Software is a computer term which refers to a program or set of logical components which are needed to perform a task or operation. In a nutshell, it is the instructions for communicating with a computer which enable us to use programs, apps for mobile devices, etc.
A sign of the changing times is that increasing numbers of everyday tasks call for software. Things that a generation or two ago were done by hand, such as writing a letter, keeping a company’s books or looking something up in an encyclopaedia, are now performed electronically. Younger users are growing up in a world which requires more and more software and this will inevitably lead to a greater need for localisation of programs and applications to reach out to the user in their native language. It has been shown that when shopping online, a high percentage of potential buyers do not feel comfortable if the application is not in their mother tongue and therefore decline to perform a transaction.
Similarly, sometimes a user may be using some software and find mistakes and even programming problems due in some cases to translation and localisation that have not been handled entirely efficiently.
This is why it is crucial to be able to call on a company which has extensive experience in the translation and software localisation industry and can detect, identify and resolve the most common linguistic or programming pitfalls in this translation field.
One of the most common mistakes you might come across are pieces of text cut off in the interface, which is the result of programming with a character limit that the translation has gone over. Other examples are coding problems which for instance prevent typing with a tilde accent in Spanish, inconsistent terminology, fragments in which machine translation has been used without post-editing, pieces of untranslated text, loan translations from the original language or superimposed keyboard commands.
The software’s interface, instructions, advertising and even any packaging it comes in are all part of what is going to have to be translated and localised. Companies, agencies and everyone else involved are tasked with delivering a proficient translation and localisation service which avoids adding these problems to the final product so that the user has a rewarding experience.
