Translation Quality: In the Eye of the Customer
There are thousands of language service providers in the world—and almost as many definitions of translation quality. At Rubric, we don’t spend time defining quality; we simply use our customers’ criteria to create a recipe for the highest quality possible.
Three questions we ask to measure the quality of Rubric translated content:

1. Does the translated content match the end user’s style expectations?
2. Does the translated content reflect the corporate image?
3. Is the customer happy with the content?

Ingredients
What are the ingredients for great translation quality? You must have the following in your ‘pantry’:

1. Good translators
2. Tools and support that translators need
3. Appropriate checks and balances in place

Sourcing these ingredients is critical and a job Rubric takes very seriously.

Good Translators
The first ingredient is self evident; it’s what comes to mind immediately when judging quality. And the tendency is to blame the translator if the translation is bad. But even the best translators cannot achieve good quality in every circumstance. Working in isolation the best translator in the world may not be able to satisfy the three customer criteria identified above.

Rubric ensures we provide the best translators possible by working with our customers to clearly define their end user messages. If done so upfront, the impact on the quality of the translated product or website will be significant. We also work with our customers to forecast projects well ahead of time to ensure that dedicated translators are booked in plenty of time which helps Rubric in turn ensure that delivery expectations are met even before projects are started. Good translators are in high demand. That’s why it’s so important for Rubric to work closely with them and make them part of our extended family. We do not treat our translators as a commodity, but rather as critical partners.

Tools and Support for Translators
The second ingredient to ensure quality is to give translators what they need. Specifically, they require context, reference and knowledge. Translation is not simply a process of word substitution with the application of grammatical rules. If it were, machines would have been doing the job successfully for a long time and we would not be here today. A translator must understand the source text, digest it and then recreate it in their native language. Similarly the translator needs to understand fully in which context the words are being used. That context is provided by the client—it could be the software product in its native language, a marketing brief or another helpful document.

Reference materials help ensure that the translation meets customer expectations—one of the criteria mentioned above. Such materials include previously translated material, existing glossaries, style guides and translation memories.

The final but most important tool for the translator is specialized knowledge. Rubric works with its customers to arrange translator training on products and to ensure all translator questions are answered. Those questions often highlight ambiguities or errors in source materials—Rubric delivers quality in part because it listens to the translators’ requests and gets them the answers they need.

Appropriate Checks and Balances
The final ingredient in Rubric Quality is established and proven checks and balances of translated content. Those include 1) appointing the right reviewers, 2) managing the reviewers and 3) reviewing test scripts. We provide reviewers with questionnaires to be completed based on the content to be translated as well as supply them with clear guidelines on how to check for quality. However, the upfront work we put into finding the best translators possible means that the reviewer’s job should be quite simple: The translation is already in good shape.

We also work with our clients to make sure all translated content is checked with ‘power users’ in the target country. Rubric also establishes review schedules at the beginning of each project to ensure that both client and Rubric are on the same page and that expected handoffs occur at the agreed upon dates. This process includes working very carefully with reviewers to make sure that review comments are clear, concise, and helpful in improving the overall end product. Finally, we provide test scripts of all the translated software/websites to work out any remaining issues one-on-one with our customers.

Follow the Recipe
By following the Rubric Quality recipe, you can ensure that the content you are translating into any language will meet your quality needs and criteria.

Learn more.