Software localization is a complex process of adapting or translating software to a specific target language, culture and legal requirements. In many cases, this would require the modification of the user-interface, images, content, time, currency formats etc for a more localized look and feel. Apart from the translation, changes in the developing, testing and modification of the coding language are also required. Eurolingo has a solid experience in software localization and has worked in this area with a wide array of large corporations around the world. We take pride in using the latest software localization tools that are effective and accurate and have worked wonders for our clients.
Localization requires the use of many different tools. Here are the top 5 tools that smooth out the process.
- Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT)
This tool is a huge help in the translation process, which not only increases the speed but also improves the efficiency of localization. The tool will speed up the translation process by storing previously done translations in its memory for future use. It has features such as SDL Trados Studio, MemoQ, and Across.
- Translation Management System (TMS)
This tool helps in applying different workflows and is ideal for software localization companies that have high volume translations. Different aspects of the workflow that are also managed by this tool include localization engineering, translation editing, and desktop publishing.
- TermBase
A termbase is a database containing terminology and related information. Most termbases are multilingual and contain terminology data in a range of different languages. It’s very important in the localization process. It ensures that the right words and terms are used for translation and once approved can be used repeatedly to make the process effective and consistent.
- Quality Assurance Tools
Quality assurance tools are responsible for double-checking important things such as terms, numbers, dates, abbreviations, stats and much more. It can be customized according to different brands and helps to eliminate any possible errors that have been missed in the manual review.
- Bug Tracking Platform
Regarded as a type of issue tracking system, a bug tracking platform is a software application that keeps track of reported bugs in translation projects. It’s a great tool that facilitates collaboration with customers, as it enables clients to report bugs on their own.
What is The Process for Software Localization?
To ensure quality before rolling out the software product to the public, the software localization is broken down into the following 3 different steps:
Internationalization (i18n): Audit, Plan & Implementation
Internationalization is an important step to take before your software is translated and launched in new markets. The internationalization process, also known as localization enablement, helps you adapt the software product to suit various languages and regions without requiring any changes to the source code. Proper unicode encoding is used across the stack and all strings are externalized, while some of the basic factors like date and time formats are not hardcoded.
Software Localization and Translation
Once you’re done with internalization, you will then get started with the software localization, which is the process of adapting or translating software to a specific locale language, culture, and legal requirements. In most cases, localization involves modifications to the user-visible components of software such as the user interface, images, documentation, etc. In other words, an efficiently localized product will enable users to connect with the software in a language and locale that feels native to them.
Localization Testing
After the completion of the first two steps, you need to make sure that your software is working without any glitches from a linguistic and functional point of view. Corrupted foreign characters, date formatting, expansion and contraction of text, number formatting, etc can alter the layout of the user interface in a target language. EuroLingo can help with the localization testing for the successful launch of the software product worldwide.
EuroLingo is a leading translation service company headquartered in Poland with offices in Germany and Romania. We have many years of experience in offering comprehensive localization services to an array of businesses around the world, including those working in the automotive, financial, healthcare, and education sectors – and you can be next.
EuroLingo provides leading software localization services for hundreds of businesses in a variety of sectors. Our team has extensive experience in software translation services. With us, you will enjoy the peace of mind that your software has been efficiently localized and adapted perfectly according to your target market.
Contact us and get a free quote today.