A high level of translation quality is crucial to every business and individual who seeks interpretation services. It may be difficult for those outside the industry to understand exactly what constitutes a high-quality result, however. To further complicate the issue, quality standards vary in every translation, depending on the material, its audience and other situational factors. Although quality evaluation tools and algorithms do exist today, the most effective means of ensuring that you receive a quality translation is to select a translation service provider with high standards and provide them with the necessary information to ensure that your unique content is rendered appropriately into the desired language.
What is Translation Quality?
A translated text is evaluated on several factors. Readability is important, as is usability. How appropriate a translation is for the desired audience is also crucial. The number of errors a translated text contains is another potential factor in measuring quality. Each quality factor must be evaluated and measured in specific ways. For example, readability can be measured by evaluating the degree of comprehension and recall a test audience reports after reading the translated text. Although translation speed is often measured as a part of quality evaluation, this factor is only weighed heavily in certain circumstances.
Why Translation Quality is a Constantly Moving Target
Translation quality requirements are definitely on the move, and the value of any given translated text depends on several factors. Primary among these are the audience, the content itself and the content’s purpose. Certainly fluency with both the original and language the text is to be translated into is important, but this alone cannot guarantee a superior result. The ability to discern excellent results is also important, to provide a basis for evaluating translated texts. Unfortunately, case-specific human evaluation can be highly subjective, expensive and time-consuming.
Ensuring Translational Quality
The research shows that briefing a translator about your business, services and products is crucial, as is providing relevant terminology and vocabulary. In most cases, finding translators who are also subject matter experts simply isn’t necessary, as long as you can provide a reasonable level of detail. Providing the right information about your audience is also critical, because no one knows your targets better than you do. Communicating expectations will establish a sound basis for future outcomes. Industry specialists have developed tools for evaluating translation quality, but these tools are not practical for most clients who use translation services. The best way of ensuring a high-level outcome on anything other than a production basis is to verify that your translation service certifies their translators’ skills and abilities.
Verbatim Solutions certifies its translators using the proprietary Verbatim Certified program. You can rest assured that every Verbatim translator will deliver an optimal result, whether your project is large or small. Trust Verbatim Solutions to provide the highest translation quality in the industry.
