atw: Re: Translation and multi-language output - information required

Hi Felicity,

Your processes are the most important piece of the translation game. I'd 
recommend considering your overall content lifecycle (not content development 
process) - how is your content created and updated? Managed through versions? 
Obsoleted or removed? Published and delivered to customers? Consider how you go 
about creating your English source material, and how and when you will get that 
content translated into your target languages. Will all of your content be 
translated? Are there any pieces that are specific to a region or market?
Are you using single sourcing or content reuse in your source language? Do you 
have well established styles and standards for your content that all authors 
adhere to? Do you write as precisely as possible, without ambiguity? My former 
manager's experience in translation taught her that any translated content has 
reduced quality when compared to the source - so ensure your source is the 
highest quality possible.

Do you have screen shots and call outs with text on them (e.g. field literals)? 
Do you have diagrams and figures with text on them?
Has the software already been translated into Korean, Mandarin and German? As 
others have already mentioned, you'll be dealing with Unicode/double-byte 
languages, so your process and tools will need to support that.
Ensure that your translator/LSP is using a translation memory system and that 
you retain the IP of that TM. At the end any translation project, there will 
likely be some time spent cleansing the TM.

Some problems I have come across with translations:

*         Screen shots - if you have them, someone will need to be able to 
navigate through the translated (and preferably QAed) software and take the 
screen shots in language. LSPs (Language Service Providers) will do this, but 
at a cost. Due to this overhead, we've eliminated almost all of our screen 
shots.

*         Ensure you have the source, editable files for all graphics. E.g. if 
you have Visios that have been incorporated into the Help as PNGs, your 
translators will need to have access to the Visio file to translate, otherwise 
you will need to pay for them to re-create the graphic AND translate it.

*         Including icons in the middle of text, e.g. icons, causes problems 
with TM term matching.

*         Reuse content well, but only at the word or full sentence (or 
paragraph/topic) level. Do not try to reuse part sentences, as word order and 
gender could cause problems. If you have stem lead-ins for sentences, ensure 
you're all using them consistently, and the TM will pick that up.

*         Give the translators a glossary and perhaps even your style guide to 
translate first, so that they become familiar with your style and standards.

*         Don't format too tightly for English source, e.g. table column 
widths. Your German words will be easily 30%++ longer than your English, and if 
you've fine-tuned a column for English, you'll end up with horrid wrapping in 
German.

*         Have the software translated first, before the doco. Have the 
translators have access to the translated software when translating the doco. 
Get the translated software QAed by someone local before going any further. Be 
prepared for questions - such as to clarify terminology.

*         If you have a large volume of content and the LSP will have multiple 
translators working on your content, ensure they are using Translation Memories 
and that they are being synched together on a DAILY basis.

*         Do not be tempted to get 80% complete doco translated. Wait until it 
is finalised, and any changes/updates will have to be caught in the next round. 
A "minor" English change turns into a change in three languages ...

*         If possible, use an authoring tool where the translators don't have 
to worry about DTP. We send XML to translators, and they don't have to worry 
about any DTP. After bring the translated content back into our tool, it is 
still necessary to check for bleed. Some of our Russian titles in PPTs were 
really long, and bled off the page.

*         Make sure you don't have any cultural-specific references in your 
doco and look in your software for culturally specific icons, too. A "bug" icon 
might mean a bug in certain Western cultures, but something else entirely in 
another culture. Also, if you have something equivalent to "hit for six" or 
Hills Hoist or Ute in your doco, that will need to be localised into a local 
context, which will take more time. (You possibly don't, just throwing it out 
there). We also had an icon depicting a diamond ring for "Commit". Doesn't 
really work in all cultures, let alone for all westerners!!

You may end up dealing with at the least two LSPs - one for your Asian 
languages, and one for your European languages. Many of the big firms will do 
almost all languages, but this may end up being the best combination.
Test the LSP first, and get someone local to check out their translation 
quality.

You will pay by the word for your translations, so make sure every word counts 
and should be there. LSPs can give you an idea of how long it will take and 
what it might cost to translate your current word count - ensure management 
know about this time. My first translation project was from hell because of 
promises made to customers without allowing sufficient time for the translators 
to do the translation, let alone any QA on it.

And then, after your first translation round, you'll want to be really careful 
and sure about any updates and changes you make to your source. Every content 
change, standards change, template change could cause some level of 
re-translation, which you will pay for. LSPs have rates for all kinds of 
matching against the TM - there can even be a cost to 100% matching, for the 
translators time in deciding to re-use the existing translation in the TM!!

Just a brain dump off the top of my head. Hope this helps,
KT
P.S. Tried to be fairly tools agnostic. We use Authorit and their Localisation 
Manager for our content creation, publishing, and translation. I love its 
reuse, I love comparing a published Word of HTML word count with my "pure" word 
count from Authorit to show how much we've been able to reuse content 
components (one of our online help products would be 3.2 million words if we 
were still using our old tools - it's 2.5 million words now, and it could be 
less give some time). I also love that we deal in XML with our translators, so 
they don't have to worry about how many levels of bullet we have or what our 
fonts are.  I've never used RoboHelp nor MadCap, but MadCap does have a Lingo 
translation function.

Kirsty Taylor
Email: kirsty.taylor@xxxxxxxxxx

From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Felicity Brand
Sent: Thursday, 5 November 2009 6:19 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Translation and multi-language output - information required

Hi All,

I have been reading for a while, but this is my first post to the ATW list. 
Please be gentle :-)

I am seeking information regarding processes and tools for translating Help to 
other languages.

I work in the documentation team for a software company, and we will soon need 
to produce our Help in Korean, Mandarin and German. This is new for us.

We are going to embark on a project to determine the best solution for us, 
including the right authoring tool (we currently use RoboHelp) and 3rd party 
translation services.

I'd like to consult the ATW brains trust for any information regarding how to 
approach the translation process.

I am interested in hearing your experiences, and would greatly appreciate 
knowing any potential pitfalls. Are there any Help authoring tools that lend 
themselves to the translation process?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Felicity
felicity_brand@xxxxxxxxxxx

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