Website Localization FAQ

• Do you provide Machine Translation or Human Translation of websites?
  
• Which do you recommend: Machine Translation or Human Translation?
  
• How do I submit my website for human translation?
  
• What languages do you work in?
  
• How do I know that the human website translation you are providing is good quality?
  
• Do you translate the graphic elements of the website?
  
• Do you implement Version Control in website localization projects?
  
• When I change my original website, do I need to translate it into all languages from scratch?
  
• How do you perform quality tests on websites that you localize?
  
• How do you do test error messages, popups and other such texts?
  
• How do you handle country-specific and cultural aspects of website localization?
  
• Can you help us with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in target countries?
  
• What is the recommended structure for a Multi-lingual website?
  
  

Q: Do you provide Machine Translation or Human Translation of websites:
A: Our Free Website Translation tool is a small snippet of HTML code which you or your webmaster inserts on your web page. Once the code is inserted, readers can read your web page in other languages by selecting the translation language from a menu.

Q: Which do you recommend: Machine Translation (MT) or Human Translation?
A: Both. We offer free code for machine translation of your website in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian and Catalan. Go to www.gts-translation.com/webtranslation.asp for more information. We also provide human translation of websites. This process is also referred to as website localization.

Q: How do I submit my website for human translation?
A: There are various ways to do this, and we want to make it as easy as possible for the customer. If you are maintaining your website in a Content Management System (CMS), we can work within your environment if you give us the appropriate access rights. Or, you can send us the texts to be translated in plain text format, such as in a MS Word or OpenOffice Writer. You can also send us the server-side files in their original format, such as in xml, asp, php, sql, swf, JS or htm files. The files can be sent to us via e-mail or by putting them on an FTP server. If you are a non-technical person, ask someone from your web design team to get in touch with us to determine the best and easiest way to submit the files.

Q: What languages do you work in?
A: We have proven experience and have delivered websites localized into the following languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, Greek, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch. For a complete list of the languages we support, go to http://www.gts-translation.com/languages.asp.

Q: How do I know that the website translation you are providing is good quality?
A: Click here for a description of our translation quality process. In addition to our quality process, all the text we translate for your website is checked by in-country experts to ensure quality and cultural consistency for the target countries.

Q: Do you translate the graphic elements of the website?
A: Yes. Our graphics team knows how to handle all graphics formats such as GIF, JPG, BMP, Flash and other forms of animated graphics and banners. Our graphics people work with the translator to determine how the graphic elements should be translated, taking size, screen location, color and other cultural aspects into consideration.

Q. Do you implement Version Control in website localization projects?
A: Yes. We use advanced CAT (Computer Aided Translation) and translation management tools. Using Leveraging techniques, we make use of legacy translations and cut costs by only translating the text that have changed since the last translation.

Q. When I change my original website, do I need to translate it into all languages from scratch? A: Absolutely not. We manage your website localization project using Translation Memory (TM) technology (leveraging your legacy translation). So when you make changes to the original, we determine what has changed since it was last translated. We only translate the changes, return the entire website translation and only charge for the incremental translation. This results in considerable costs savings to the customer.


Q. How do you perform quality tests on websites that you localize?
A: Before the site is made public, we perform extensive quality control and linguistic testing online. We check the displayed pages for linguistic accuracy and verify that there are no display glitches. We also check using several Internet browsers and encoding options, to ensure that your site can be viewed by all with no errors.

Q. How do you do test error messages, popups and other such texts?
A: When performing quality tests, we check all error messages and on-screen popups in order to make sure that they are linguistically correct and that the message fits in the allocated area. For multi-language projects that involve forms that require user input, we write a QA plan that the translators perform to simulate errors and check messages.

Q. How do you handle country-specific and cultural aspects of website localization?
A: Website localization is not just language translation and adjustment of server-side files. A wide range of country-specific and cultural issues must be taken into consideration if you wish to provide a website that will appear native in all countries and regions. There are many examples of possible website localization gaffes, not including language issues. For example, there are colors that should be avoided in certain countries where specific superstitions abound. Measures, currencies, addresses and phone numbers can be displayed differently depending on the country. Cars are driven on different sides of the road, traffic signs vary. Colloquialism can vary from country to country, religious issues may result, just to mention some potential obstacles you may encounter on the path to producing a good multilingual site. Our team of in-country experts review the website during the localization process, and produce a cultural report when needed if adjustments are required.

Q. Can you help us with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in target countries?
A: We can translate and adapt the meta-tags in your code, including all data that is picked up and spidered by the search engines. This will enhance the visibility and promote your website in the countries you are targeting. If you would like to promote your website in foreign countries, submit to foreign search engines, create links with in-country lists and directories, contact us for further information.