Localization

Overview


Localization is a translation process that adapts content to meet the needs of consumers in different cultural and linguistic markets. Localization involves the translation of cultural, linguistic, rhetorical, contextual, legal, and social differences that occur between locales. The process of localization often modifies linguistic text, graphics, structure, and style to help "convey overall meaning from one culture to another." Technical communicators must also localize date, currency, and measurement formats, regional language variations, and cultural idioms, expressions, and references. Localization aims to "avoid or minimize local sensitivities" and give technical documents the appearance of having come from the local culture.

Difference between translation, localization, and globalization
Though a form of translation, localization does more than simply translate between two languages. Translation from source language to target language might not meet every need of local users and does not ensure that information is "culturally and legally situated in [a] specific locale." In this way, translation alone may not be enough for content to succeed in a different market. While globalization produces content that "will serve as many audiences as possible," localization transforms content to fit the "cultural, rhetorical, educational, ethical, [and] legal" expectations of users in a specific local context. Unlike translation and globalization, localization can involve major redesign and often produces content very different from the source material.

Role of localization in technical communication
Localization enables technical communicators to produce and distribute content worldwide. It is a rhetorical tool for persuading the target market to accept content that does not originate locally. A document's persuasiveness relies on the technical communicator's understanding of the target culture's "values, assumptions, beliefs, and attitude[s]." If successful, localization helps the target audience "feel like your document or product is made for them" and produces a "positive experience with your product" in new markets. There are many benefits to localizing content: it can increase the content's audience, improve global sales and customer happiness, minimize resistance to a product in new markets, and reduce time and money spent on customer support.

Usability & localization
Usability refers to whether a product "is efficient, effective, and satisfying for those who use it." To succeed within a target market, localized content must meet the usability needs of target users. Usable localized content benefits target users by focusing on cultural context, which improves "accessibility, user engagement, and user empowerment." A study by Keshab Raj Acharya in the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication also suggests that localization usability may enable content to promote social justice and human rights in third-world markets.

Cultural contextualization & user experience
Usable content in the source locale might not be immediately usable in the target market. Technical communicators need to contextualize their content to improve its usability in new cultural and rhetorical settings. Technical communicators should research and understand the local user and their cultural contexts to ensure that localized content is "usable, accessible, and adaptable" in the target culture. Localization that improves usability can reduce local users' need for "increased user support," which requires additional time and money. When possible, technical communicators should collaborate with multilingual users from the target market when localizing content. This can be done through usability testing of localized content or products, also known as user localization. Collaboration and user localization can improve the technical communicator's localization process, demonstrate useful rhetorical strategies for the target market, and provide insight into the contextual experience of local users.

General guidelines & methods
Technical communicators may need to consider the following aspects when localizing for their target market:


 * Laws and regulations
 * Cultural values, norms, and attitudes
 * Rhetorical expectations
 * Linguistic issues
 * Literacy and educational concerns
 * Economic systems

General guidelines and methods for localization include:


 * Begin the localization process when first developing and designing content.
 * Be conscious of date, address, currency, and other formatting that may vary by locale.
 * Leave white space for variations in character size and spacing.
 * Use active voice instead of passive voice.
 * Use plain or controlled language. Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, cultural references, jargon, idioms, slang, or colloquialisms, which don't easily translate to the target culture.
 * Pay attention to spelling and word use variations between locales that use the same language.
 * Along with text, adapt visual graphics, symbols, and design layout to meet cultural attitudes and expectations.
 * Pay attention to different legal requirements in the target locale.
 * Collaborate with local users (user localization) to test the usability of localized content. If possible, perform localization in the target locale.
 * Use computer-assisted translation (CAT) and content management systems to markup and store localized content for later use.

Limitations of localization
Localization often relies on assumptions made about the target market and its consumers. If little research has been done to understand the target locale, or if the localized product is awkward and unusable, the localized product may fail in its target market. Efforts to avoid inaccurate (or even offensive) localizations tend to produce documents that are overly generic or surface-level, defeating the purpose of localization. Technical communicators may also face legal liability if they do not properly localize content to fit legal regulations of their target market. Compared to translation and globalization processes, localization is more expensive, complicated, and time-consuming. More resources and time are needed for developing accurate localizations through usability testing and user localization, neither of which can be done by the technical communicator alone.