8 Key Translation Technology Solutions

Create websites in different languages – CMS Translation Integration Plugins

For companies looking to expand overseas, a localised website is one of the key components of their international strategy. Managing a large amount of content in different languages and keeping on top of the increasingly dynamic nature of websites can be time-consuming. It is therefore essential to create a strategy to identify content for translation and manage its reintegration into the site. A good translation provider will offer plugins for different CMS to manage the whole process: as soon as you publish content to your original website, your new content can be pushed into the translation agency’s translation management system at the click of a button. Once translated, your CMS can automatically be repopulated with the translated content and, once approved, published to the different language domains. As well as allowing you to automate the translation workflow, these plugins offer huge time savings and allow you to publish your translated content to your key markets as quickly as possible.

Save time and money but also increase quality – Translation Memory

Balancing speed, cost and quality is a conundrum faced by many industries. Translation Memory technology can offer the best of all three by storing translations that have already been completed and reusing them in subsequent content. The system identifies if an exact match or similar phrase has been translated in the past and alerts the translator to the available options, with individual terminology prompts available, too. The powerful tool is used by specialist linguists to deliver consistent and high quality translations in a cost-effective way. Documents such as product descriptions, labels, datasheets and manuals, containing many instances of identical and repeated text are usually the content types that benefit most from this technology.

Work with complex file types – File Processing and Conversion for Translation

The widespread use of content authoring systems and file exchange formats means that the days of translators simply working in Microsoft Word are a thing of the past. Many clients now want to send projects directly in the native format, whether it’s InDesign, .xml or YAML. Integrating them with Translation Memory and Terminology technology offers you optimum quality, consistency and cost benefits. Many agencies can do this easily and can set their Translation Management Systems to protect tags and source code so they remain unaltered during translation. A QA check is also performed on the translated content before delivery to ensure it offers the same functionality as the original, allowing you to publish and reach your audience more quickly. There is also less risk of error compared with someone manually copying text into the file, or copying the wrong language into the file (yes, we have actually seen some clients do this)! For design files, it is important to note that even though design files can be easily edited in these packages (with font sizes, styles and formatting being respected), they must still be carefully checked afterwards by a specialist to check for correct hyphenation and line breaks and that the chosen font displays characters correctly.

Organise in-country translation review – Translation Review Tools

Translation often isn’t the end of the localisation workflow. Editing and review stages are a crucial component of many projects, especially for safety or business critical content where the input of internal resources is invaluable in finalising the translation. However, it can be a challenge to manage multiple languages and in-country reviewers, and difficult to maintain tight version control, especially if documents are sent by email between all parties involved. However, using specialist translation review tools, you can harness the expertise of your internal staff and ally it with powerful technology for a lean editing experience where Translation Memories and glossaries can be used. Many review platforms are located on easy-to-use interfaces on secure, cloud-based platforms, with translated content ready to review in a simple format. When changes are made, not only is the document in question updated, giving you tighter version control, but the changes are added to the Translation Memory in real-time, which means that future translations will take your changes into account, rather than relying on the Translation Memory being updated manually.

Manage multiple translation vendors – Translation Management Systems

Users of translation services often want more control of the translation process. That’s why some Language Service Providers offer a Translation Management System to their clients, allowing them to steer their own translation projects and even select their own preferred linguists. If you want a centralised overview of projects and to select your preferred vendor, while manage your individual Translation Memories or glossaries yourself, this could be a valuable tool for you. A Translation Management System can offer innumerable benefits to users and allow increased control over the entire localisation process. Crucially, where companies use multiple translation agencies, these systems allow tighter control of centralised Translation Memories and Glossaries, allowing consistency to be maintained and costs reduced even when using different translation agencies.

Securely manage multiple projects – Translation Portal

Data security is increasingly at the forefront of companies’ minds. For this reason, buyers of translation services are increasingly shunning email when requesting quotes and prefer to organise projects in a centralised portal, with secure file transfer guaranteed for confidential material. For many buyers of translation, it’s not uncommon for there to be multiple requests per week and keeping track of so many projects can be a real headache. Translation portals offer the possibility of secure file transfers, with all quotations, invoices and documents centralised in one location, allowing project requestors to always keep track of their projects and translation spend.

Manage urgent translation needs around the clock – Translation Workflow Automation

For many projects, waiting a little while for your Account Manager to prepare a quote for your latest piece of work is not an issue, however certain project types need a different workflow. Urgent requests, such as safety-critical press releases, stock market announcements and time-sensitive tenders have fuelled the demand for a 24/7 translation service, and some agencies have the infrastructure and technology to make this a reality. A global network of professional linguists spanning several time zones is key, but technology also plays its part: a 24/7 portal can connect you with the most suitable translator straight away, without even needing to pass through your Account Manager. Linguists are automatically notified when a project has been uploaded to the portal, after which they can login, translate the content and then re-upload to the portal. By combining an international network of translators with this 24/7 technology, you can find the most appropriate translator, regardless of the time of day or night, and obtain your urgent translations in the quickest timeframe possible.

Request large volumes of text in tight timeframes – Machine Translation with post-editing (MTPE)

As the demand for rapid and low-cost translation grows, Machine Translation with post-editing (MTPE) has emerged as a viable localisation solution for many, producing reliable sector-specific content at a fraction of the cost of human translation. Its popularity isn’t without its sceptics, however, and the truth is it’s not suitable for every project. A good agency will have access to an enterprise Machine Translation platform, which will generate more accurate output than free online tools. These platforms also keep your content secure and confidential, which is not always the case with tools freely available on the internet. The technology works best when large volumes of reference material, glossaries and previous translations are available and the texts requiring translation are written in simple, formulaic structures. These so-called trained machine translation tools can process enormous amounts of high quality material at exceptional speeds, although it’s not usually suitable for publication until it has been fully edited by a specialist Post-Editor, who will take the translation to the desired quality level.

Have a question or comment? Or is there another translation technology tool that would make your life easier? Please get in touch: we’d love to hear from you.



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