tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748877443699290050.post2403535648578950416..comments2024-03-29T00:21:17.976-07:00Comments on eMpTy Pages: Linguistic Quality Assurance in Localization – An OverviewKirti Vasheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16795076802721564830noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748877443699290050.post-32610298337457663112017-10-08T03:18:12.854-07:002017-10-08T03:18:12.854-07:00Dear Caitlin and Sandy,
Thank you for your commen...Dear Caitlin and Sandy,<br /><br />Thank you for your comments - it is good to see there is interest in an ongoing discussion for quality assurance, as it can be a challenging topic both for practical and financial reasons. <br /><br />In its own right, the sheer volume of translated content these days presents a challenge for language vendors. Understandably, the only way to mitigate the cost of quality-controlling ever-increasing volumes of text is by applying automation. However, we must not forget that the most important role in the quality assurance process is still that of the human reviewer - there is no automated solution that can replace her. The main idea behind automated QA is that the human reviewer doesn't have to spend most of her time looking for errors (that a machine can find), and she can instead focus her attention on correcting errors that the machine has found. The real issue here is how accurately a machine can identify such errors instead of producing false positives which effectively waste any time the reviewer has saved by using an automated QA solution to begin with. <br /><br />There is already substantial progress in the field, both for locale-specific checks and consistency checks that any reviewer would find useful. However, as we look towards a more interconnected network of translation and localization technologies, it is perhaps even more important to consider how these various tools and applications communicate with each other and how they can allow reviewers at the ground level and language vendors at a higher level to have full control of the QA process. This is why I believe online translation technologies and the flexibility they provide will eventually take over from currently established offline workflows and they will help increase productivity and reliability when it comes to quality assurance. <br /><br />Vassilis Korkashttp://lexiqa.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748877443699290050.post-61370246361046139812017-09-26T23:57:41.677-07:002017-09-26T23:57:41.677-07:00Your post, Caitlin, has rightly pointed out the on...Your post, Caitlin, has rightly pointed out the one thing that frequently gets overlooked in localisation projects, the sheer volume of translation involved. This makes it hard for any meaningful quality control or assurance to be conducted at a timely and costly manner as pointed out by Korkas in this blog. Being able to efficiently carry out quality control of our work should be part of the work-flow for any professional translators. <br />One thing that I found very interesting, and is what I believe should be the direction that the localisation industry should steer towards, is programs that has the flexibility to enable consistency control in a locale-specified environment. After all, this is what translation in localisation is about; translating for the local culture. With technologies available these days, such as translation memory, machine learning, online CAT tools etc., hopefully such program will soon be developed to help translators to deliver better product.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16657614570860488045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6748877443699290050.post-47862877580070385622017-09-24T08:49:01.341-07:002017-09-24T08:49:01.341-07:00I really enjoyed this insight into translation qua...I really enjoyed this insight into translation quality assessment and assurance, because as a student translator these are often things we don’t know about until we find ourselves in the industry. While still studying to be a translator, it’s easy to forget that the sheer volume of work often makes it impossible to ensure every small part of the work is checked over. Localisation is such an involved process where the actual translation and assessing and checking it is only one small part of a much larger process (Esselink). It seems frustrating that to me, probably due to economic reasons, companies try and automate quality assurance and assessment as much as possible even though as you have pointed out, the technology is not quite there yet. Your point about locale-specific checks not being standard in localisation really made me stop and think – is this because the industry assumes with globalisation that this isn’t as important? It brings to mind the idea that globalisation is a ‘compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness’ (Robertson). I hope that cooperation and progress in regard to QA occurs within the localisation industry sooner rather than later, as I think it would benefit the industry as a whole, and allow translators to feel that their work is being respected.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17541263463769636489noreply@blogger.com