THE ULTIMATE QA GUIDE FOR IN COUNTRY REVIEW

Transcription

1 1 4 THE ULTIMATE QA GUIDE FOR IN COUNTRY REVIEW In-country review, local validation, regional client feedback... call it what you will. When properly integrated into the localization workflow it can be the deciding factor in turning translated content produced under a centralized localization workflow with all the benefits that a unified process brings into regionally relevant, localized content. So why is in-country review often tacked onto the end of the localization process, almost as an afterthought for checking the language quality provided by the localization agency? To get the most out of an in-country review, it needs to be incorporated into the localization process from the beginning within the framework of an appropriate workflow. HOW IN-COUNTRY REVIEW WORKS Once your localization provider delivers translated content, that content should ideally be reviewed by local review staff. Review staff should be so-called Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the target region, i.e. local persons from within your company with an intimate understanding of your product and service, as well as native language skills and knowledge of the target market. The aim of the review process is to leverage their local expertise to enhance the translated content with the relevant local flavor (style, tone, and messaging) and the appropriate market knowledge (terminology). SME feedback should then be provided to your localization provider for immediate implementation in the translated content and updates to the associated Translation Memories (TMs). The more you optimize this in-country review feedback loop by integrating it into your localization workflow, the greater the benefits will be in the long run.

2 2 The purpose of in-country review, therefore, is not to correct mistakes or edit bad translations. A competent translation provider will take responsibility for language quality. To that end, your translation agency should commit to the following: Providing accurate and faithful translations of the source texts. There should be no mistranslations or omissions from the original content. Using experienced local professionals with domain expertise. All translation should be carried out by in-country by linguists who are native speakers of the target language and have a thorough understanding of the source content they are translating. Thorough editing and proofreading. Translated content should be free from grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Following any terminology and style guidelines provided. In-country review then combines the linguistic skills of your translation provider with your particular local expertise. You know better than anyone else how you want to communicate with your customers. Your local staff can suggest the precise style and language that successfully captures your brand. Your regional product managers are the gatekeepers of customizing language for their target market. In-country review is about optimizing your translated content for maximum results in the target region. THE ANATOMY OF A SUCCESSFUL REVIEW 1. Factor the review into your project. In-country review is often tacked onto the end of the localization process. The necessary time and resources are not devoted to an appropriate workflow. This is the wrong approach and relegates your local review team to sanitychecking translations prior to public release rather than building a process to transfer local expertise to your language service provider. Review is an integral part of a quality translation workflow, not an afterthought. Allocate the time and resources to get the job done properly. 2. Choose the right team Local review is the chance for the regions to take ownership of localized content before public release. This is a responsibility for competent, experienced staff with the appropriate subject matter expertise. Treat in-country review with due importance, and avoid foisting the review task on a cobbled-together team of interns and junior officers, who can only provide an additional proofreading service rather than really stamp your local flavor on translated materials. Choose reviewers who understand the intent and purpose of your content. Requesting feedback on marketing materials from your local technical engineer is not the ideal approach. If, for example, you have localized marketing content from English into Spanish, then that content should be sent to the local marketing manager responsible for authoring Spanish marketing content who can then act as the link between locally-produced and centrally translated Spanish content. It is imperative to leverage the specific expertise of your local representatives, managers, product managers, and engineers who can provide accurate feedback on translations as experts in their fields.

3 3 The end goal is translated material that suits everyone s needs and linguistically portrays your company, your service, your brand. Building a dedicated in-country review team is more effective than pulling staff ad hoc from their regular positions. Nominate a dedicated group whose members can devote their energy and creativity to the review process as an integral part of the localization process from its onset. Deeper involvement will foster better reviewing skills and cooperation with your language service provider. 3. Set-up clear expectations with reviewers Decide from the onset whether your in-country Get buy-in from local stakeholders sounds suspiciously like a hollow sales phrase that gets pitched at corporate-level translation purchasers but in the case of a successful review process there are concrete benefits to aligning expectations and getting everyone on board. As multilingual language service providers we often find that in-country review gets caught up in corporate crossfire on the one hand global managers wanting to ensure pan regional product releases or a consistent international brand identity, on the opposing team regional managers wanting to keep control over local messaging. The truth of the matter is that once you ve taken the leap to a centralized localization process, in-country review is the opportunity for regional managers to take content produced in a centralized translation process and put their local mark on it to bring it in-line with locally produced content. So make sure you have their support when instigating a global campaign and that the benefits to a centralized translation process are clear and applicable to their region. Set clear guidelines to define the scope of review and decide from the onset whether your in-country SMEs should only address language content, or whether they should also make suggestions on issues such as formatting issues and imagery. Don t leave any of this to chance set parameters so everyone knows what to expect and what their specific responsibilities are. 4. Use style guides and terminology management. In-country reviewers need clear linguistic boundaries. Give the team access to relevant style and terminology guidelines, just as you would your translation provider. Everyone has their own views on language, and allowing in-country reviewers to follow their personal preferences and make subjective corrections will be counter-productive. People get busy, sick or leave the company; if review amendments hinge purely on preferential changes then this local expertise will be lost if that person is no longer available. Like all QA procedures, the aim of in-country review is to create a stable, replicable workflow that isn t dependent on a single individual, so just as authors and translators; reviewers must adhere to a standardized term base and defined company style. 5. Agree the format and milestone for review. Left to their own devices, in-country reviewers might add their comments in any number of ways: scribbling in the margins, preparing a separate document, sending an , or even giving feedback over the phone.

4 4 This is unruly and very difficult to manage. Create strict editing guidelines and ensure that your team adheres to them. It is also important to bear in mind that while in-country reviewers are experts in certain areas, they are not fully qualified linguists and therefore not best equipped to apply changes to translations. A seasoned Product Manager is the regional expert on correct local terminology, but how good is his/her spelling? Is s/he really up-todate on the latest grammar and orthology rules of their language or have they not had to worry about issues like the correct use of the apostrophe since they left high school? Sometimes changing one word affects the grammar of an entire sentence. Your Subject Matter Experts may not consider this effect since the purpose of their review lies elsewhere. Your translation provider will, however. Have your SMEs make their suggestions, but leave the implementation of any changes to your translation provider to ensure quality of style, language level, etc. of the final translated content. Ideally, your reviewers should mark up their comments electronically on the files for implementation by your LSP. If review changes are fed directly back to your LSP, you not only have another pair of eyes checking the implementation of these amendments but you are also setting up a direct feedback loop to channel improvements to future translations. 6. Constantly evaluate and improve. In-country review is a long-term investment. After each review cycle, solicit feedback and make a frank assessment of your performance. Identify the areas where improvement is needed, then reinvest this knowledge in your next review. Like any staff, in-country reviewers will get better with time and practice. Make sure to close the feedback loop with your translation provider as well. Any changes made by your SMEs must be returned to your translation provider for immediate correction of the translations in the final file versions to be exported, and for incorporation of those changes into the multilingual Translation Memory associated with your project. Otherwise, the TM will be out-ofdate and the next time you localize, you will run into the same issue again. 7. Translation in context? To really get the most out of in-country review it is worth giving some thought to the best stage in the localization workflow to solicit feedback from your SMEs that can really provide added value to the translation service provided by your agency. Translated content at the code and pure-text level is not meant to be reviewed as such. Giving your reviewers a piece of plain text without providing the context for the translations doesn t necessarily give them the necessary insight to really validate the content as it will eventually be presented which can limit the value of their input. Mockups of the finished product, be it a website, brochure, packaging, or software, enable reviewers to see how the text fits with the overall project and really test the translations before launch.

5 5 8. Encourage open communication. Everyone involved in your localization project should communicate freely reviewers included. Ensure that your review team and translation agency can speak with each other directly rather than going through an intermediary. Issues are resolved more efficiently when everyone is kept in the loop via a centralized workflow and it is amazing how often perceived issues can be eliminated with a quick phone call to someone who speaks your language and can therefore immediately identify the sticking point. MINI CASE STUDY PROBLEM: The client s in-country Subject Matter Experts were short on time to review the provided translations and felt their ideas would not end up being implemented. They were required to report to their own managers and those managers then had to liaise with the translation provider s project manager, resulting in a cumbersome review process. This process played out somewhat like the children s game of telephone in which a message is passed along from person to person until its original meaning is completely obscured. By the time the translators received feedback from the SMEs it had been paraphrased too many times to be transmitted correctly. The client s SMEs felt they could not have a real impact on the content and therefore lost motivation. MILENGO S SOLUTION: Thanks to Milengo s flexible company structure and in-house translation team we were able to create direct contact and feedback loops between our translators and the client s in-country reviewers. We delivered quality translations, the client s SMEs reviewed those translations for local language flavor, sent their feedback directly to our Language Lead, and we then implemented the feedback to complete the review cycle, all within a customized localization workflow tailored to the client s specific staff and needs. We also saved time and money by making sure the in-country review process was complete before sending the final versions of all translated content for Desktop Publishing, rather than allowing intermediary versions of formatted content to be uploaded to the client. BENEFITS: Facilitating direct contact with translation provider language leads eliminates the need for project managers and other personnel to be involved in the review process. Whenever client reviewers feel the translation provider is not applying the appropriate local company tone or terminology they can enforce specific don ts, thereby giving them highly valuable input in the quality control of the final content. This process further guarantees that the client s reviewers and the language lead of the translation provider are reviewing the same version of the translation. This approach saves time and money, and prevents client reviewers from becoming frustrated with an indirect communication process. Direct interaction also means that translators are in sync with the style and tone of the client s in-country reviewers,

6 6 ABOUT MILENGO Milengo delivers translation and related localization services to the world s most successful, international businesses. Our team of over 350 translators, project managers, engineers and more work alongside clients from 19 offices located across the Americas, Europe and Asia. Milengo has won the business and praise of global leaders that include Walt Disney, DuPont, Plateau and Saba Software. leading to fewer changes and reliable Translation Memories, no matter which translator, marketing manager, or sales representative may be working on the project. Ultimately, this kind of in-country review workflow not only addresses and reduces complaints about responsibility and quality assurance, but actually represents an investment. It allows clients to take their hands off the wheel and focus on managing other aspects of their business with the peace of mind that the localization process is being handled both efficiently and successfully. Contact us for more information: contact@milengo.com EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS Skalitzer Strasse Berlin Germany Tel: +49 (0) US OFFICE 1065 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY USA Tel: +1 (888) TRANSLATIONS FOR A WORKING WORLD