touch. It provides you with an excellent recipe for your translation projects. The tools also account for your specific needs, more so using translation memory. The memory automatically saves your translations in a database. The database makes it easier to manage future projects. This is since elements such as terminologies are easily incorporated throughout the projects. Leveraging the database in your future projects enhances automation. It saves time and money while improving accuracy and consistency.
Linguistic quality assurance helps you spot and avoid errors. This makes the localization process more productive. It ensures you deliver the message to the target local audience the same way the original piece does.
