Do you want to change the way your localization workflow is done? Every company wants to differentiate itself from its rivals, and if the global market is your battleground, localization is already an integral component of your plan.
However, leading and directing the team from conception to publishing frequently requires significant work. It is at this point that translation software may be able to assist you in completing the tasks required for international success.
1. What is translation software?
Translation tool, when used in a business setting, refers to a number of tools and resources you can use to quickly and accurately translate your content.
There are various categories of translation software, each of which is tailored to do a particular task:
- CAT tools: Software translators can efficiently translate documents by segmenting them into smaller chunks (translation keys) with the aid of computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools.
- Machine translation software: Artificial intelligence is used by machine translation (MT) tools to translate text between different languages automatically and without human intervention.
- Translation management systems (TMS): The most sophisticated kind of professional translation tool, a translation management system (TMS) combines CAT and MT capabilities with project management and business intelligence elements.
2. How does it work?
Content analysis
The translation software would conduct the content analysis process, which would:
- Use a translation memory to identify any terms or phrases that may have already been translated. The translator can then choose to accept the translation or make any necessary adjustments.
- The more translations that go through the software, the better your translation memory will function and the quicker your future translations will be. Expand the translation memory with any new terms or phrases.
- The software will display any term base hits that may arise in the content and offer a translation for them. It will also display any additional information in the word base, such as a context-sensitive usage example.
Translation and editing
The translation process and review would then start, allowing translators, editors, and proofreaders to work together on the same project to produce the best outcome possible.
Translation software makes it simpler to produce a high-quality output regardless of whether the project requires 100% human translation or a combination of MT and human labour. Linguists have all the materials they need in one location thanks to an intuitive editor that is context-rich (automatically captured UI screenshots, term bases, comments from other stakeholders, etc.).
Review and quality assurance
An automated quality assurance phase follows the document translation process. To verify correctness and conformity with your organization’s requirements, the software will run a number of checks on the material, such as character count or terminology usage.
The content is then typically subjected to an internal review and approval process to make sure it is suitable for publication. Multiple stakeholders, including project managers, designers, developers, marketing professionals, or other subject matter experts, can analyze the content from a single location using translation software, providing input quickly and easily.
Delivery
In order to distribute or publish the translations, you would be able to download or export all of them from your tool in the same format as the original. You can export the translation straight to your content management system (CMS) or other tools if the translation tool has already built-in interfaces or integrations.
3. The benefits of translation software
Greater consistency
The authoring and editing of translations is frequently done by a number of in-house and freelance translators, typically located in various time zones and geographic locations. It is nearly certain that translators will use slightly different vocabulary to express the same thing unless there is a structure that keeps them in check, despite your best attempts to employ the best personnel and provide them with clear instructions.
By providing translators with the same translation memory and term base to work from, using a translation software helps eliminate this risk. You can be confident that they will all continue to be consistent throughout your content the next time they see a technical phrase or a term exclusive to your company.
Increased productivity
A translation tool can recall the previous translation of the identical material, saving you time and money rather than having to translate it from scratch and running the risk of inconsistencies. The existing translation can be reviewed by translators, who can then concentrate their efforts on editing and polishing the text. They can increase their production by using the remaining time to focus on other tasks or translations.
More flexibility
It can be challenging to set up and maintain many workflows for each translation project when they each operate slightly differently due to various reasons, such as varied content, destination languages, file formats, or other variables.
The processes of a decent translation program are preset and adaptable, allowing you to adjust them to your needs and ensure that everyone on your team is operating from the same “playbook.”
Not to add that cloud-based translation software solutions can be accessed from any device without requiring installation of licenses or requiring the use of a single device. Due to the lack of concern for lost or misplaced files, your employees are free to work whenever and wherever they choose.
Reduced costs
Translation tool gives your company complete control over the process and associated costs with just a one-word translation minimum. Only one translation of the identical words and phrases will cost your company money.
It may seem contradictory to believe that investing in translation software might result in cost savings, but it all depends on the size of your business. A translation tool might not be required if you just plan to translate a small number of papers throughout the course of your company’s existence.
Improved quality
Use a translation tool that has good quality assurance (QA) capabilities. A quality assurance tracker thoroughly examines your translations to find any errors—from grammatical and spelling flaws to simple copy-and-paste difficulties like double spaces or formatting issues—and immediately notifies you of them.
Beyond simple spelling and grammar errors, the most frequent issues we encounter include inconsistent placeholders, altered numbers or content in email addresses or URLs, leading and trailing whitespace, various brackets or numerals, and inconsistent HTML. Those errors will be found by an effective QA tool.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, the top language specialists are adept at utilizing translation software to produce outcomes that are both quicker and more dependable.
The most recent developments in the field can be incorporated into your translation process with the aid of GTE Localize.