Internationalization of documentation is best achieved by training the technical writer about helpful techniques and tools. To maintain documents with the greatest technical accuracy, technical writers should be located where product development work occurs. However, quality localization of documentation is best achieved by translators who are topic specialists located where the target language is actively spoken. Coordination of staff located at multiple locations, as well as manufacturing and distribution considerations, raise a project management issue for document globalization.

This paper describes techniques for internationalizing and localizing documents to prepare them for worldwide distribution.

Figure 1. Benefits of Internationalization

0.0 Introduction

With the on-going revolution in worldwide communications and transportation,and the competitive nature of today's business environment, many organizations have recognized the need to operate in countries other than where their headquarters office is located. Products developed in one country often require modification before export. This paper focuses on documentation issues related to exporting products, as well as preparing documents for multiple language markets within the same country.

The entire process of adapting documents for language and cultural markets worldwide is called document globalization. One adaptation often required is to provide product documentation in the language of a particular target market. This part of the globalization process is called localization, adapting a product for a particular language and cultural market. In addition to the translation of a document, other modifications may be required to meet market needs, such as changing the currency units referred to in the document, or changing the paper size so as to fit into standard binders in that market.

Sometimes, the development team prepares a document for a single language and cultural market with no intention of delivering the document to any other market. In other cases, the development team must deliver the document into multiple language or cultural markets sequentially, or even simultaneously! Even if the need for delivery to another market is not defined at the beginning of a project, such a need may later arise. Performing a proper internationalization of the document combines all the duplicate tasks for each localization so as to perform those tasks one time and leverage the effort effectively against all future localizations (see fig. 1). Internationalization is an attempt to make a document culturally independent.

Proper internationalization provides improved quality, time-to-market, and profitability when producing multiple localizations. The benefits of internationalization compound even more when localizing not only a single document, but all the documents in a related set, or all the platform versions of a given document.

Many authors have written good reference materials about globalization [1][2][3][4][5][6]. This paper focuses specifically on document globalization, providing guidelines for successfully navigating the tasks associated with the document globalization process.

1.0 Document Globalization Process Overview

The document globalization process consists of the following major sub-processes:

• Project Planning and Preparation
• WritingInternationalized Documentation
• Localizing the Documentation
• Manufacturing and Distribution
• Marketing, Sales, and Support

Each of the following sections describes one of these sub-processes, followed by a section describing on-line document globalization considerations.

2.0 Project Planning and Preparation

The following sections describe the key elements of successful project planning and preparation.

2.1 Preparing a Business Case

Before starting a globalization project, the project manager should prepare a proper business case for the project, balancing anticipated revenue (or other anticipated benefits) against estimated expenses to determine if the project meets business goals. To determine anticipated revenue, the project manager must determine the marketing requirements for the project. And to estimate expenses, the project manager must sketch out a project plan with the elements described below.

Ulrich Henes, a globalization consultant, recently wrote a comparison of business case policies at Symantec, Apple, Lotus, and Microsoft, which may prove helpful for globalization project managers. [9] While many companies have been successful at constructing business cases balancing the overall expense and revenue for a given product, not many can determine the incremental revenue due to localization of a product.

2.2 Allocating Budget and Resources

Another element of the project plan is the list of staff and equipment resources required for the project. The project manager should total the myriad costs related to the project to produce a project budget, which should also include mention of where the budget can be obtained. Costs may include payments for staff and equipment at offices around the globe, as well as to service vendors outside the company (see Section 4.1, Working with Translation Companies).

2.3 Scheduling

The project schedule relates integrally to the project cost estimate and is especially important in cases where there is a limited window of opportunity for delivering a product to market. The project manager must forge a delicate balance between the competitive market need, if any, and the availability of resources in scheduling the project.

The announcement of the next version of a product may precipitate a decrease in sales of the first version of both the base product and the localized product. Competitors will target the period between the announcement of the second version of the base product and the delivery of the second version of the localized product as prime time for sales of their localized product. The ability to deliver the localized version of a product as soon as possible after the base product release may prove an important competitive advantage (see fig. 2).

Figure 2. Market Window of Opportunity for Globalized Product

If the localized product reaches the market after the localized product of a competitor, then the overall sales of the localized product will diminish not only in the period when the competitor localization is alone in the marketplace, but also after both localized products are selling in that market.

The project manager may need to schedule documentation delivery in coordination with delivery of software or hardware product components.

2.4 Preparing a Source Language Glossary

Researching and preparing a proper source language glossary, or terminology list, is a vital part of writing quality documentation. When a team of writers creates a document set with a standard terminology list in mind, the document set becomes uniform in style and easier to read. During the translation phase, the translators may use a target language terminology list translated from the source language terminology list to preserve the consistency of the original documentation style (see Section 4.3, Preparing a Target Language Glossary).

The same glossary should be used for all project components, from marketing literature to labels on hardware devices.

2.5 Choosing Productive Tools

Project personnel may use the following types of tools to increase productivity:

• Spreadsheet tools: to produce budgets, financial reports, and preliminary schedules.
• Project Management tools: to create and track schedules and allocate resources.
• Desktop Publishing (DTP) tools: to generate documents. A few desktop publishing tools permit writers to produce documents that are compatible with the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), a standard for tagging text in a structured document, thereby making it possible to display the document source file in a variety of different document formats.[10] In addition desktop publishing tools may integrate spelling checkers, thesauruses, grammar checkers, and other writing aids. Some custom tools even verify that the writer has composed a document using a subset of English called 'controlled English' or 'simplified English,' so as to make the document easier to understand and translate.
• Source Management tools: to track the versions of documents. In the case of document globalization, source management tools may be helpful in tracking document changes between versions so that translators may transate only the parts of the document that have changed, rather than retranslating the entire document.
• Translation Workbench tools: to produce document translations more efficiently. Translation workbench tools create a translation environment which provides access to software aids for streamlining the translation process. Translation workbenches may have the following components:
  • Translation Management: to perform administrative functions related to translation, such as counting words to be translated, and computing and displaying reports on translation workbench performance.
  • Terminology Management: to permit creation and modification of project glossaries in multiple languages so that the translation workbench may provide terminology translation candidates automatically to the translator.
  • Translation Memory: to build a database of source and target language sentences so that the translation workbench may provide sentence translation candidates automatically to the translator on a perfect or fuzzy match basis.
  • Machine Translation: to make use of an artificial intelligence system of semantic and syntactical rules so that the translation workbench 'translates' the document text and may provide translation candidates automatically to the translator.

In the case of machine translation, translation candidates may be provided either during a translation session when the translator chooses among translation candidates, or in batch mode when extensive postediting of the translated text is advisable to achieve a quality translation because translation candidates are ignored along the way.

Tool strategies should incorporate all parts of a project, such as software or hardware development, as well as documentation development. Subscriptions to publications reviewing language technology tools may prove helpful in choosing appropriate tools.[11][12]

Figure 3. Example Integration of Document Globalization Tool

3.0 Writing Internationalized Documentation

Once the project plan is complete, the technical writers assigned to the project should prepare the source language documents. The best way to obtain quality documents is to hire professional technical writers. The technical writers may use helpful techniques to improve quality, time-to- market, and cost-effectiveness of globalized document delivery.

Most of the techniques for improving global document delivery are generally good writing practice and also apply to delivery of the source language document. For example, English- speaking readers of an American English document read in Hong Kong or Switzerland will appreciate the writer's efforts in internationalizing the document, even if it is not localized, or translated, for their native language. However, some techniques apply more to internationalization of the document than to optimal delivery in the source language market. This section includes tips from various sources describing document internationalization.[13][14]

3.1 Researching the Audience

The cardinal rule of any writing project is to keep the point of view of the audience in mind. In the case of document globalization, the writer must remember that the audience of a document may come from countries all over the globe. A writer in the United States should not assume that the term 'domestic' will convey a meaning of 'in the United States' or that 'international' will convey a meaning of 'outside the United States.' Referring customers to the headquarters location, or to toll-free telephone numbers for support, may prove impractical if the customer location is on another continent. This situation can be especially galling to readers if the services advertised are not available during typical working hours for their time zone.

3.2 Writing with Appropriate Style and Grammar

The following guidelines may assist the writer to produce effective documents for whatever the audience, but ignoring these guidelines may prove devastating in the case of documentation intended for worldwide distribution.

• Express ideas and concepts clearly and directly.
• Use simple grammar and avoid complex grammatical constructions.
• Avoid writing in passive voice; use the active voice whenever possible.
• Keep sentences short and direct.
• Keep each paragraph concise and focused on one idea.
• Avoid excessive use of subordinate clauses and coordinating phrases.
• Do not use slang or acronyms.

In the United States, some writers address the audience with the attitude and tone of a friend. Readers in other countries may find this style insulting or patronizing. In language markets such as Germany, longer sentences are in vogue, but may interfere with effective translation. Compiling an editorial style guide for each language will prevent many style and grammar problems.

3.3 Cultural and Geographic Sensitivity

The writer should be aware of customs, taboos, beliefs, values, learning styles, presentation styles, and particular sensitivities of target audiences in most regions around the world. The 'mental programming' an audience receives in a given culture may lead that audience to certain assumptions. For example, the phrase 'as soon as possible' means 'immediately' in the United States, but may mean 'when convenient' in other countries.

The writer should consider the following areas of potential cultural and geographic sensitivity.

Dates and Times

Audiences in different parts of the world use differing date and time formats. In the United States, the order is typically month/date/year, whereas in most of Europe, the order is date/month/year. In Japan, the year may be represented as elsewhere in the world, or alternatively in the year of the current Emperor's reign. Certain Arab nations have a thirteen month calendar.

Addresses and Telephone Numbers

Always include the country code along with a telephone number and the country name along with an address. Specify the hours and time zone of availability of telephone service.

Units of Measure

Provide units of measure using the metric system. Except for a few countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, the 'imperial' units of measure are not sufficient because they are no longer commonly used in most of the world.

Examples

Audiences around the world may not recognize examples familiar to the writer. If you are giving a person's name or a place name as an example, consider using names that are well- known worldwide. Also, mix examples from a variety of cultures to avoid a cultural bias. Choose examples that readers can understand regardless of their cultural background whenever possible.

Dialect

Choose words that are used uniformly around the world, rather than local dialect, such as the English 'taxi driver' instead of 'hack.'

Political and Religious Content

Political and religious content may disturb readers, so the writer should avoid mention of political and religious issues unless it is the express purpose of the document. Reference to race, nationality, sexuality, and alternative lifestyles should be limited to documents meant to address specifically those issues.

Colors

In the West, the color black may represent death or funerals and the color white represents purity, whereas the Chinese associate white with funerals and red with marriages. Most countries use traffic lights with red indicating stop, amber indicating caution, and green indicating go, but do not take this for granted.

Gendered Pronouns

Avoid using gender-specific pronouns in text when such use could be perceived as sexist. In English, consider using 'they' or 'you' instead of the generic 'he'.

Creating Illustrations and Screen Examples

Illustrators and graphic artists should take into account the following guidelines for creating global illustrations and screen examples.

• Illustrations should take into account variations in the objects illustrated across the audience markets.

For example, audiences outside the United States will less likely recognize an icon that represents an American postbox. And users of a piggy bank icon will not recognize it as a symbol for saving work completed in the application because the word for 'save money' and for 'save a file on disk' are not the same word in most languages.

If an illustration portrays a machine that has different markings when delivered to France than to Japan, the localized document should reflect the difference for each market. Conversely, an internationalized document might include a chart of how the markings appear in all markets worldwide.

• Software screen examples should appear using the correct language version of the software for the target language market. Use generic machine names, login names, and system names to avoid examples which may be offensive when translated.

• Use of some symbols in certain contexts may be offensive in certain cultures. For example, McDonald's Corporation recently ran into a problem with displaying the flags of World Cup soccer finalists on takeout bags used to dispense food and clean up waste. Muslims living in London and Birmingham issued a protest about disrespectful use of the image of the Saudi flag, which contains an inscription from the Koran.[19] Likewise, symbols like the swastika, hammer and sickle, rising sun, crosses, and stars should be avoided. Residents of Islamic countries often find depictions of scantily clad women, alcoholic drinks, the bottoms of feet, and pigs and pork offensive. Also, Islamic asterisks have five points.

• Avoid depictions of almost any symbolic gesture of the human hand, especially the left hand, since some audience will find the gesture obscene.

• Make sure to leave lots of space for captions in the illustrations because the source language captions may expand when translated into other languages. For that reason, it is also preferable to express a concept using graphics instead of text wherever possible.

3.5 Preparing a Document for Translation

The writer should use a standard desktop publishing tool for preparing the document source (see Section 2.5, Choosing Productive Tools). The desktop publishing tool chosen should be internationalized for the language markets required for document distribution. The project manager may have to choose an alternative desktop publishing system for certain markets, but this choice adds a format conversion step to the localization process, which can be expensive.

Writers often organize a large set of documents into document subsets to help readers of the source language document set more easily locate the document they require. In the case where the document set must be translated, a careful market analysis may determine that only certain subsets of the overall document set are required for translation into certain language markets, resulting in an incredible cost savings. This is a case where proper planning of the document set organization before beginning even the source language portion of the project may have a remarkable impact on the profitability of a product localized into multiple language markets.

Writers who want to excel in translation preparation may read some background about the languages their document may be translated into so that they can be aware of particular sentence constructions or concepts that may be troublesome.[20][21]

3.6 Document Quality Control

Editors and reviewers should ensure the quality of the source language document by correcting every error found in the document. Each error that remains uncorrected will require many times the investment of time and energy to correct in multiple language versions of the document during translation.

4.0 Localizing the Documentation

All textual components of the product should be considered candidates for localization, including packaging, marketing brochures, hardware labels, customer registration cards, quick reference cards, and even training materials associated with the product. Some countries may require modification of copyright messagesor license agreements. The document localization process for a specific project depends on the details of the resourcing model used for projects in a given organization. The following example outlines the basic document localization process.

Phase 0:

1. Complete project planning and preparation (see Section 2.0, Project Planning and Preparation).
2. Make sure that source language document writers have prepared properly internationalized documentation (see Section 3.0, Writing Internationalized Documentation).Generate target language glossaries (see Section 4.3, Preparing a Target Language Glossary).
3. Achieve reviewer consensus on the target language glossaries.
4. Train translators on technical topics and tools related to the document translation project.

Phase 1:

1. Obtain and translate the documentation to produce a first draft translation.
2. Perform a stylistic and technical edit on the first draft translation.
3. Distribute and get review feedback on the first draft translation./LI>
4. Update the target language terminology list.

Phase 2:

1. Obtain, translate, and incorporate any changes from the source language documentation in the target language documentation.
2. Evaluate and incorporate appropriate changes from the review of the draft translation.
4. Send the new draft out for editing, proofreading, and technical review.
5. Repeats the steps in Phase 2 until all changes from the source language document are included and all relevant review comments are evaluated.

One major decision to make about the process is whether to attempt to hire and manage internal translators on a project, or to outsource the project to translation companies. The trend among software developers in the industry is toward outsourcing translation work.

Companies which have access to staff in the target markets may find it advisable to choose translators or translation companies located in the target market. The quality of translations produced by translators located in the target market is often superior because of the day-to- day contact these translators have with language innovations in rapidly changing industries.

However, the project management task of coordinating document development in one location and translation in multiple locations may be too resource-intensive for some organizations. These organizations may have to settle for satisfactory translations provided by local translators or translation companies. Alternatively, they may seek to off-load the project management of in-country translators to a multinational translation company. If this translation company does not have extremely effective project management skills, the danger is that the under-resourced organization will have to assume much of the coordination of the project before it is completed.

Project managers for organizations with a significant annual translation loads should develop longer-term partner relationships with translation companies who can best serve their needs.

4.1 Working with Translation Companies

When working with translation companies, it is important to have a process for qualifying the appropriate companies for each language market, often called a Request for Quotation (RFQ) or Request for Proposal (RFP). It is wise to consider the geographical proximity of a representative from the translation company and to have some method for assessing the expertise of the translation team, such as by asking for a sample translation of a portion of document text.

Subscribing to publications that provide information on translation companies may be helpful in locating the translation companies that are the best match for the project.[9][11]

4.2 Hiring Translators

When hiring translators directly, keep in mind that you should have some objective standard for evaluating translation skills. Certification by a reputable organization or a degree from a reputable university may suffice. Reading background materials about each of the target languages may be helpful in gaining enough understanding about the language to perform a cursory evaluation of the candidate's abilities.[20][21]

Make sure to choose translators with experience in the particular specialties required for a given project.

To gain access to a pool of translator candidates, advertize with a translator's association.

Do not hire translators for project peak loads; hire for slightly more than the minimum requirements and compensate for reasonable amounts of overtime.

4.3 Preparing a Target Language Glossary

When formulating a target language glossary, start by translating the source language terminology list. Supplement the target language list using existing sources for target language terminology from other organizations.[22]

Quality dictionaries also helpful in constructing effective terminology lists, as well as throughout the document localization process. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

4.4 Quality Assurance

The most important part of the document localization quality assurance process is choosing the appropriate team of reviewers. Make sure to include some technical experts from that language market, as well as some language experts. Get a firm commitment from reviewers and allow sufficient time for reviews and incorporation of review feedback in the schedule.

Consider also testing the document with respect to other project components, such as software or hardware. Internal user and external customer beta programs will provide much- needed input. After all, the audience is the best judge of success in the quality assurance process.

Over the past several years, the ISO 9000 certification process has made it possible for some organizations to evaluate quality processes and make improvements. Increasingly, ISO 9000 certification has become important for doing business with other organizations, especially in the European market.

5.0 Manufacturing and Distribution

There are a few basic models for manufacture and distribution of products destined for delivery to other countries:

• Manufacture domestically and distribute internationally
• Manufacture internationally and distribute domestically
• Manufacture internationally and distribute internationally

The decision should be made based on the size of the market in each region and the relative cost of each method for that region. The project manager should consider outsourcing of manufacturing and distribution to qualified organizations.

6.0 Marketing, Sales, and Support

Marketing staff should be involved throughout a document globalization project to ensure that the documentation meets the market need for each language market. Once the product, including the documentation component, is ready for delivery to market, marketing staff should prepare a product launch, with a strategy, events, and marketing collateral to assist the sales force in selling the product. A representative from the product development team should train the marketing, sales, and customer support staff on use of the product, including the documentation.

7.0 On-Line Documentation Issues

Increasingly, there is a market demand for the ability to display and search documentation on- line. On-line documentation systems typically permit a user to traverse hypertext links, moving directly from an entry in the Table of Contents, the index, or a cross-reference source to the target of that reference by simply double-clicking on the entry. Some of these document viewers offer a full-text search capability.

On-line documentation is usually distributed by CD and may need to be coordinated with distribution of software on the CD. This means that almost all of the considerations related to distributing a software product pertain also to on-line documentation delivery.

Some viewers accept SGML as input, thus permitting document creation in a variety of desktop publishing systems (see Section 2.5, Choosing Productive Tools).

To distribute documents in various languages on-line, the on-line document system must have the capability to handle input and display of those languages. One way to avoid having to maintain many different character sets (or code pages) within the system is to implement a unified worldwide character set encoding standard called Unicode, now adopted as part of ISO 10646.[34]

8.0 Conclusion

Document globalization is a complex process, but when well-organized, the project manager can deliver the highest quality, most cost-effective and quick-to-market documentation to audiences worldwide, greatly increasing the breadth of the audience and the profitability of the document production venture.

References

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[2] Uren, Emmanuel, Robert Howard, and Tiziana Perinotti, Software Internationalization and Localization: An Introduction, New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 300x11p.

[3] Lunde, Ken, Understanding Japanese Information Processing, Sebastopol, California, O'Reilly & Associates, 1993, 435 p.

[4] Madell, Tom, Clark Parsons, and John Abegg, Developing and Localizing International Software, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, PTR Prentice Hall, 1994, 200 p.

[5] O'Donnell, Sandra, Programming for the World: A Guide to Internationalization, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, PTR Prentice Hall, 1994, 440 p.

[6] Hoft, Nancy, International Technical Communication: How to Export Information About High Technology, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1994. (to be released in April 1995)

[7] Berschens, Ruth, M'miore vive: Das neue Gesetz zum Schutz der Sprache nervt Weber, Wissenschaftler und Konzerne, WirtschaftsWoche Nr. 25, 17 June, 1994.

[8] Durham, Michael, In France, Free Speech Extended to 'Franglais', London Observer, July 1994.

[9] Henes, Ulrich. Building a Case For (and Against) Localization, Software Publisher, Vol. 2, No. 4, pages 28-35, July/August 1994.

[10] Goldfarb, Charles, The SGML Handbook, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990, 664 p.

[11] Hearn, Paul, and Jan Freijser, The 1993 Language Engineering Directory, Luxembourg, INK,1993, 743 p.

[12] Schneider, Seth Thomas (editor/publisher), Multilingual Computing Magazine and Buyer's Guide, Sand Point, Idaho, Multilingual Computing.

[13] Berry, Priscilla, Document Globalization Guidelines, Emeryville, California, Sybase Inc. (internal distribution), June 30, 1994, 14 p.

[14] Editorial Style Guide, Mountain View, California, Sun Microsystems (internal distribution), 1993, 150p.

[15] The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1993, 921 p.

[16] Strunk, William, Jr., and E.B White, The Elements of Style, New York, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 3rd edition, 1979, 72 p.

[17] Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, 2nd edition, Redmond, Washington, Microsoft Press, 1994, 442 p.

[18] McDaniel, George, IBM Dictionary of Computing, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1994, 758 p.

[19] Evans, Kathy, British Muslims Reject Bag with Flags: McDonald's Use of Saudi Symbol a Cultural Faux Pas, Manchester Guardian, July 1994.

[20] Campbell, George, Compendium of the World's Languages, London, Routledge, 1991, 1574 p.

[21] Katzner, Kenneth, The Languages of the World, 2nd edition, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1986, 376 p.

[22] The GUI Guide: International Terminology for the Windows Interface, European Edition, Redmond, Washington, Microsoft Press, 1993, 239 p.

[23] Robert, Paul, Le Petit Robert I: Dictionnaire alphab'tique et analogique de la langue fran'aise, Paris, Le Robert, 1990, 2176 p.

[24] Collins-Robert French-English, English-French Dictionary, 2nd edition, London & Paris, Collins and Le Robert, 1987, 930 p.

[25] Duden Deutsches Universalw'rterbuch, Mannheim, Dudenverlag, 1989, 1816 p.

[26] Messinger, Heinz, Langenscheidts Handw'rterbuch: Englisch-Deutsch, Deutsch- Englisch, Berlin, Langenscheidt KG, 1988, 1992, 1470 p.

[27] Zingarelli, Nicola, Vocabolario della lingua italiana, 11th edition, Bologna, Nicola Zanichelli S.p.A., 1988, 2256 p.

[28] Il Nuovo Dizinario Hazon Garzanti: Italiano- Inglese, Inglese-Italiano, 1st edition, Milano, Garzanti Editore s.p.a., 1990, 2430 p.

[29] Halpern, Jack (ed.), New Japanese-English Character Dictionary, Tokyo, Kenky- usha Limited, 1990, 1992 p.

[30] Kenkyusha's Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary, Tokyo, Kenkyusha Limited, 1990, 980 p.

[31] Stora svensk-engelska ordboken (A Comprehensive Swedish-English Dictionary), Esselte Studium AB, 1988, 1112 p.

[32] Stora engelsk-svenska ordboken (A Comprehensive English-Swedish Dictionary), Esselte Studium AB, 1980, 1071 p.

[33] Editorial Department of the Language Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, The Modern Chinese Dictionary, Beijing, The Commercial Press, 1983 (revised edition), 1581 p.

[34] Adams, Glenn, Unicode/ISO 10646 Implementers' Workshop 5 Tutorial, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Institute for Advanced Professional Studies, April 1994, 207p.

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[This paper has been published previously in the proceedings of the 1st International Beijing Conference on Electronic Publishing, Oct. 1994. The author retains the copyright for this work.]

Editor's note: For a complete copy of the original article, which includes the author's footnotes and commentary, please send a fax or email to LISA Administration.