sdl translation technology insights: quality
TRANSCRIPT
For more information, visit www.sdl.com
SDL (LSE:SDL) is the leader in global content management and language solutions. With more than 20 years of experience, SDL helps companies build relevant digital experiences that deliver transformative business results on a global scale. Seventy-nine of the top 100 global brands trust SDL to simplify the complexity of managing content across multiple brands, websites, languages and devices. Go global faster with SDL.
Copyright © 2016 SDL plc. All Rights Reserved. All company product or service names referenced herein are properties of their respective owners.
SDL_ig_TTI_Research_Quality_160616
The importance of qualityWhen we asked respondents to specify the relative importance of quality, speed and cost for translation projects, quality came out clearly on top:
Survey scopeWe had 2,784 respondents across 115 countries and in 9 languages, from translation professionals across the entire translation supply chain – enterprises, corporates, government bodies, language service providers and freelance translators.
1. Prioritise terminology managementThe research findings together with the rapid advancement of technology would suggest that embracing terminology management is one of the easiest ways to take quality control to a new level.
* Unless otherwise specified, all results in this eBook come from the SDL TTI survey of more than 2700 people in the translation industry. For further information, see the survey executive summary at www.sdl.com/tti or www.translationzone.com/tti
Even for cost-conscious corporates and LSPs (language service providers, or agencies), quality is
4xmore important than cost.
Quality is
2.5xmore important
than speed 6x more important
than cost
Quality
$£¥€ $£¥€
Quality
Speed Cost Cost
See the full survey results here
Corporates: www.sdl.com/tti
LSP: www.translationzone.com/lsp/tti
Freelance Translators: www.translationzone.com/fl/tti
Nearly
2/3(64%) of those polled have to do rework.
Percentage of respondents required to do rework based on third party feedback
But quality is also hard to achieveWhilst quality is so important, it can be hard to get it right first time.
48% 44% 31% 27% 24% 17%
Terminology inconsistencies
Styling Translation inconsistencies
Translation doesn’t sound natural
Formatting and tagging
errors
DTP problems
Terminology is the top challengeInconsistencies in the use of terminology emerged as the top cause of rework.
Always Often Rarely Never
Frequency of feedback
4% 3%
58%Frequency of feedbackConstructive feedback on the quality of translation is rare (or non-existent) for 61% in our study.
35%
4% Formal, standardized assessment
59%
24%
37%
4%
35%35% No measures/ill-defined measures
24% Qualitative feedback 37% Mixed
measures
59% either don’t measure translation quality at all, or use ill-defined or purely qualitative assessment.
Quality Assessment: All respondents
56%
Three ways to improve translation quality
say that terminology management is a priority
Requirements
Rules Standards
Regulations
TransparencyLaw
Policies
Standards
Governance
2. Familiarise yourself with existing standardsIf, like the majority of our respondents, you find that you know little or nothing about the formal quality standards used in the translation industry, take some time to learn about them.
3. Embrace an objective approach to measuring qualityChoose a specialised assessment tool to take the subjectivity out of measuring quality.
SDL’s Translation QualityAssessment (TQA) is such a tool.
Define what quality is (which might vary in different contexts).
Measure (and analyze) translation quality
consistently over time.
Clearly indicate where and why any translation falls short
of the defined criteria.
SDL Translation Technology InsightsResearch Study 2016A comprehensive survey investigating the role of technology in the translation industry and how it is helping to shape the future.
Insight 1: Quality