Quality in the translation industry means much more than translating words or sentences correctly. High quality translation is error-free, culturally sensitive, intuitive, accurate, meets reading level criteria, and addresses individual client and language requirements. “Quality” is subjective and therefore hard to quantify or measure, but from a client’s perspective, quality translation enhances communication, ensures understanding, builds brand awareness, attracts more customers, and helps to boost the bottom line.
Translation quality begins with quality source content
Translators can only do so much – it’s up to the client to provide source content that is well-written, mistake-free and easily understood in the source language. Translators are responsible for accurately translating words and sentences into the target language, not for rewriting original content that is poorly crafted, has grammatical errors or typos, lacks readability or plain doesn’t make sense.
Quality translation reflects specified reading levels
The reading level of the audience being translated for plays a critical part in the quality of the translation. Translators must be extremely sensitive to reading levels, and even when translating difficult medical terminology, complex financial data or legal documentation, they must maintain strict adherence to the reading level of their audience. Translators should be able to accommodate reading levels from elementary school through high school/college, choosing the proper wording, sentence structure and terminology that will best serve the end readers’ needs.
Style guides and glossaries contribute to quality
Client style guides and glossaries further enhance the accuracy, consistency and high quality of translated documents. Style guides let translators know the linguistic and stylistic preferences of the audience they are translating for, and glossaries provide important terms and their preferred translations for each client.
A good translation organization will offer to create and maintain style guides and glossaries for each client, and work with them to keep these electronic documents current so that translators can utilize them whenever necessary.
At Avantpage, we measure quality one satisfied client at a time. Avantpage’s commitment to quality encompasses consistency, accuracy, linguistic excellence, the knowledge and expertise of our translation teams, and the processes and procedures we follow to ensure exceptional service. Providing quality to our clients is our number one priority, day in and day out.
