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Localization of software

When we think about translating a site or portal, usually we think only of the text contents of the site. However, the translation of a site goes way beyond that.

Localization is how we call the translation and adaptation of a software product, website or system considering the culture, conventions, weight and measurement systems, date and time standardization, and other variables of the country to which the software, portal or system is intended. This is a multifunction task that involves activities which require profound knowledge of Information Technology and conformity with international standards.

A translation/localization project may be simple, such as when only the text contents of a portal are translated, or more complex and comprehensive as in the case of software products or systems. A more complex website, software or system localization project usually involves the translation of several materials, such as: software resource files (interface terms: menus, commands, options, dialog boxes, etc), on-line documentation (help system, “readme” files, examples, etc), printed documentation (user guides, manuals, packaging texts, etc), as well as several additional activities, such as the localization of graphs and images (figures, icons, presentation screens, artwork, etc) and screen shots (images of the screens of the localized software) to be inserted back into the software, help and documentation files.

Throughout this very complex process, it is important to maintain the style and formatting of the original files, and to ensure the style and terminology consistency in all the materials. To achieve this goal, we use advanced specialized software programs, developed especially for that purpose.

Developed by MTO Informática e Tecnologia