A Contrarian's View on Translation Standards

A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards

The dark side of quality and more…

Luigi Muzii

Luigi Muzii A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards The dark side of quality and more…

A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards

Table of Contents

Foreword and Disclaimer ...... 5

Introduction ...... 7 A Figure from Your Worst Nightmare ...... 7 A Good Message for a Lazy Industry ...... 8 The Bad Drives out the Good ...... 8

Measures ...... 11 Processes ...... 11

Standards ...... 13

Quality Management ...... 15 Quality Management Systems ...... 15 Process Standards ...... 16 Quality Control ...... 17 The Cost of Quality ...... 17 Freedom from Deficiencies ...... 17 Categories of Quality Costs ...... 19 Quality Management in the Translation Industry ...... 20

Quality Standards ...... 21 The PDCA Method ...... 21 P for Plan ...... 21 D for Do ...... 21 C for Check ...... 21 A for Act ...... 21 Deming’s 14 Points ...... 22 Limitations ...... 22 The Case against Quality Management in Translation ...... 23 Perspectives and Perceptions ...... 23 Continuous Improvement ...... 24 Quality Assurance ...... 25 Quality Assessment ...... 26

Translation Quality Standards ...... 27 EN 15038:2006 ...... 28 SAE J2450:2005-08 ...... 30 ISO/TS 11669 ...... 31

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Implementing Quality Standards ...... 33 The Rationale for Flexibility ...... 33 Quality in the Translation Industry ...... 34 A Practical Approach ...... 34 Process ...... 35 Costs ...... 35 EN 15038:2006 at a Glance ...... 35 Developing Structured Specifications ...... 36 The “As If” Approach ...... 37

The Future ...... 39

References ...... 41

Addendum ...... 45

Outlining a Translation Requirements Specification ...... 47 TRS and Quality ...... 47 QA ...... 47 Elicitation ...... 48 Project Requirements ...... 48 Translation Parameters ...... 49 Further (Support) Information ...... 49 Specified Apart in Contract ...... 50 TRS Life Cycle ...... 50

Building a Localization Kit ...... 51 Preamble ...... 51 General Notes ...... 51 Rationale ...... 51 The Content Structure of a Localization Kit ...... 52 Project Managers ...... 53 Localizers ...... 54 Engineers ...... 54 Creating a Localization Kit ...... 54 Contents of a Localization Kit ...... 55 Software ...... 59 Multimedia ...... 62 Collaterals ...... 63 Delivery ...... 64

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Writing the Localization Guide ...... 64 Introduction ...... 65 Project Organization ...... 65 Project Issues ...... 65 Statement of Scope ...... 66 Contents of the Kit ...... 66 Special Instructions ...... 66 Deliverables ...... 66 Risks ...... 66 Communications ...... 67 Quality Assurance Plan...... 68 Web Localization Issues ...... 70

Sampling ...... 71

Customer Satisfaction ...... 73

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Foreword and Disclaimer This booklet has been prepared for the ELIA’s Networking Days Budapest conference. The opinions contained herein are solely of the author and do not represent a commitment on the part of ELIA. The addendum to the booklet comes from a series of article of the same authors published in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The information contained herein is supplied without representation or warranty of any kind, and does not represent a commitment on the part of the author. Therefore, the author assumes no responsibility and shall have no liability, consequential or otherwise, of any kind arising from this material or any part thereof, or any supplementary materials subsequently issued by the author. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this material and intends the information contained in this document to be accurate and reliable, is not responsible for typographic errors or other inaccuracies in the content provided, and reserve the right to modify this document and the information contained herewith without notifying current or prospective users. If you have any questions or comments, please contact: All the products mentioned in this document to describe firms and their products are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective proprietors. Copyright © 2012 Luigi Muzii. All rights reserved. This document is the property of Luigi Muzii. Any modification, copy, transcription, distribution, republishing, translation, or upload for electronic, mechanical, optical, chemical, manual or whatsoever archiving for commercial exploitation of any kind is prohibited without the prior written consent of Luigi Muzii.

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Introduction Although mature and widespread, the concept of quality as a body of principles applicable to the production and the delivery of services has dramatically evolved over the last quarter of the last century, to become a relative concept that broadly corresponds to product suitability. Over the years, the concept of quality as relative to needs has been affirming and that there is no such thing as absolute quality, with different tasks having different quality criteria to meet. The last two decades have seen a trend toward standardizing procedures for the contractual relationship between the client and the service provider. The idea is that following certain translation procedures will increase the likelihood of good quality, and that, even in translation, quality is doing it right the first time. Since language services are usually not required to perform in local markets, they are not perceived as vital services, and, from the buyer’s perspective, purchasing them is still a daunting task. Therefore, selling translation is a hard job, and, in certain markets, an extremely hard one. This also explains, at least partially, why competition in the industry has always been, and still is, based on price, and why translations have always been sold “by the pound”: it is simply easier and customers believe they know what they are buying and how much they are spending. Also, the industry’s typical business structure encourages firms to remain micro- sized to avoid risks, constraints, and contingencies, and to resort to an old — maybe obsolete — business model impeding efficiency improvements. Like many other manufacturing companies at the dawn of quality management systems, today TSPs look at compliance and certification as a means to foster a positive perception in customers. The current system favors lower costs and loyalty, rather than excellence, and certification is still sought after mostly to meet customer contractual requirements, enhance quality perception, increase reputation, and gain a competitive advantage. These companies are looking for a short-term payoff that will end up costing them much more in the aftermath.

A Figure from Your Worst Nightmare From a sales perspective, quality is irrelevant. To customers, quality is a prerequisite, a condition of existence, it is expected. Quality is also the unique selling proposition for the whole translation industry. This makes offers indistinguishable, and hence totally irrelevant. In addition, within the translation industry, quality is postulated as customers can assess and appreciate it. To make sense, quality must be backed up by proof. There’s no quality that cannot be defined and measured.

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A Good Message for a Lazy Industry Quality is the life vest of the translation industry. All players rely on it and maybe hide behind it, and feel confident in the scarce instructions they provide customers to assure they do what is in their capacity. This is what information asymmetry in the industry is all about. Significant price variations can be recorded in the translation industry, although translation is largely commoditized. In 1970, in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Nobel laureate in economics George Akerlof published The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism, depicting information asymmetry as a condition occurring when the seller knows more about a product than the buyer. A lemon is an American slang term for a car that is found to be defective only after it has been bought. Akerlof’s paper uses the used car market as an example of the problem of quality uncertainty. Akerlof concludes that owners of good cars will not place their cars on the used car market. In a lemon market, average values are deceptive and buyers cannot choose between good and bad. This is sometimes summarized as “the bad driving out the good” in the market.

The Bad Drives out the Good This is maybe a gloomy but an old adage. It is commonly known as Gresham’s Law, which actually states: “When a government compulsorily overvalues one type of money and undervalues another, the undervalued money will leave the country or disappear from circulation into hoards, while the overvalued money will flood into circulation.” As a matter of fact, although he urged Queen Elizabeth to restore the debased currency of England, Sir Thomas Gresham never made any statements of this kind, which was coined by the Scottish economist Henry Dunning Macleod in 1858. The problem with commodification is that commodities are priced on average, and the price is based on market conditions:  The higher the availability of a product, the higher its marginalization.  The lower the expectations for differentiation, the lower the willingness to pay.  The higher the demand, the higher the number of providers.  The higher the number of providers, the lower the differentiation, the lower the price. When a product is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market, it becomes fungible, i.e. individual units are capable of mutual substitution, and the market treats them as equivalent no matter who produces them. Quoting Karl Marx: “from the taste of wheat it is not possible to tell who produced it.” Commodification takes place when a product market loses differentiation across its supply base. In fact, the price of a commodity is determined as a function of its market as a whole and fluctuations are based on global supply and demand. Conversely, items with many aspects of product differentiation are generally

8 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards perceived as of different quality, and the more a product is perceived to be valuable, the more the buyer is willing to pay for it. Also, sellers are often incentivized to offer low-quality items to the less-informed segment of the market. On the other hand, high demand, low differentiation, and low expectations all create the perfect conditions not only for a large number of providers to enter the market, but also for low prices, which in turn expunge the best resources from the market due to unprofitability, inconveniency, or unsustainability.

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Measures Since language services are usually not required to perform in local markets, they are not perceived as vital services. Things have slightly changed from the introduction of the EU machinery directive, and yet, from the buyer’s perspective, purchasing language services is still a daunting task. To correct information asymmetry, at least partially, buyers should be able to reliably measure the quality of an item they want to purchase. Quality management started with a problem of measures and standards in ancient Egypt, when building the pyramids. The sizing and spacing of the huge stone blocks had to be standardized on each row to ensure easy handling, shape consistency in profile for covering, and structure solidity. Today, quality standards generally require metrics to track performance of the underlying business processes.

Processes A process is as set of interrelated or interacting activities transforming inputs into outputs. In an organization, these outputs are services or products. To function effectively, organizations have to identify and manage many interrelated and interacting processes. Process identification and management and their interactions are referred to as the ‘process approach’. Process standards like ISO 9001:2008 and translation quality standards are aimed at the adoption of the process approach to manage an organization. A product is the result of a process.

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Standards Standards are documents containing specifications to be followed consistently to ensure the compliance of products, processes, and services to the guidelines. Standards enable the efficient functioning of a market, allowing partners to communicate, and have common expectations on each other’s performances and products. The need for standards arises from practical problems. In an ideal market there would be no need for standards: buyers and sellers would not incur in any transaction costs. But transactions do have associated costs in real market situations, and standards provide one method for smoothing the market and mitigating the costs of transactions. By establishing a commonly agreed and shared reference framework and by offering solutions to known issues, standards ensure transparency, thus helping to reduce costs, expedite contract negotiation, and improve customer/vendor relationships. Pallets are a perfect example of standardization, allowing materials handling and storage efficiencies, with the same equipment, in the same way, all over the world.

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Quality Management Standards are at the very heart of quality. Manufacturing errors in times of war have been the main reason for quality standards. During World War I, in the UK, a high percentage of shells failed to explode because the two main ammunitions manufacturers had a different definition of an inch. During World War II, another serious problem occurred with accidental detonations in weapons factories. To be able to supply to the government, every company had to write up the procedure for making its product, have the procedure approved by the Ministry, and ensure its workers followed it. During World War II, bullets manufactured in one state of the United States had to work consistently in rifles made in another. The armed forces initially inspected every unit of product; then, to simplify and speed up this process without compromising safety, they began to use sampling techniques for inspection, following a military specification. After the end of World War II, General Douglas MacArthur was ordered to oversee the re-building of Japan and exercise authority through the Japanese government machinery. He appointed the American statistician William Edwards Deming to assist with the census. While in Japan, Deming’s expertise in quality control techniques gained him an invitation from the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). In the same period, JUSE invited also Joseph Juran. Deming focused primarily on the use of statistical process control, while Juran focused on managing for quality. The modern concept of quality was born. By the 1970s, the U.S. automotive and electronic industries had been broadsided like many others by Japan’s high-quality competition. The U.S. response approaches not only statistics but the entire organization, and became known as Total Quality Management (TQM). In the few years since the turn of the last century, the quality movement seems to have matured beyond the foundations of Deming, Juran and the early Japanese practitioners of quality, moving from manufacturing into service, healthcare, education and government sectors.

Quality Management Systems A system is defined as a set of interrelated or interacting elements. A management system is defined as a system to establish policy and objectives and to achieve them. A quality management system is then defined as a management system to direct and control an organization with regard to quality. Requirements for quality management systems are typically specified in ISO 9001:2008; they are generic and applicable to organizations in any industry or economic sector regardless of the offered product category.

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Process Standards Quality problems vary with the type of product being produced. Today, quality is commonly defined as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements, and thus it can also be described as the customer’s perception of the degree to which his/her requirements have been fulfilled. Product requirements can then be specified by customers or by the organization in anticipation of customer requirements, or by regulation. Product requirements, and in some cases the associated processes, can be contained in, for example, technical specifications, product standards, process standards, contractual agreements and regulatory requirements. For every service product, the production process itself is a critical determinant of quality. Every production process must comply with process requirements: work methods, tools, controls, or operator qualifications. When different organizations agree on common requirements and comply with them, these requirements become standards. Most process standards are merely guidelines to good practice. In many cases, meeting the requirements in a process standard allows the compliant organization to gain customer acceptance of the process products. Typical examples are ISO standards. Work can be coordinated by standardization. The purpose of process standards is to maintain a consistent way of conducting an organization’s business, allowing uniform and cheaper training, fast and seamless assignment of staff from one process to another, and reducing confusion. Accordingly, by applying process standards throughout an organization, the same concepts apply to everyone, thus process standards help to improve quality.  The standardization of work outputs involves establishing product requirements for each product. This is the simplest of standardizing mechanisms and the first one to be implemented.  The standardization of the work process involves standardizing the tasks to be accomplished. It standardizes the process methodology, i.e., the methods and procedures for accomplishing and managing the work effort. This is the second standardizing mechanism to be implemented.  The standardization of work inputs involves establishing standards for each product used in a process, ensuring that all players provide inputs that meet requirements. The ISO 9000s standard focuses on this area.  The standardization of work skills involves establishing job descriptions and skill requirements for each task to be performed. It also involves training workers to make them proficient in performing the required tasks. This is the most difficult standardizing mechanism to implement, especially for organizations with heavy labor turnover.

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Quality Control Quality control consists of preventing nonconforming products from being used or shipped, since problems can plague any aspect of a production process: • Product requirements are incomplete or unclear. • Processes are not documented, or not properly followed (the result is a high product variability. • The control process is not documented, or not properly followed. Reviewers are not well trained. Sampling and inspections are inadequate or not properly conducted, or results are not properly analyzed. • The process is inappropriate; it simply doesn’t produce quality products.

The Cost of Quality Quality is often taken for granted and the fact that it comes at a cost is often overlooked. Quality improvement, contrary to common belief, has a cost-reducing effect. Doing it right the first time may require an initial investment, but the long- term impact generates many advantages outside the limited framework of quality. Typically, quality is most noticeable when missing, especially when the price is affordable or average. Consequently, it is customary to calculate the cost of poor quality, rather than the costs necessary to gain the desired quality. Therefore, in most cases the cost of an activity is calculated by converting the time spent on it into a yearly amount of money.

Freedom from Deficiencies Quality means freedom from deficiencies, i.e. freedom from errors that require redoing work that result in failures, customer dissatisfaction and claims, etc. The meaning of quality is in this sense oriented towards costs. And a higher quality lever usually costs less. It is usually more expensive to correct errors than to get it right the first time, and it is a matter of finding the right balance between investing in quality control and working in a cost-effective way. Calculating the cost of poor quality in the sense of occurrence of deficiencies allows an organization to determine the extent to which its resources are used for activities that exist only as the result of deficiencies in its processes. Therefore, factors contributing to good quality and those which are hindrances must be identified.

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Cost area Description Examples  Quality planning  Statistical process control  Investment in quality-related information systems Arise from efforts to Prevention costs keep defects from  Quality training and occurring at all workforce development  Product-design verification  Systems development and Costs of management control  Test and inspection of purchased materials  Acceptance testing  Inspection Arise from detecting  defects via Testing Appraisal costs inspection, test,  Checking labor audit  Setup for test or inspection  Test and inspection equipment  Quality audits

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Cost area Description Examples Arise from defects  Scrap caught internally and Internal failure dealt with by  Rework costs discarding or  Material repairing the procurement costs defective items  Complaints in Costs of warranty failure of  control Complaints out of warranty Arise from defects External failure that actually reach  costs Product service customers  Product liability  Product recall  Loss of reputation

Categories of Quality Costs Quality costs can then be categorized into prevention, appraisal, and failure (PAF). Unfortunately, in translation, quality costs are mostly for quality control and for reviews, rejections, and repairs. For doing right the first time every time, prevention costs are the highest and consist of the development of specifications for outsourcing, technology procurement, development and management of terminology and documentation, project scheduling, preparation, and management. In calculating the cost of quality for a quality management system, operational costs (overhead) for assigning jobs, issuing orders, delivery follow-up, invoice checks, etc. should be included. In this sense, due to the typical — and in many sense obsolete — nature of the business model of translation service providers (TSPs), vendor management is the first and foremost source of costs, even though this includes some distinctive appraisal costs such as the evaluations of vendors. Other appraisal costs are those related to technology procurement, for the selection and implementation of tools. This should be a very good reason for not customizing (standard/commercial) software tools to prevent further costs on updates. Finally, typical failure costs are the incorporation of corrections, the compensation of penalties for errors from a customer, the application for penalties to vendors, and any problems related to process slow-down due to technology failures. More than elsewhere, in translation, calculating the cost of poor quality is only useful if the costs of ensuring good quality are also known, so that the two can be compared and conclusions can be drawn. But while it is easy to identify an incorrect or inaccurate translation, excellence is almost invisible. On the other hand, quality is properly measured against customer satisfaction, and if the customer’s expectations are met, the product is of a good enough quality.

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This is why service level agreements (SLAs) with vendors are good quality warrants: quality must be defined in them, together with quality levels and expectations. For evaluation a sampling procedure should be established. Also, since good quality starts with good people, all translations should also be evaluated as a part of the quality assurance procedure to decide whether proceeding with quality control (i.e. revision) and to which extent. In fact, a serious challenge in any organization is for management to gain a clear picture of what is really going on in the organization itself. People don’t like to admit their mistakes, and quality problems are concealed from management out of fear for its effect on careers.

Quality Management in the Translation Industry The problem with organizations and their structures is that they focus on processes alone and neglect players, the essential elements in any process. This leads to the assumption is that by adding steps to the process, you are going to improve the quality. This philosophy is based on the idea that quality is catching errors rather than preventing them, doing things right the first time. Besides adding costs by multiplying efforts, this structure exposes the business to a multiplication of (mostly new) errors. A chain based on errors or mistakes is neither efficient nor lean. In short: it’s not quality.

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Quality Standards In his autobiography, Lee Iacocca, the men who engineered the Ford Mustang, wrote that “the discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” Quality systems hinge on four basic rules: 1. Write down what you do. 2. Do what you have written. 3. Substantiate what you have done. 4. Reflect on how to improve it. In this view, quality is an endless work cycle, where deliverables are analyzed, proposed, developed, and delivered; then once again analyzed and elevated. It’s a cycle of constant listening, observing, and quantifying, which will be refined and improved, to produce products more responsive to the needs of the users while meeting the client’s expectations. This approach is commonly referred to as the Deming cycle or PDCA (Plan-Do- Check-Act) method.

The PDCA Method

P for Plan Establish the goals and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the expected output.

D for Do Implement the plan, execute the process, make the product, and collect data for analysis in the following steps.

C for Check Study the results and compare them against the expected results for any deviations from the plan and for the appropriateness and completeness of the plan.

A for Act Request corrective actions on significant differences between actual and planned results, analyze the differences to determine their root causes, and determine where to apply changes that will include improvement of the process or product. When a pass through these four steps does not result in the need to improve, the scope to which PDCA is applied may be refined to plan and improve in the next iteration of the cycle, or attention needs to be placed in a different stage of the process.

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Deming’s 14 Points After returning from Japan, in 1982 Deming published a book in which he explained his view of quality management. Deming believed that quality should be the underlying philosophy of a business rather than simply a component of the strategic plan, and summarized his view in 14 points that constitute the fundaments of TQM (Total Quality Management). 1. Create constancy of purpose towards improvement: replace short-term reaction with long-term planning. 2. Adopt the new philosophy: welcome changes to remain competitive. 3. Cease dependence on inspection: reduce variation to reduce inspections for defects. 4. Move towards a single supplier for any one item: more suppliers mean more variations. 5. Improve constantly and forever: constantly strive to reduce variations. 6. Institute training on the job: train people to work the same way, to reduce variations. 7. Institute leadership: leadership is not supervision, i.e. quota- and target-based. 8. Drive out fear: fear prevents workers from acting in the organization’s best interests. 9. Break down barriers between departments: departments should not serve the management, but the customers using their outputs. 10. Eliminate slogans: processes make people make mistakes; place value on doing and demonstrating. 11. Eliminate management by objectives: production targets encourage the delivery of poor-quality goods. Balance technology with people’s needs and aspirations and eliminate those non-value adding wastes. 12. Remove barriers to pride of workmanship: focus on quality, not numbers, and abolish annual or merit rating. 13. Institute education and self-improvement: ask and plan for ongoing continuous educational process to help everyone become the best that they possibly can be and increase working longevity. 14. The transformation is everyone’s job: everyone in a company must work to accomplish the transformation.

Limitations One of the main limitations of quality standards is having contributed to spread the false belief that certification is a guarantee in itself to customers, that the company’s products are better than those of another company with no certification. Even after a shallow scrutiny of any quality standard, many doubts may arise about the usefulness of a quality management system as described in the document. This could reinforce the idea of certification only as a marketing element or a selection

22 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards criterion of suppliers rather than a genuine way to improving the efficiency of production processes and the quality of products. On the other hand, auditing usually leaves quality systems at the same stage as the time of certification, thus slowing down the continuous improvement process that should be the real thrust for seeking compliance. Quality consultants often show a greater attention to certification rather than to the actual benefits deriving from the implementation of a quality system. It is easier to emphasize auditing to meet the customer’s expectations and set up a corrective system. Certification is no guarantee and says absolutely nothing about the quality of any product(s), which, conversely, is of primary interest for any customer.

The Case against Quality Management in Translation Most critics of quality management systems within the language industry generally argue that standards do nothing for translation quality. However, quality standards are not designed to ensure an objective level of quality in any specific deliverable. Standards enable companies to demonstrate their ability to manage quality systems. Certified companies are able to demonstrate that they have established processes for delivering their products and/or services, and that these processes have been documented to train staff and to manage continuous improvement. Quality standards generally require metrics to track performance of the underlying business processes. Another common criticism of quality standards is the amount of money, time, and paperwork required for registration, and the fact that they are especially doomed to failure. In reality, this is true for companies with an interest in certification just as a means to meet customer contractual requirements.

Perspectives and Perceptions The lack of criteria and clear evaluation metrics leads to uncertainty, friction, disputes, loss of time and money. Opinions, rather than measurements, more often lead to the rejection of projects and the firing of vendors. Before going further into details, a brief summary of common perceptions/misconceptions about quality could prove useful, in combination with their debunking based on what has been examined so far. Quality means goodness, elegance Quality is compliance to requirements Quality is intangible, not measurable Quality is measured by the cost of noncompliance The economics of quality are It is cheaper to do things right the first prohibitive, not relevant time Quality problems originate with the Most problems start with planning and workers development Quality is the responsibility of the quality Quality is a responsibility shared by department every function and every department

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Nowadays, it is difficult to find an organization that is not aware of quality and the increased emphasis placed on quality and value by consumers. But if a company just wants to hang the certificate on the wall, chances are it will create a paper system that doesn’t have much to do with the way the business is actually run. Quality has a positive effect on ROI, market share, sales growth, better sales margins and competitive advantage, but taking a quality approach is unrelated to certification. In fact, ISO itself advises that ISO 9000s can be implemented without certification, simply for the quality benefits that can be achieved. Therefore, quality must be planned, managed, and measured. But, for a quality system to work, processes must be settled and described according to the principles and criteria of the standards. This is the main hindrance in implementing quality standards. Nevertheless, in most cases, the path to certification leads to inefficiency awareness and, after proper adjustments, to considerable process improvements. In fact, requirements must be thoroughly defined and detailed at each stage, while a system must be set up to ensure meeting them. A major problem resides in the different perceptions of quality and perspective. In a product perspective, quality is a set of attributes determining product suitability, and a function of the distance between actual and ideal attributes. In a user’s perception, quality is a product’s ability to satisfy human needs, equivalent to customer’s contentment with the product attributes. In a manufacturing perspective, quality is a product’s degree of compliance with engineering and design specifications. Finally, taking value consideration, perception is everything, and quality is seen as the difference between product benefits and costs.

Continuous Improvement A key principle in quality management is continuous improvement. Incremental improvements have a cost-reducing effect, with the ultimate goal of doing right the first time, every time. Traditionally, quality control in translation is performed with a revision by a second translator, a review by a subject matter experts or a copy editor, and a final proofread. This practice is costly and time-consuming. Eliminating most of the repetitive, measurable, and predictable (formal) mistakes in advance would considerably reduce the time required for correction work afterwards. What is measurable is also traceable. A clever combination of people, process, and technology would allow for delivering quality, by doing it right the first time. In fact, the basic assumption in quality management is that process improvement eventually leads to give products that pass all controls. As stated in ISO 9001:2008, for a continuous improvement few basic steps must be followed: 1. Analyzing and evaluating the existing situation to identify areas for improvement.

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2. Establishing the objectives for improvement. 3. Searching for possible solutions to achieve the objectives. 4. Evaluating these solutions and making a selection. 5. Implementing the selected solution. 6. Measuring, verifying, analyzing and evaluating results of the implementation to determine that the objectives have been met. 7. Formalizing changes. In an industry where information is the main ingredient, performance tends to accelerate while price drops, and although translation is a complex issue, this explains why it has undergone a commoditization process. As a commodity, any translation is as good as another as long as it is made in the shortest time possible and at the lowest cost possible. Therefore, translation must be scalable and at pace with time and changes. In 1885 the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus described the so-called learning curve, demonstrating that the more we do the same task, the less time it takes for us to complete it. This is why and how processes can improve every day.

Quality Assurance To standardize the production process and appraise quality (in the sense of the product’s qualification to meet requirements) we need general criteria. For business processes to produce the expected outcomes, all the following elements are necessary:  Basic skills for task completion.  Appropriate and correct information about the job.  Accurate and suitable tools and materials to fulfill each task.  A well-suited environment. When all these elements are available, their effectiveness can be measured and possibly improved, controls can be reduced to a minimum and savings will be at least equal to the implementation cost of the whole system. Quality control and quality assessment contribute to quality assurance, which is a planned and systematic pattern of all actions necessary to ensure the conformity of the item or product to the established technical requirements. Quality assurance covers all activities, in accordance with the basic rules of “fit for purpose” and “do it right the first time every time”. In translation, quality assurance is the full set of procedures applied before, during and after the translation production process, by all members of a translating organization, to ensure that quality objectives important to clients are met.

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Quality Assessment Quality assessment is intended to establish whether contract conditions have been met. Whereas quality control is text-oriented and customer-oriented, quality assessment is business-oriented. Unlike quality control, which always occurs before the translation is delivered to the client; quality assessment may take place after delivery. The assessment, which is not a part of the translation production process, consists of identifying — but not correcting — problems in one or more randomly selected passages of a text, to determine the level of compliance to the agreed standards. A quality system should be designed then to specify expected and achievable quality levels, and to generate a set of reports to detect deviations from a predetermined model.

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Translation Quality Standards Translation is #3 on the list of retirement jobs that can be done from the beach. On this basis, in 2010, marketing expert Dana Forsythe published a forty-four-page book titled Start a Business in Language Translation within 24 HOURS: Own a Business Today and Be Successful with No Prior Experience! When a freelancing business is defined as cheap specialized work that is produced every time, at all hours of the day, without boundaries, contracts or any typicality of a successful business, clients will define it the same way and bring those expectations into every project and every product. Based on the arguments presented so far, a question arises: why, in which sense, and to which extent should translation quality be different from the quality of any other product or service? A major benefit in using quality standards is to provide TSPs with best practices to deliver great services. Another benefit is to help TSPs stand out from the crowd by declaring their compliance to these best practices or through certification audit. Yet another benefit is to help buyers make informed decisions and get better results. A quality system certification consists in the endorsement of the positive match between the processes described and the processes in place; the path to certification has its costs, often substantial. This investment requires the full involvement of both top management and staff. Usually, the first noticeable benefit is the detection of inefficiencies. Once corrected these inefficiencies, the improved efficiency translates into a permanent cost cut. Similarly, the effort towards continuous improvement allows for the continuous streamlining of processes and makes a company more agile and responsive in sustaining competition. There is still an obvious and yet unsolved confusion about QA witnessing the industry immaturity as to quality management. This attitude impacted the taskforce in charge of drafting EN 15038:2006 (BT/TF 138). The fact that it was actually inspiring the similar Canadian standard and was taken as a reference for the American one does not make it better. Moreover, the approach for ASTM 2575 cannot, and in fact does not, repair the errors of all industry standards, from the first, the Italian UNI 10574, to the German DIN 2345 and the Austrian ÖN 120X, all suffering from the same original sin: the attempt to assert a specificity that is deemed unattainable by non-experts, thus betraying the true spirit of quality standards. Out of the many standards currently in force in the translation industry, only three will be examined here. ASTM F2575-06 is not being covered as it is only applicable in the U.S., although source of inspiration for ISO/TS 11669 and the long-expected and yet still under development ISO 76100. ASTM F2575-06 identifies factors which are considered relevant to the quality of language translation services and which are meant to assess each phase of a translation project. The guide is intended for use by all stakeholders, with varying levels of knowledge in the field of translation.

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EN 15038:2006 The name of the European quality standard for translation services EN 15038:2006 reads “Translation services – Service requirements”, and its purpose is to establish and define the requirements for the provision of translation services. Compliance with EN 15038:2006 and the associated certification is voluntary. TSPs are not required to implement the standard. In spite of what was happening in other industries, the translation industry standards in effect at the time of the drafting of EN 15038:2006 did not seem to receive any special attention from translation buyers, who were showing no special interest for certified vendors. However, in the June 2002 issue of the ATC newsletter, Robin Brown wrote that the original idea behind EN 15038:2006 was to formulate a standard purely for translation companies, one that would enable them to differentiate themselves from freelancers, ‘letterbox agencies’ and the less desirable Internet translation portals. As a matter of fact, during the meetings of BT/TF 138 a clear distinction immediately emerged between those arguing there was no need for any specific standard, that the ISO 9000s were more than sufficient, and advocating an implementation guide of ISO 9003:1987 specific for the translation industry, and those arguing that the specificity of the translation industry required a brand new document, which, at best, could harmonize the existing standards. This contrast vanished before the incomparably lower certification costs that a specific standard would have involved in comparison to the exorbitant costs necessary for certification to ISO9000s. EN 15038:2006 specifies requirements that a provider of translation services must meet, in terms of staff and equipment, project management and processes. On this point, EN 15038:2006 is quite strict, requiring each translation to be the result of a translator’s and at least a reviser’s work. It is only available in Europe and does not apply to interpreting services. Although not impairing freelancers from application, the model proposed in EN 15038:2006 greatly reduces the chance for certification by freelancers, showing the typical conservatism of the translation industry. However, a freelancer could meet most requirements, e.g. documenting processes, or having adequate technical resources. Even project management is not out of scope for freelancers. The typical project management tasks are now accomplished, possibly intuitively, by anyone involved in mid-size projects, while many others can be carried out with specific software tools, even free. What makes freelancer certification objectively hard is the operational costs of the tasks required for compliance. It is mostly paperwork coming with any quality management system typical of structured organizations rather than freelancers. Not surprisingly, the delegates to BT/TF 138 emphasized the importance of introducing value-added services, being their main source of profit. This insistence resulted in an ad hoc annex. Even though the draft was finalized two years before its release, the document still reflects a typical business model in the industry. As a matter of fact, its goal was to

28 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards freeze it in a still picture; this is why section 5.3 Translation process describes the TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) production model, even though it could be considered largely obsolete. Anyway, costs are not so much associated with certification, but with its maintenance. To this end, industry and professional bodies could go further beyond EN 15038:2006, and provide their members with more flexible certifications, such as CMMI. The occupation of ‘translator’ is not a protected term, so there are only a few ways of establishing the ability of translation services. EN 15038:2006 defines human and technical resources, contractual framework conditions, workflow documentation, project management, and basic quality management principles. It also aims at defining terminology and basic requirements for services, and creating a framework for interaction between customers and services providers. The expectation was for contracting bodies – and public bodies in particular – to refer to EN 15038:2006 in their tenders when purchasing translation services, since certified TSPs supposedly had a distinct edge over non-certified competitors. On the other hand, EN 15038:2006 offers guidance to translation services for those companies that are new to translation. In a much more — maybe too much — detailed way, the same guidance can be found in ISO/TS 11669. EN 15038:2006 requires TSPs to file documentation with basic information about the business, along with a self-declaration of compliance describing how they meet the requirements. Knowingly, a key issue in quality management is quality assurance and the ability to trace its progress. To this end, like the referring ISO 9000s, EN 15038:2006 requires seven documents as mandatory: a quality manual and six documented procedures. Eventually, by the certificate, TSPs can provide proof that their translations are subject to audit by a third party, but EN 15038:2006 contains no commitment towards metrics, and no hints on how the quality of these translations achieves a certain quality level. Also, EN 15038:2006 contains no commitment even towards service level agreements (SLA’s) that could implicitly or explicitly outline such a framework. In 5.2.3 Linguistic aspects, EN 15038:2006 only requires “that information about any specific linguistic requirements in relation to the translation project is registered. Such information can include requirements of compliance with a client style guide, adaptation of the translation to the agreed target group, purpose and/or final use, use of existing terminology, and updating of glossaries.” Objective and unbiased metrics can provide enough resolution to assess the factors that need improvement. This means that any two people who set out to calculate the value of a metric must be able to produce comparable results. The attainment of a certain quality level in translations could be demonstrated through compliance to SAE J2450:2005-08 quality metric, but no clause in the standards requires it, and again compliance is voluntary as complementary to the EN 15038:2006 certification. Likewise, a SLA is a binding contract between a service provider and a buyer/user of that service (the client) who specifies the expected level of service within their agreement. A SLA also defines the terms of the service provider’s responsibility to

29 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards the client and either the type and extent of remuneration, if those responsibilities are met, or the extent of penalty, if they are not met. This could prove necessary, or at least useful, since, when dealing with quality, two basic principles must be acknowledged: 1. Quality is relative: people perceive different quality levels in the same product. 2. Quality levels are subject to constraints in requirements.

The refusal to introduce SLA’s and metrics in EN 15038:2006 is based on the belief that generally speaking clients of a translation service do not have the necessary skills and competences to drive the provision of service through requirements and that, in effect, they rely on the service provider to deliver a certain degree of intrinsic quality. The refusal of metrics is just a direct consequence, as there are virtually no tools available to validate compliance to standards — however unstated. In fact, the reasons behind errors (why they happen) are separate from the measurement of errors and pertain to quality assurance and improvement, rather than to quality control. A process that demands multiple reviews could produce more accuracy than one that does not; but it will eventually prove too costly, while in a quantitative vision efficiency is pivotal and is expressed in a relationship between the outcome and the resources necessary to achieve it. In other words, resources must be proportioned to goals. Unfortunately, since translation is rarely taught (and indeed thought of) as a repetitive and reproducible process, auditing or inspection are only virtual tasks. Therefore, to ensure quality, translation requirements must be both explicit and implicit. In the first case, quality level must be agreed with the client on the basis of measurable parameters. On the other hand, the only measurable parameter in implicit requirements is suitability, corresponding to communication effectiveness, which, in turn, is determined by correctness and functionality. Therefore, the lack of a specification of any translation quality metrics or of SLA’s could be a serious bias when assessing translation services and a translation service provider applying for certification.

SAE J2450:2005-08 Since EN 15038:2006 does not provide any translation quality metric, none could be adopted. To prevent the hard work of developing one’s own, the easiest way is to follow the standard SAE J2450:2005-08. The goal of SAE J2450:2005-08 is to provide “a tangible method for measuring the quality of translation deliverables as precisely as for any manufactured product.” SAE J2450:2005-08 provides for severe and minor occurrences of wrong terms (glossary violation or conflict with de facto standard translations), syntactic errors, omissions, word structure or agreement errors, misspelling, punctuation errors, and any linguistic errors related to the target language which are not clearly attributable to the other categories.

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ISO/TS 11669 According to Demid Tishin, GALA’s representative at ISO TC 37, ISO 9001 was a too broad quality management standard that did not specify translation services and was not hugely popular. ISO TC 37 worked two years on ISO/TS 11669 that was published in May 2012. ISO/TS 11669 is a technical specification mostly derived from Professor Alan Melby’s work. It is a general framework for buyers and vendors of translation services. Its explicit goal is helping all parties to define quality requirements before they kick off a project. It also contains recommendations to manage translation assignments. The shelf life of an ISO technical specification is six years: within this time frame it is either converted to a full standard or eliminated. Along with ISO/TS 11669, and mostly based on it, TC 37 has been working on another translation-related standard since 2010, ISO 17100 “Requirements for translation services”. Although announced to become a full-fledged international standard, this document seems far from completion, as it is still in the ‘accepted’ stage of standards in development. ISO 17100 should set minimum requirements to TSPs’ processes and resources to deliver high quality translations, and is expected to replace EN 15038:2006 after publication to become the industry benchmark on a global scale. However, it would most probably be superseded at the time of publication. ISO/TS 11669 provides guidance concerning best practices for all phases of a translation project. The rationale for translation project specifications is to be attached to a legally binding contract or, in the absence of it, to a purchase order, or other document supporting the request to define the work to be done. The provision of project specifications is then the first best practice to implement, since the quality of a translation can supposedly be determined by the degree of compliance to the predetermined specifications. In this sense, project specifications are also the benchmark for qualitative and quantitative assessments. The use of the same specifications by all parties avoids assessments based on personal opinions. In summary, quality translation projects and quality translation products result from developing and following appropriate project specifications. ISO/TS 11669 provides a framework for developing structured specifications for translation projects, but it does not cover legally binding contracts between parties involved in a translation project. It addresses quality assurance and provides the basis for qualitative assessment, but it does not provide procedures for a quantitative measurement of the quality of a translation product. ISO/TS 11669 describes a decision-making system about how translation projects should be carried out. Those decisions — or project specifications — would then become a resource for both the requester (the party requesting a translation, the client or customer) and the translation service provider throughout all phases of a translation project. These specifications can be attached to a legally binding contract to define the work to be done. In the absence of a contract, they can be attached to a purchase order or other document supporting the request. Requesters and TSPs should work together to determine project specifications. The project specifications can be used to guide assessments made by either the TSP or

31 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards the end user. The use of the same specifications by all parties avoids assessment based on personal opinions of how source content should be translated. Like EN 15038:2006, ISO/TS 11669 does not provide any procedures for quantitative measurement of the quality of a translation product. The real news of ISO/TS 11669 are translation parameters, intended as key factors, activities, elements and attributes of a given project used for creating project specifications. However, the long listing of translation parameters is a surreptitious way to levy vague and blurry translation quality assessment criteria, which are traditionally subjective. Also, since quality is defined as the degree to which the translation product conforms to the project specifications, and no guidance is given for qualitative assessment, register should not be a parameter, as its compliance to requirements is highly subjective. Again, the distinctions between ‘overt’ and ‘covert’ translation, and ‘foreignized’ and ‘domesticated’, and the insistence on ‘register’ are all underhand endorsements of the archetypal information asymmetry between requesters and providers. They all assume that the requester has the same knowledge — and/or interest — as the provider, while they are all elements of the typical academic translation education. Language and translation competence are perfect examples. On the other hand, when requesters work directly with freelance translators, a project manager should be designated. This excludes a direct relationship between individuals. Plus, should the project specifications indicate exactly which tasks are required for a given project, a statement of work is required. Also, the approach is too pedagogical and monothematic: for example, project managers are profiled differently from those in any other industry, diminishing their role and professionalisms. In the anxiety for particularizing regulation of its inspirers and authors, ISO/TS 11669 is inconsistent in many ways and many aspects (e.g. “quantitative measurement of translation quality”). The first rule to ensure the effectiveness of a standard is to be simple, plain, and straightforward in conceiving and writing it. ISO/TS 11669 is unnecessarily complicated and betrays the original spirit of quality standards aiming at flexibility. It is a crystallization of current approaches still referenced in universities and translation schools, reflecting the narcissism of an academic caste unable to bring any innovation and efficiency to the translation industry. Specifically, allowing stakeholders to overcome information asymmetries and make informed decisions is what standards are all about; therefore, the simplest they are, the best. On the other hand, assuming the requester is incapable, unknowing, mistrustful is no good starting point. How can, for example, an inexperienced requester knowingly select a TSP that meets the requirements of a project only after having read sections 3.2.1 and 7.5.2 in ISO/TS 11669? ISO/TS 11669, and possibly ISO 17100, is the typical product of standard development in the language field, triggered on academic impulse and resulting in a mere academic exercise, with little or no involvement from industry representatives, as in any typical standard activity, mostly limited to contribution from large international organizations.

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Implementing Quality Standards The translation industry is international by nature. As economies have become global, the translation market has expanded. According to Common Sense Advisory, the value of the global translation market was US$ 30 billion in 2011. Also, we all know that the demand for translation is growing. According again to Common Sense Advisory, the annual growth rate is 7.41%. The growth of demand is coupled with the steady decrease of rates. According to Inttrastats, which compiles data from more than 300 translation job offer websites in 42 countries, the demand for translators and interpreters worldwide has dropped from a peak of nearly 1,980 job offers a day in January to less than 300 at the end of August 2012. Buyers of translation services are currently undergoing consolidation and streamlining, i.e. reducing the number of providers forcing the remainder to drop their prices, which they do by squeezing their subcontractors in turn. The main problem with any standard following the traditional TEP approach, like the existing ones, is that they offer an alibi for unscrupulous TSPs to resort to TEP to save costs and maximize profits, while competing on price by hiring the cheapest and possibly least qualified resources, and then by relying on revision and reviewing to fix their products. In many cases, this is a typical pitfall for large organizations with complicated tender procedures that formulate requirements they themselves are unable to enforce and verify compliance with (e.g. requiring the resumes of vendor staffs, without verifying any and ensuring they will actually be employed once the contract has been awarded.)

The Rationale for Flexibility In February 2011, at the Techonomy conference, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt said that “there were 5 exabytes of information created between the dawns of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every 2 days, and the pace is increasing...” The decrease of rates is also due to the changing in the nature of content. A varied bouquet of expertise and skills is required to be at the top of the market and benefit of less competition, higher rates, and better terms and conditions, while language knowledge is still essential but no longer pivotal. The plunge in rates has come largely because TSPs can’t provide what customers need and, thus, they increase the perception that their work has little value. In Dana Forsythe’s words, “as a translation broker you have the ability to build a lasting business doing something that’s easy and requires no experience.” Today, speed and agility are the drivers, costs become truly important only when these two requirements are met. Speed is for volume and agility is for content type, while quality is a prerequisite and taken for granted, even though different thresholds are commonly envisaged.

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On the other hand, new business models are necessary for TSPs of any size and nature. Customers ask TSPs to be relevant to their processes, and with the great changes in content, even in smaller clients. Quality means doing it right the first time. It means having efficient processes in place and best-in-class people at work, as anyone can translate but few can do it right. To keep pace with the changing situation, the translation process must be rearranged. As it was for the software industry a few years ago, ‘agile’ should become the new buzzword of the translation industry.

Quality in the Translation Industry Within the translation industry there are at least 350 different companies that are the “global leader in translation.” Quality is the unique selling proposition of the whole industry, making offers indistinguishable, whereas, to customers, quality is a prerequisite, and, therefore, totally irrelevant from a sales perspective, especially the way it is postulated and talked about in the translation industry, i.e. solely on the premise that customers can assess and appreciate it. For quality to make sense it must be backed up by proof. No quality exists until it cannot be defined and measured. On the contrary, translation quality standards are tied and bind applicants to old inflexible models, including the axioms of quality and assets. The quality axiom goes together with the corollary that fewer translators produce more consistent output, as if a reader could distinguish some ten thousand words in a million. This is used to justify the asset axiom, where assets are glossaries and translation memories. Assets are supposed to carry some value, but glossaries and translation memories do not necessarily carry any intrinsic value. Their value depends from their use, which, in turn, depends on the translator’s ability.

A Practical Approach For translation quality measurement, three basic tenets must be followed: 1. Define quality (e.g. setting goals and scope). 2. Measure quality (i.e. using metrics and scales). 3. Improve quality (i.e. correcting errors and enhancing processes). To measure translation quality, a metric is needed. SAE J2450 could be just one. A scale must be defined to determine whether results are acceptable and to identify the weak spots in the product, the production line, the process. Metrics only make sense when used to quantify results, positive and negative, and a good score is no guarantee of quality. Finally, a process is needed to correct the errors found and to improve the process to prevent, reduce, and eliminate errors.

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A practical, initial approach to the implementation of standards is based on analysis.

Process When considering implementing a quality system, a prerequisite for certification, we should start analyzing the translation services provided against the standard of choice to identify those that can meet all the requirements of the standard and those that cannot. The standard can then be applied to all translation services. In fact, broadly speaking, the most outstanding feature of a standard is that it requires the process to be defined, as quality is not guaranteed by one phase only in the process (i.e. the translation). In any EN 15038:2006, quality supposedly comes primarily from review, revision and proofread by different persons and secondly from the diverse professional competences of each of the participants in the process.

Costs When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, quality tends to increase and costs drop over time. Conversely, when people and organizations focus primarily on costs, costs tend to rise and quality declines over time. The second step in analyzing the services provided consists in reckoning the cost of quality, possibly as a percentage of sales, including prevention, appraisal, and failures. If no measure is taken of quality cost, it may reasonably equal 20% of sales. This could be the starting point for planning, setting up and implementing a quality system.

EN 15038:2006 at a Glance When applying for certification to EN 15038:2006, the applicant should provide the recipient with the following information:  General features of the applicant.  Structure of the applicant.  Outsourced processes, subcontractors, etc. used by the applicant.  Procedures and criteria for the selection of translation project staff.  Available technical resources.  Procedures and measures for quality management.  Project managers.  Project management procedures (analyzing feasibility, quoting, negotiation, handling enquiries, billing, etc.).  Administrative procedures (archiving, traceability).  Translation procedures.

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Worth It? All customers are basically looking for the lowest price, and yet they are also looking for some value: price is only placed higher or lower in their priority list. To create value for its customers, a company must first create value for itself. Recognizing value begins when a company starts to understand its deficiencies, learns how to fix them and actually begins to fix them. This can be done on the path to implementing a quality system and certification, although a certification whatsoever is no guarantee for quality products or services or for their value. Also, no strategy will get the expected results unless the value created for the customers can clearly be demonstrated.

Developing Structured Specifications Compiling a complete list of translation parameters applicable to all translation projects is rather impractical and pretentious. This is a task that should be left to the joint care of the requester and the provider. This is why a job ticket is useful, when not necessary.

Terms of Service Statement and Service Level Agreement Having a document stating the terms of service in place can be an excellent first step in ensuring customers business is always carried out in the same way. This matches the first two principles of any quality system: 1. Write down what you do. 2. Do what you have written. In fact, having a customer return confirmation to agree to a comprehensive terms of service statement (ToSS) will be saving a lot of the typical troubles that can cause a project to get derailed. A detailed ToSS clarifies exactly what the TSP and the requester can expect from each other, from services to payment terms, from confidentiality to cancellation procedures. By addressing and heading off potential communication or payment problems, outlining the basics and establishing the trust and lines of communication between the TSP and the requester, the goal of a ToSS is to answer any questions and solve any issues that may arise before they arise. An effective ToSS doesn´t necessarily target all clients or protects against every eventuality. An effective ToSS details the different services, the delivery format and dates, whether or not a project could and would be subcontracted, and how information and documentation supplied by the requester will be handled. An effective ToSS can also establish the property of rights (e.g. copyright, placing or removing the translator’s or TSP’s name from the translation, etc.). After confirmation from the requester, a ToSS can function as a Service Level Agreement (SLA), especially when detailing also the price structure for the different services, payment methods and terms (including transaction fees and late charges), long-term project conditions, and penalties for cancellations and delays. Together with a detailed project requirement specification, a ToSS (becoming a SLA) would meet the other two basic principles of any quality system:

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3. Substantiate what you have done (possibly by allowing a third party — the auditor — to verify that you abide by what you wrote in your quality manual). 4. Reflect on how to improve it (possibly by including a change management section in the ToSS). A TSP’s job is to provide its customers with accurate and reliable translation services, but translation quality can be impacted before the content even gets to requesters. A quality plan is needed to track and manage quality throughout the entire process. To this end, a ToSS can be helpful in outlining safeguards around each step, at least on the TSP’s side. For example, a ToSS detailing the procedure for managing subcontractors (i.e. solicitation, recruiting, evaluation, and assessment) could be incredibly helpful for dealing with requesters claiming staffing details in tender procedures, especially when the requester seems to be unwilling or incapable of verifying and ensuring those staffs are actually employed once the contract has been awarded.

Request for Proposals When dealing with mid- and large-size customers, usually a request for proposal (RFP) is issued to vendors to receive detailed offerings. A tender could take considerable time to develop, but the relevant documentation can generally be reused or leveraged, even over a three to five year period. Usually, most questions in an RFP apply to procurement or compliance issues, and very few apply to the selection criteria or the evaluation process. Many translation buyers view the tender process as a cumbersome, cost-driven exercise that everyone dreads. Therefore, having a ToSS beforehand could help answering RFP’s almost painlessly.

Customer Satisfaction A follow-up procedure to assess customer satisfaction can help measure results and make changes, if needed. This will lead to understand how projects will be used, and gain insight into what is really important to customers, to finally help them achieve their goals, i.e. integrate in their business, be a real partner. Take a moment and write down five things other than quality and price to offer: 1. ______2. ______3. ______4. ______5. ______

The “As If” Approach For all the optimistic if not enthusiast projections about the translation industry, times are getting harder and harder. The businesses that are sufficiently solid to ride

37 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards out the storm have a larger share of the cake, but in Europe at least the cake is relatively smaller, and will probably become smaller. Just because quality is the unique selling proposition of an entire industry, it does not mean that certification can be effectively used as a marketing tool. According to Renato Beninatto, priorities in negotiating translation services are: 1. Language capability. 2. Solution. 3. Quality. 4. Money. Unfortunately, recent — and actually misleading — trends in crowdsourcing show that the belief persists that there is an abundance of experienced translators from around the world to provide businesses with easy access to professional translation services. This, in turns, means that it is only and always a matter of price (at least in the eyes of the requester). As the saying goes, you can’t teach new tricks to an old dog, so you can’t tell people money is second when it comes first. In this respect, after the initial investment, the pursuit for quality (i.e. a quality system) can help reducing costs and remain competitive. To use Mahatma Gandhi’s wording, if we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change, and we need not wait to see what others do. In Letters to a young contrarian, Christopher Hitchens described the dissident’s approach as inspired by Vaclav Havel’s proposed living “as if” things were actually and radically different from what were. So why not try to act, with all due respect, as Oscar Wilde, who lived and acted “as if” moral hypocrisy were not regnant, or as Rosa Parks, who acted “as if” a hardworking black woman could sit down on a bus at the end of the day’s labor? Translation industry players, at least the Elite, those who decide to act in the name of those who are not able or have no voice to speak, could act “as if” standards were implemented. They might refuse to genuflect before the industry golems, and make their choices.

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The Future The future is in disintermediation and collaboration. Disintermediation may serve to streamline processes and reduce costs, not to upset long-established bad practice. To streamline processes, however, good initial conditions are necessary. In fact, disintermediation leads to the elimination of intermediaries in the supply chain, resulting in drastic reduction of operating costs. The Net helped disintermediation by allowing for the direct connection between customers and suppliers. ATMs and online banking are a perfect example, with the reduction of operating costs, typically infrastructures and workforce. However, banking disintermediation was possible and, above all, effective thanks to process maturity and the ample room for efficiency gains that were still possible through the use of similarly mature technologies. Disintermediation may create room for even greater success in the production of intangible assets that the end user can directly order to the producer in real time and pay directly, thus assessing costs and benefits in their actual value.

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References Akerlof G. A., The Market for “Lemons”: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 84, No. 3. (Aug., 1970) ASTM International, F 2575 – 06 Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation Deming W. E., Out of the Crisis, MIT Press, 1986 Ebbinghaus H., Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1913 European Committee for Standardization, EN 15038:2006 Translation services – Service requirements European Union, Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC Forsythe D., Start a Business in Language Translation Within 24 Hours: Own a Business Today and Be Successful with No Prior Experience!, CreateSpace, 2010 Gitomer J., Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is Priceless: How to Make Customers Love You, Keep Them Coming Back and Tell Everyone They Know, Bard Press, 1998 Iacocca L. & Novak W., Iacocca: An Autobiography, Batam Bookes, 1984 International Organization for Standardization, ISO 2859-1:1999 Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 1: Sampling schemes indexed by acceptance quality limit (AQL) for lot-by-lot inspection International Organization for Standardization, ISO 2859-2:1985 Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 2: Sampling plans indexed by limiting quality (LQ) for isolated lot inspection International Organization for Standardization, ISO 2859-3:2005 Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 3: Skip-lot sampling procedures International Organization for Standardization, ISO 2859-4:2002 Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 4: Procedures for assessment of stated quality levels International Organization for Standardization, ISO 2859-5:2005 Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 5: System of sequential sampling plans indexed by acceptance quality limit (AQL) for lot-by-lot inspection International Organization for Standardization, ISO 2859-10:2006 Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 10: Introduction to the ISO 2859 series of standards for sampling for inspection by attributes International Organization for Standardization, ISO 9000:2005 Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary International Organization for Standardization, ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems – Requirements International Organization for Standardization, ISO/TS 11669:2012 Translation projects — General guidance International Organization for Standardization, ISO 12616:2002 Translation-oriented terminography

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Juran J.M., Quality Control Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 1951 Muzii L., Building a Localization Kit, Client Side News, Supplement to Volume 6 Issue 12, December 2005 Muzii L., A Roadmap to Quality Translations (Part 1), Client Side News, Volume 7 Issue 2, February 2007 Muzii L., A Roadmap to Quality Translations (Part 2), Client Side News, Volume 7 Issue 3, March 2007 Muzii L., Outlining a Translation Requirements Specification, Client Side News, Volume 6 Issue 12, Volume 8 Issue 5, May 2008 Rolnick, A. J. & Weber W. E., Gresham’s Law or Gresham’s Fallacy, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 94, No. 1, Feb., 1986 SAE International, SAE Standard J2450 200508 Translation Quality Metric Williams M., Translation Quality Assessment: An Argumentation-Centred Approach, University of Ottawa Press, 2004

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A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards

Addendum

45 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards

A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards

Outlining a Translation Requirements Specification The success of a translation project depends on its preparation, and this includes the identification of service needs, i.e. a specification of requirements. In ISO 9000:2005 (Quality management systems — Fundamentals and vocabulary) a specification is defined as a document stating requirements, which, in turn, are defined as criteria to be fulfilled if compliance with the document is to be claimed and from which no deviation is permitted. A specification can be related to activities (e.g. procedure document, process specification and test specification), or products (e.g. product specification, performance specification and drawing). In a project, a specification (of requirements) is a document providing an adequate and unambiguous description of the task load, together with a description of the desired results, the essential conditions to which the service must conform and the characteristics or features of each deliverable. Its purpose is to present vendors with a clear, accurate and full description of the customer’s needs, and so enable them to propose a solution to meet those needs, which subsequently become incorporated in the contract. The specific goal of a good translation requirements specification (TRS) is to establish the basis for agreement between the customers and the vendors, to determine if the translation specified meets their needs, and help the vendor select the most appropriate resources and prepare a realistic schedule. There is a lot of great stuff on the Web about writing good specifications. The problem is not lack of knowledge about how to create a correctly formatted specification. The problem is what should go into the specification, especially a TRS. If the request for proposal is the genesis of the client translation process, the TRS is the client tool to draw up the boundaries of the translation project, and establish a sound base for a positive working relationship to provide smooth operations allowing for cost effectiveness and respect of schedule.

TRS and Quality The ISO 9000 series of standards introduced the notion that quality is a relative concept making sense only when compared to a set of specifications. Today quality broadly corresponds to product suitability meaning that the product meets the user’s requirements. To appraise quality in the sense of qualification to meet requirements, general criteria are necessary.

QA To this end, a TRS should also include information for the vendor about the project assessment such as metrics and scorecards for quality assessment. The scorecard in particular is critical to track and justify the requirements, and should provide for:  Criteria (key performance indicators).  Weights (the mean used to resolve any differences in assessment).  Measures (the scale unit for scoring, e.g. low/medium/high, 0-5).

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 Scoring (ranking with respect to benchmarks).  Comments.

Vendor 1 … Vendor n Indicat Actual Actual Actual Score Weight Score Weight Score Weight or Score Score Score

Total Criteria could cover the following:  Specification adherence (e.g. none to full, 0-5).  Meaning correspondence (rewriting required, e.g. none to full, 0-5).  Naming conventions.  Terminology consistency.  Timing. Quality expectations/thresholds should be specified together with the size and type of samples for inspections.

Elicitation Requirements are necessary also to determine what buyers and vendors find most important in the procurement process, and tailor requests and proposals respectively. Gathering requirements is not always a straightforward task. On the other hand, if a vendor can’t collect requirements it most likely doesn’t know its client, who, in this case, can hardly be satisfied. Gathering requirements involves interaction with the so-called information sources, individuals, organizations or documents, in most cases in the form of eliciting. Eliciting is active questioning to negotiate priorities, and define expectations. The focus should be on defining the customer’s goals, and agreeing on ways to test whether the project meets these goals. The TSP is the translation expert and should guide the buyer through the process by asking questions that are part of a checklist.

Project Requirements The TRS should be part of a translation kit and serve as a basis for the statement of work detailing “what is to be done”. Project requirements must be concise and straightforward to be read and followed. It is not bizarre that an experienced translator, typically willing to follow the instructions as close as possible, is annoyed by pages and pages of guidelines requiring a long time to read and possibly many readings during the job. Be sure that the translators read and sign the TRS in the translation kit for approval, and fill all relevant items in the query sheet carefully after translation with the

48 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards commonly used or fixed vocabularies/expressions. Have the query sheet sent back then; this will help to refine the TRS for future use. Refer to style guide for conventions in handling place names, person names and proper nouns, capitalization, and punctuation. Ask for translation to be spell- checked before delivery.

Translation Parameters Translation parameters come with the answers to the questions that should be asked, and form the actual set of requirements. The basic issues that shall be addressed are the following:  Languages and regional variations of the source text.  Languages and regional variations of the target text.  Subject matter.  Type of source text.  Purpose of the source text.  Purpose of the target text.  Intended audience of the source text.  Intended audience of the target text.  Culture-binding issues.  Adherence to target-language conventions.  Spatial and temporal correspondence.  Terminology and terminology management.  Use of controlled language (if any).  Style and editorial guides.  Rewriting.  Format.  Encoding.  Number of graphics.  Amount of text in graphics.  Translation technology.  Naming conventions.  Reference materials.

Further (Support) Information When available, further information should be passed over to the translators to allow them better fulfill their job:  Origin of source text.

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 Author(s) of source text, with contact information.  Creation date of source text. Translators should also be informed whether the project is a new translation (from scratch) or an update to a legacy project, and in the case of an update, whether it is minor or major.

Specified Apart in Contract If necessary, the following information can be detailed separately in contract:  Importance (priority for the customer, e.g. low, medium and high).  Data control and confidentiality.  Volume.  Method of computing volume.  Deliverables and deadlines.  Communication methods and procedures.  Medium and method of delivery.  Customer review procedures.  Change management procedures.  Billing procedures.  Legal, ethical, and financial considerations.  General dispute-resolution procedures (e.g. storage, handling, and ownership of TM’s, delays, quality of deliverables, etc.).

TRS Life Cycle A TRS is never really done: it is an iterative document that reflects the plans and intentions of an organization as to translation. As those change, so must the TRS change. A (possibly Web-based) form could be arranged to store all details in a database for job tickets and facilitate periodic reviews to help shape the TRS.

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Building a Localization Kit

Preamble A localization kit addresses a typical common problem afflicting localization managers, localization vendors, and project managers. What follows is intended to provide a few guidelines to set up and maintain a localization kit for a product. By removing or ignoring the sections specifically devoted to localization the instructions will be left for building a translator’s kit.

General Notes The more TSPs understand about the client’s requirements and expectations, the better able they are to meet them. A localization kit is a subset of tools, instructions and resources necessary to produce a localized version of a product. For localization project to be executed properly, localizers, testers, and engineers are to be provided with a thorough and well-designed localization kit. Since quick release of localized products requires that translators begin work early, and developers can have a significant impact on translators’ job, a localization kit will allow translators to work more independently because they can check their work out as they do it. The final quality and the success of a localization project depend on the amount of knowledge that is transferred to the localization vendor. This knowledge affects:  The accuracy of the vendor’s quoting and scheduling process;  The time spent by project managers and engineers;  The accuracy of project deliverables. An effective localization kit offers a relatively easy solution to these challenges, and is one of the best things to do to ensure that the localization vendors have everything they need to get the job done efficiently. Although demanding, assembling the localization kit and writing the localization guide of a product is a once-only task that always pays off. It is a huge help to all the stakeholders in a project, as it consolidates all project information into one place and concisely explain expectations for the project.

Rationale A localization-friendly product design allows developers to involve service providers in the process more quickly, easily and conveniently. A localization kit provides the material that serves two functions in the localization process: 1. Preparing a proposal (plan, price, and schedule) for localizing a product; 2. Performing the localization. A good localization kit is:

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 Complete, containing everything that the development team must supply over and above the product itself;  Usable, including clear and complete documentation on how the kit is made and how to use its contents. Ideally, corporate guidelines and a checklist for the development of a localization kit should be created, so that the kit remains consistent regardless of manager or product. This will help ensure a high quality kit, eliminate time spent on rework it, and enhance the efficiency and scalability of the localization process. In addition, in the case of a long-term relationship with a localization partner, turn-around time on the generation of localization proposals/plans should shorten and projects can commence sooner. Ideally, a localization kit should be created after the primary — possibly a preliminary — version of the product has been released to have all up-to-date assets included, and should stand on its own. But, when simultaneous shipping of localized and primary versions is required, a localization kit will be needed long before the primary version is released. By providing a complete set of files and requirements when requesting a proposal from a localization partner, a company is able to ensure that the scope of work resulting from the analysis will be correct and that the cost and turnaround time estimates will be accurate. The localization kit can then be easily used to kick-off the project with a clear understanding of the scope and requirements. The kit can also be used to ensure that the materials returned are as complete as possible and useable right away. This completeness is vital to the success of the localization effort. The localization kit helps get organized. It documents the project requirements that otherwise may be lost during the transfer of information to the vendor, in a well- organized document tree with fully functional files, and serves as a central repository for the information needed to localize a product and enables anyone in an organization to easily assume responsibility for managing a project and immediately having the necessary information to request an analysis or start the project.

The Content Structure of a Localization Kit The localization kit should be arranged during the pre-localization design and implementation stages for project evaluation and analysis with a very simple point: no one likes surprises, that is missed deadlines and budget overruns. Moreover, since most localization projects involve a large number of target languages, getting the translation kit right from the start would prevent many similar or identical questions from the various translators. Each localization kit differs depending on project requirements, but, in all cases, the more information is provided at the outset of a project, the more problems will be avoided later. Typically the localized version of a product should only contain translatables and configuration information. A well-assembled localization kit should contain all the final resources needed by localization vendors to create a localized version of a product without assistance from the original development team. The vendors should be able to use the kit to

52 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards get the translatables translated, integrated, and tested without assistance from the development team. Therefore, a localization kit should contain the files to be localized, identified and prepared for translation, along with instructions, guidelines, indications, and notes on how to deal with the various files and file types. It should also provide background and contextual information about what is being localized. Whatever the product, a fully functional version of the product should be provided. Finally, a localization kit should contain all the tools required to work with the files.

Organization of a Localization Kit Generally, a good practice consists in organizing the files centrally, as everything to do with them is to be done as many times as the number of languages into which these files are to be localized. Therefore, a well-organized file tree pays off when the vendors have to fix all the broken cross-references, missing files, and broken graphics; and they will make it differently for each language! The reorganization of files in preparation for localization can partially be expedited by creating a list-of-references file where the location and properties of each file are reported. The list-of-references file can then become the foundation of the localization kit’s BoM (Bill of Materials). Not all projects may have all components, so not every project will have every component on the list. Often some components may not be available at the time an initial kit is prepared for analysis and proposal requests, but will be available when the project starts. If some components cannot be included in the first kit but are expected to be part of a project, it is a good idea to include whatever information available about them, even if it is somewhat vague. Ideally, to ensure efficient production, all the professionals involved in the localization process should provide their input. Finally, to ensure the project is checked thoroughly, providing an overview of the project and test cases will help.

Project Managers To properly arrange an effective project plan, localization project managers must be provided with estimates on the amount of content to be localized before the product is finalized. Project managers working for localization vendors would need the following information:  required tasks and services;  project scope overview; o project languages; o components; o number of files; o files to localize; o number of words to localize (per file); o files to engineer;

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o number of pages for DTP; o number of updates that can be expected;  project release schedule; o milestones; o hand-offs; o review cycles; o deliverables; o deliveries;  quality steps; o testing scope and validation; o number of language reviews; o number of test cases; o reference environment.

Localizers Localizers will be interested in knowing which files need to be localized, for which audience they localize and, in most cases, what not to change in each file. Quite obviously, they will also be interested in the overall word count and the number of words in each file. They will appreciate information, instructions, and comments about the content to localize and its features. All content must be finalized.

Engineers Engineers will be interested in instructions for modifying the product to have it work fine in the target locale. Engineers will also be interested in any hardware and software required instructions on any special procedures, on testing, cosmetic adjustments, and configuration settings.

Creating a Localization Kit A localization kit helps meet client deadlines, quality and service goals by clarifying expectations, establishing better communication and organizing the localization project drop. Products to be localized should be reviewed for internationalization readiness prior to localization to leverage this work across multiple language versions. Before localization starts, localizers should be aware of a series of issues such as:  expectations (from the audience and the company);  competitors in the target market;  cultural, religious or sociological issues;  technical requirements (e.g. bandwidth requirements, fees — if any — for Internet use and domain names provisions for Web sites/applications);

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 legal requirements (e.g. data protection legislation and copyright issues). When creating a localization kit, stick to the basics: 1. set standards for the types of information to include, what level of detail is appropriate, general presentation guidelines and instructions as to what to include, what is important, and how to communicate information to the vendor; 2. provide for separate sections for every product component to have discrete expectations on deliverables, and collaterals; 3. reference all external assets with the correct version, along with information on how to access them; 4. always ask for client approval of the kit and all deliverables listed in it prior to hand off to the localization vendors; 5. have the localization vendors review draft versions of the kit for questions and feedback before the final project hand-off; 6. when the project is over, run a post-mortem review for future projects. When content is added later, organize it in a mini localization kit to supplement the main one, with its own set of assets, tools, and documentation to avoid rearranging the initial localization kit to include the updates. However, even though a localization kit can help avoid the cost, frustration, and delays that result from not clearly stating expectations, it is no substitute for regular communication between clients and vendors. This starts from the very beginning of a project. Therefore, when a localization kit is ready create a booklet and hand it out during the kick-off meeting. Also, possibly create a small website for kit to allow online access to project material, and add post-mortem information about the unsolved issues and the issues solved and the workarounds.

Contents of a Localization Kit Today, a product consists of several types of components to be reused. The localization kit is what the localization vendor needs. Every client has unique requirements, timetables, deliverables, and constituencies. As a result, localization kits will vary from company to company, if not from project to project. Nonetheless, a number of components should be included in most kits. A localization kit normally consists of dozens, hundreds, or tons of files, some of which are translatable and many are not. However, providing files is only the first step. Instructions are critical to understand the client’s expectations and the true scope of the project. In most cases, many components do not have to be changed for any localized versions of a product. A well-internationalized product should have all translatable information stored separately, to make the localization job easier. In any case, files containing translatable information should not be scattered throughout the kit. To assemble a comprehensive localization kit a few general steps can be followed: 1. prepare the project; 2. research the hurdles in a specification;

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3. identify the scope; 4. identify the audience; 5. write instructions for each specific group of people working on the project; 6. assemble and organize all the necessary assets, tools and documents; 7. run a pilot project to test the localization kit. To help the project manager compile the instructions for the members of a localization team, a localization kit should come with product specifications, project and user documentation, specialized tools needed for localization, and translatables (text, art, multimedia, packaging, and other stuff to translate, in source language). For hardware and machinery projects, the localization team also needs the dimensions of the product labeling areas, a key for the product button and lever names, and information about any safety requirements. If possible, a prototype of the product is helpful for gaining contextual understanding. If any of the objects making a localization kit is lacking or is insufficiently detailed, the localization kit could prove difficult to use, and the time to answer questions and provide any missing information or resources will turn in unbudgeted — and then intolerable — costs.

Project Management The localization kit should be divided into sections specifically built for the team working on the project following a well-organized structure. The project manager’s prime responsibility is to complete the localization kit with a project-specific section. Any localization kit should include a letter of assignment to be signed and returned by all the localization team members to function also as a contract between the parties if necessary. The letter of assignment should carry all quotations grouped by component, the change management agreement, and the project milestones. This should contain a statement of work, listing all expected services and deliverables, and all the relevant reference materials.

Statement of Work The purpose of a statement of work (SoW) is to detail the work requirements, i.e. “what is to be done”, for the project. A SoW will be the basis for potential offerers to compete for the contract and when it becomes contractual it shall be used as a standard for determining if the supplier meets the stated performance requirements. The SoW will also support the localization project manager in outlining the required work effort through a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) diagram and establish a delivery schedule. The SoW should include, but is not limited to, all of the following:  project scope; o product name; o project name or code; o overview of the product and the target audience;

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o description of the product’s basic features; o list of localization kit contents; o services required, tasks and deliverables; o languages; o project components; o word counts;  delivery requirements; o period of performance (the start and end date for the entire project); . delivery dates; . interim milestones by deliverable; o physical location where the work will be performed; o performance standards; o supplies and equipment that will be used; o delivery method;  update cycle; o number of updates; o size of updates; o expected schedule for updates;  quality expectations (the acceptable quality for the product);  payment terms; o total amount of the purchase order; o overall amount computed for each job/task/deliverable; o payment rate; o non-disclosure agreement; o liability agreement;  contact information; o name(s), e-mail(s) and phone number(s) of project manager(s). To prevent any disputes on word counts, indications on counting tools and methods together with the resulting analysis log files should be provided. Each log file should contain the number of replicated and untranslated words, translation memory (if any) full and fuzzy matches, and frequently occurring segments. Whenever possible, mapping should be provided for any components that can be leveraged from one another. All settings for the translation tools (e.g. segmentation rules, minimum match value, maximum number of hits, penalties, etc.) should be specified to allow the team members to reproduce all statistics and properly apply the translation memories. These settings should also be used to produce statistics for progress reports and a graphic projection of delivery dates.

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Bill of Materials Each SoW should be marked with a version number to trace updates and accompanied by a detailed bill of materials (BoM) including:  a list of the files to localize grouped by type;  an image of the directory structure by locale;  directory structure requirements for deliverables;  a list of expected deliverables;  a list of tools for creating deliverables;  a list of documentation and support files. Bill of Materials Localizable File List

File Name File Type Purpose Word Count Location Notes and Instructions

Reference Material The project manager’s responsibilities include the arrangement of any reference materials for the project, which should typically include:  all relevant background information about the product;  product reference and overview information;  the most recent localized version of the product in the requested language(s);  style guides for each target language addressing writing and design issues;  documentation files;  complete and up-to-date translation memories for all components with the specification of the relevant format for each language;  an up-to-date project glossary;  templates for query handling.

Project Issue Report

File Location Issue Comment Other Name Issue solved

Query Sheet

Urgent (Y/N) Filename Page Term/Issue Context Target term Answer

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Query Sheet

Progress Report

Word Words to Progress Resourc Productivi Running Start End Filename count translate %1 es2 ty3 days4 date date

1. 100-[(words translated)*100/(words to translate)] 2. People involved 3. (Number or words per day)/(resources) 4. (Words to translate)/[(resources)*(productivity)] Software In developing the localization kit, the localization project manager should identify elements that may be culturally dependent, and decide whether to generalize them for all cultures or isolate them for localization. Isolation is performed by removing the cultural information to a resource file and replacing it with a routine, which looks up the appropriate information in the resource file. If isolation is required, the localization project manager will send the code back to the software engineers with proper instructions for correction. The translation of software resources must come before that of on-line help and documentation to have the software terminology be available to guarantee crosswise terminology consistency. Therefore, when assembling the reference material, the localization project manager, together with the client’s software experts, will also arrange the software resources for translation, possibly converting the data for processing with a translation editor. Before actually starting the localization process, the localization project manager should ensure that the original text is clear and concise, grammatically correct and free from slang or technical expressions that may lead to mistranslations. The localization project manager should also check for language and references consistency and for translation memory integrity and correctness. In addition to the converted software resources, the localization kit should further contain an executable version of the software (for reference purposes and to help translators get acquainted with the product), as well as the entire build environment if final compilation and testing is required. A localization kit should be arranged according to the scope of the project, and include a separate section for traditional and Internet software if necessary. When available, the results of pilot project(s) should be made accessible to localizers to allow them to find some specific issues that may have been overlooked in the internationalization stage. A list of any known internationalization issues should also be provided.

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Desktop and Handheld Applications This section should include:  a copy of the full application;  the files containing all translatable text;  a full build environment for testing;  test scripts;  customized or proprietary tools used for compilation and testing.

Internet Software A Web site or application is quite different from a desktop or handheld application, and can hardly be localized in safe mode. In most cases localizers should be able to access source files to replicate the site or the application, and possibly setup a test bed. Therefore, a web localization project manager’s first worry should be protecting the code from accidental changes and assemble a language pack. If the product has been internationalized correctly, all localizable text should have been extracted from code and a language pack should consist mainly of the string tables and the language- specific image files. Translators will only have to translate the relevant column of the string table. In a well-internationalized product, translatable text is usually stored separately. A typical language pack for an Internet software section should include:  the files containing all translatable text;  graphics source files in layered, editable format;  Internet-accessible binary files, applets and uncompiled server-side files;  back-end databases. For each object, the associated application must be specified and possibly provided if necessary.

Documentation and On-Line Help Once the localized version of the software is edited, the localization engineers should re-import it into a translation environment tool to create a software glossary containing all items in source and target language. The localization kit should then be updated with the documentation, the on-line help files and the new glossary. The statement of work should also be updated with the new project schedule details. The software documentation is needed both as source files and as fully formatted DTP files. Possibly, a print-out of all documents requiring translation should be provided as well. All files must be included in the localization kit following a proper directory structure.

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The compiled versions of DTP documentation, together with the original source files and a tagged-format version must be provided for processing with translation tools. If a DTP version is required, a copy of the compiler should also be provided. Fonts and font types to be used must be clearly specified and provided if unusual or proprietary. When giving the naming conventions a rule must be provided for fonts names to be consistent with the names given in the target locale. For the on-line help section of the localization kit, the following assets should be provided:  compiled help system;  rich-text format source;  templates and style sheets;  graphics source files in layered, editable format. If a compiled version is required, a copy of the compiler should also be provided. Project guidelines with projects templates and the project style guide specifying all style conventions, typography, and naming conventions should also be provided. The template files allow the vendor to identify any potential localization issues and correct them before localization begins by making the necessary changes to styles to accommodate language differences. A localization guide providing for the naming rules, the guidelines for document setup if separate copies have to be created for each language/locale, and the guidelines and instructions for text expansion should be provided, together with font requirements if any special fonts are used. The localization guide should also provide for instructions for DTP compilation. Finally, the documentation and oh-line help section of a localization kit should contain a bill of material in the form of a spreadsheet listing:  the files requiring localization and their location with the indication of the text to remain in the original language;  the format of source files and the authoring and validation tools and versions used to create them;  the formats required for output files and the authoring and validation tools and versions needed to produce them;  the fonts used in the source files and those to use for the localized version;  a brief explanation of the file’s purpose.

Graphics When graphics is created using multi-layered image authoring systems text should be placed in specific discrete layers. For artwork available only in non-editable formats, all text should be extracted and a spreadsheet should be created in the same worksheet as for documentation with the strings to be translated and re-imported after localization. The same worksheet could contain a spreadsheet with all the available information for the required images sorted by area:

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 the names of source and target format files;  graphics tool and version used to create the source file;  image creation specifications for the final output format; o fonts; o color palette; o screen and print resolution;  keystroke or menu information about each screen for screen captures. Also, in the graphics section of the localization guide, guidelines for text expansion and instructions on how to deal with restricted symbols must be provided together with any information on alternative forms.

Bill of Materials Graphic File List

Text to be Word Notes and File name File type Purpose Location translated Count instructions

Multimedia More and more localization projects include audio/video components requiring technical capability and comprehensive studio talent. Multimedia embraces a vast range of content that may have two or more of text, graphics, sound, video, and animation; therefore, a very basic principle in making multimedia files states that digital localizable elements should be separated from one another on different tracks on the timeline. The ideal situation is to present localizers with the project files and project settings from which the presentation was constructed. In properly encoded videos, audio and video streams can be extracted and separated to be saved back after editing or localizing. In brief, the multimedia section of a localization kit should contain:  a copy of scripts in the source and target languages organized in chronological order;  separate, uncompressed audio (music, sound effects, and voiceover tracks) and video streams;  separate sound effects and voice tracks;  any specific codecs and movie viewers used to create and play compressed versions of videos;  a copy of uncompressed videos with the text to be localized. Some projects may require the script(s) to be divided into individual paragraphs, depending on the size of the project, so that the resulting files can be managed individually in a more comfortable way with the same code for both the original and

62 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards the target languages. Each element of a script should then be listed in the bill of materials with the associated file name. A spreadsheet should be created with all the available information for the multimedia files. This spreadsheet should provide for:  a list of applications used with a special reference for combination or dedicated multimedia environment;  specifications for additional room on CD-DVD’s for distribution;  voiceover technical specifications; o format of the original voiceover files; o format of the localized voiceover files. The multimedia section of the localization guide must provide for:  guidelines for replacing source language voiceover files with the localized voiceover track;  guidelines for text expansion, voice-over and synchronization;  instructions as to correct accents, pronunciations, tone and rhythm of the dialog;  instructions as to noise elimination;  instructions as to volume level and consistency;  instructions as to silences.

Bill of Materials Multimedia File List

Notes and File name File type Purpose Bits Depth Sample Rate Platform Location instructions

For all files, and especially for MPEG files, a fully standard-compliant version with time code and subtitling information could be extremely useful.

Collaterals Peripheral documents are usually referred to as collaterals. These are usually made of graphics file, sometimes of DTP documents. The localization kit should provide for:  the compiled versions of the DTP or the graphic file of the package;  the source files or a tagged-format version of the DTP file of the package;  the graphic file of any labels;  the compiled versions of the DTP or the graphic file of the brochures and the other marketing material;  the source files or a tagged-format version of the DTP of the brochures and the other marketing material;

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 any other asset containing translatable content or to be used for the localized version of the product and its package. Finally, a spreadsheet should be created with all the available information for collaterals, providing for:  the names of source and target format files;  graphics or DTP tools and version used to create the source file;  any additional font requirements;  image creation specifications for the final output format; o fonts; o color palette; o screen and print resolution. Also, in the collaterals section of the localization guide, guidelines and instructions for text expansion, instructions for DTP compilation, including the compiler version, and special instructions on how to deal with legal, tax or financial issues must be provided.

Delivery An overview of folder contents should be provided together with instructions for creating a language pack from the localized files for a language and for returning it. Before issuing, the content of the localization kit should be verified by a third party for key tools and information missing that are necessary for localization: 1. all files should be checked for corruption; 2. all files should be scanned for virus; 3. no extra files should be included; 4. no files should be missing; 5. all files should be the most current. Finally, the localization kit should be stored on a CD or DVD and labeled with at least:  product name;  version number;  date of creation. If the localization kit is updated with additional content after the product is released, a mini localization kit should be created with the critical components stored on a separate disk labeled with the same information of the main localization kit and an additional tag stating it is an addendum.

Writing the Localization Guide The localization guide should be created before the actual work on the project begins, together with the project work plan.

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The localization guide contains the instructions for localizing a product. The policies contained with localization guide are product- or company-dependent. Although it may seem time-consuming to develop, a good guide can work well with many projects; therefore, in most cases, it could only be created once and reused on subsequent projects with little modifications. For the localization of the project to run smoothly, the better the instructions, the fewer the problems. Therefore, developing a good localization guide involves:  determining who will use the kit and what their needs are;  explaining what’s in the kit and how to use it;  ensuring that the kit is complete and usable. Clear and precise Instructions must be provided on how localized material being returned will have to be organized and arranged. The localization guide in the localization kit should accurately list and clear all issues and closely track changes. All lists should be kept updated to work as trusted and valid tracking tools. The localization guide should also be immediately updated with answers to questions and issues raised. The localization guide should therefore provide for:  localization guidelines and schedule information;  detailed instructions on how to handle special issues;  detailed instructions for file handling, including applications to use with all the relevant information, and any special or manual processes;  guidelines to dealing with text expansion and cosmetics;  naming conventions;  expected delivery file types. The localization guide should finally provide for detailed communication and project logging procedures. What follows is a suggested scheme for authoring a localization guide.

Introduction Provide an overview of the entire document: describe all requirements. Describe the contents of the kit.

Project Organization List the major project roles and the actual people involved, possibly including an organization chart.

Project Issues Describe the overall project goals with an overview of the overall project plan stating cost estimates and a top-level schedule for the project.

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Statement of Scope Define the breadth and limitations of the work to be done, not how to do it. Give a description of the project and the product with major features and constraints. Place the product in a business or product line context and outline the major strategic issues so that the reader can understand the big picture.

Contents of the Kit Provide instructions for pick-up. Explain how the kit is organized; provide instructions to how to use the kit.

Special Instructions Provide a list and an overall description of any specific equipment, tools, techniques and methodologies to be used in executing the project. Explain the procedure for localizing each type of file and how to use the tools included in the kit. Specify whether the deliverable of translation memory is required, and if so, in what format. Provide instructions on how to deal with special text, word order, gender, articles, plurals, and with text expansion. In case of software localization, include a description of the syntax of the string resource files and how to deal with control characters, and provide screen captures in the source language to ease the interpretation of context-less strings. Provide instructions on how to deal with legal, tax or financial issues.

Methodologies List the specific work tasks to meet project requirements to permit the acquirer and offerer(s) to estimate the probable cost and the offerer(s) to determine the levels of expertise, manpower, and other resources needed to accomplish the task. If a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is being used in the project, organize tasks in accordance with the WBS. States specific duties of the vendor in such a way that the vendor knows what is required and completes all tasks to the satisfaction of the contract.

Deliverables List and describe project deliverables. Provide enough explanations and details so that the reader will be able to understand what is being produced. Include a chart showing deliverables according to the project major milestones.

Risks List and describe circumstances or events that are out of control of the project team and that could have an adverse impact on the project if they occur, so that all project stakeholders can anticipate and manage them, thereby reducing the probability that they will occur. Risks should be listed with their probability of occurrence and negative impact. For each risk listed, identify activities to perform to eliminate or mitigate the risk.

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Communications Project managers should communicate regularly to stakeholders, informing them of the current status of the project and managing future expectations. If these key people are not kept well informed of the project progress, there is a greater likelihood of problems stemming from differing levels of expectations. In fact, in many cases where conflicts arise, it is not because of the actual problem, but because a customer or stakeholder has been taken by surprise. Establish a communication plan to determine communication needs of all people involved with the project or that will be affected by the project and provide consistent and timely information to all project stakeholders. Provide a project status report scheme for all project team members to fill in regularly. What follows is a suggested project status report template to be possibly combined with a progress report. Status Report No. Project Manager Project Scope A brief description of the scope of the project. Project Summary A brief statement of project performance not covered in the remainder of the report. Milestones scheduled for Milestone Baseline Date Target Date Achievement achievement since last report and performance Description of dd/mmm/yyyy dd/mmm/yyyy dd/mmm/yyyy milestone against those milestones Milestones scheduled for Previous Current Target Milestone Baseline Date achievement over the Target Date Date next reporting period Description of dd/mmm/yyyy dd/mmm/yyyy dd/mmm/yyyy and changes in those milestone milestones with respect to the previous plan Impact of Milestone Impact achievement/non- Description of affected milestone Briefly describe any changes to the achievement of project schedule required as a result milestones for the of the amended milestone(s). remaining period of the project General Information Include any general comments that may support/enhance/add to the above sections. Budget Planned Actual Deficit/Surplu Date Expenditure Expenditure s dd/mmm/yyyy

Project risk management Likeliho Seriousn Risk Grade Change statement (as compared od ess to previous reports) Brief description of major Low Low A Increase risks. Medium Medium B Decrease High High C New

Issues Brief description of any business issues associated with the project that have arisen since the previous report and need to be addressed. Recommendations Brief statement(s) to consider and/or endorse.

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Quality Assurance Plan Describe the various quality assurance tasks that will be carried out for the project and indicate how they will be synchronized with project milestones. Reference any standards and guidelines that are expected to be used on the project, and address how compliance with these standards and guidelines shall be determined. Enclose or reference any relevant artifacts.

Quality Goals, Control, Tools and Metrics Outline the quality expectations for the product and the quality considered acceptable for each deliverable. Describe the tasks associated with the creation of project deliverables to verify that deliverables are of acceptable quality and that they meet the completeness and correctness criteria established. List any quality-related tools that this project will utilize. Describe the product, project, and process metrics that are to be captured and monitored for the project. Provide descriptions of the various quality records that will be maintained during the project, including how and where each type of record will be stored and for how long. In a localization context, there are basically two types of metrics: production metrics and business metrics. Production metrics focus on measuring efficiency. Business metrics focus on measuring value. Any metrics requires as much data as possible, and, to be collected, data should be defined and tracked. Balance Sample Metrics Category Business value  Avail of the cost/benefit analysis created on project approval Cost  Actual cost vs. budget (variance) for project, for phase, for activity, etc.  Total labor costs vs. non labor (vs. budget)  Total cost of employees vs. contract vs. consultant (vs. budget)  Cost associated with building components for reuse  Ideas for cost reductions implemented, and cost savings realized

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Balance Sample Metrics Category Customer  Availability of deliverables satisfaction  Defects of deliverables  Reliability of deliverables  Responsiveness of project team  Competence of project team  Courtesy of project team  Communication  Credibility of project team  Reliability on commitments of project team  Professionalism of project team  Turnaround time required to respond to queries and problems  Average time required to resolve issues  Number of change requests satisfied within original project budget and duration Duration  Actual duration vs. budget (variance) Effort  Actual effort vs. budget (variance)  Amount of project manager time vs. overall effort hours Productivity  Effort hours per unit of work  Work units produced per effort hour  Effort hours reduced from standard project processes  Effort hours saved through reuse of previous components  Number of ideas for process improvement implemented  Number of hours saved from process improvements

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Balance Sample Metrics Category Quality of  Percentage of deliverables going through quality reviews deliverables  Percentage of deliverable reviews resulting in acceptance the first time  Number of defects discovered after initial acceptance  Percentage of deliverables that comply 100% with organization standards  Number of customer change requests  Number of hours of rework to previously completed deliverables  Number of best practices identified and applied on the project  Number of risks that were successfully mitigated

Web Localization Issues Web localization presents a few specific issues requiring consideration. Since the localization of HTML documents is relatively easy, especially with translation tools that allow the locking of tags, instructions must be given to identify and access localizable content. Provide adaptation guidelines for any new arrangement, and strict naming conventions to ensure consistency. Provide instructions on how to deal with dynamic content, that is the part of the Web site/application frequently updated or event-driven often stored in a database in different formats. Finally, provide instructions on how to deal with keywords, taxonomies, stop word lists and profanity filters.

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Sampling Sampling is a statistical procedure for accepting or rejecting a batch of merchandise or documents through the determination of the maximum number of defects discovered in a sample before the entire batch is rejected. For an object to be measurable it needs to be apportioned in definite allotments to be homogeneous in size and scope for a reasonable estimate in the number and significance of defects to set a limit for both. Statistical sampling can be used to determine acceptability provided that acceptability criteria for inspection by attributes are set. The ISO 2859 series of standards can here be used as a reference. Acceptance sampling is an important field of statistical quality control originally applied by the U.S. armed forces to the testing of bullets during World War II. In acceptance sampling a sample is picked at random from the lot, and on the basis of information yielded a decision is made either to accept or reject the lot. Acceptance sampling is the middle-of-the-road approach between no inspection and 100% inspection. Its main purpose is to decide whether the lot is acceptable, not to estimate its quality, and it should be employed when:  100% inspection is too costly or takes too long;  Time or technology limitations are constraints;  Lot sizes are very large and the probability of inspection errors is high;  Supplier’s quality history is good enough to justify less than 100% inspection;  Potential liability risks are high enough to warrant some form of continuous monitoring. For acceptance sampling to be effective a lot acceptance sampling plan (LASP) must be implemented indicating the conditions for acceptance or rejection of the lot that is being inspected. These parameters are usually the number of different defectives in a sample and should vary in quantity and severity in direct relation to the importance of the characteristics inspected. Average Outgoing Quality (AOQ) procedures are the best suited for small translation projects, since sampling is non-destructive, lots are 100% inspected and all defectives in rejected lots are replaced with good units. In this case, all rejected lots are made perfect and the only defects left are those in lots that were accepted. AOQ expresses the average nonconforming fraction that is shipped to clients — bad items are discarded but are not replaced with good ones:

N  n p  PA AOQ(p) N  n p  PA  1 p N where PA is the probability of accepting the lot, (N-n)PA is the number of pieces that are shipped without inspection, and p is the nonconforming fraction. The numerator is the number of bad pieces that are shipped, and the denominator is the total pieces shipped. To make assessment criteria, methods and tools unambiguous AQL’s (Acceptance Quality Levels) can be used allowing for tolerance and deviations (errors). AQL’s

71 A Contrarian’s View on Translation Standards should be agreed upon in a SLA and would specify the maximal percentage of nonconforming items to be considered as a satisfying process mean. Different AQL’s may be designated for different types of defects. Usually, an AQL of 1% is used for major defects, and 2.5% for minor defects. An implication of acceptance sampling is that a lot exceeding a given percentage of deviations from the AQL is unsatisfactory and must be rejected. At the same time, a high defect level (Lot Tolerance Percentage Defective, LTPD) must be designated that would be unacceptable to the consumer. AQL’s imply a level of non-quality exists in a product where defects remain that ruin a batch, despite being “acceptable”. This level represents a compromise between quality, quantity and price negotiated, even when — as this is the case of translation — supply exceeds demand and so the client should be allow to receive a flawless (no-defect) product. To set AQL’s, a simple defect prediction technique can be implemented to separate the defects found in a translation sample in two groups. Depending on the number of defects found in either of the two groups — but not in both — the defects that have not been found in the sample can then be estimated. This number gives approximately the number of defects in the entire project. The Canadian federal government’s Translation Bureau developed a complex system (SICAL, Système canadien d’appréciation de la qualité linguistique, Canadian Language Quality Assessment System), to assess 400-word chunks of translations from contractors. SICAL is based on sampling and a grading scale from A (superior) to D, depending on the number of major and minor errors. The Bureau’s goal is to deliver translations at levels A and B of the SICAL standard. In the Translation Bureau’s model, translation quality assessment (TQA) is not confined to the analysis of sample translations to evaluate the translator’s skills and decide whether to contract him; TQA is not a once-for-all task, una tantum, it is a routine being part of the production process. SICAL surreptitiously allows the Translation Bureau to decide whether to penalize contractors financially, thus partially recovering from costs through discrete remunerations by pre-defined AQL’s: a lower AQL gets a lower fee. To calibrate a translation quality measurement tool or process, defects (errors) can deliberately be seeded in a translation to be controlled. The ratio of the seeded defects found to the total number of defects seeded provides a rough estimate of the total number of translation defects yet to be found. It will then be possible to estimate what percentage of errors is not discovered, and the variance in assessing the errors discovered. A fully-fledged quality assurance process cannot do without inspections and auditing, as quality is not the result of assessment and control procedures that can lead only to the removal of defective products. Quality is a derivative property.

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Customer Satisfaction Finally, customer satisfaction is the other side of the coin. In fact, many people equate customer satisfaction and quality, so customer satisfaction measurement is a key tool in quality management, it is the engine and the drive of quality. The best way to find out whether customers are satisfied is to ask them. People who are satisfied often say so spontaneously, especially in an environment where customer satisfaction measurement is considered important. Customer satisfaction can be measured in the client’s or in the service provider’s perspective. In the client’s perspective, the grades of reaction in front of an even partially unsatisfactory service are the following: 1. Disappointment: the client does not get what he really wanted; 2. Allowance: the client accepts a product whose quality is lower than expected; 3. Trade-off: the client adjusts his expectations; 4. Settlement: client’s needs are met, but desires are not; 5. Tuning: the client changes his behavior to match the offering. In the service provider’s perspective, the same scale steps through the following grades: 1. Fulfillment: the provider meets his client’s expectations by giving him what he asked for; 2. Satisfaction: client’s expectations have been met; 3. Efficiency: typical offering has met client’s expectations; 4. Equalization: operating efficiency is improved by leveling offering; 5. Massification: clients are trained to ask for what is offered. Quality is always listed as the highest priority over deadlines, cost, and customer service. Nevertheless, trustworthiness is fundamental as most clients typically use only one vendor, and little time, and money, is allocated to translation activities. For customer satisfaction to be measured in translation services, the relevant attributes must be determined such as confidence, courtesy, friendliness, responsiveness, complaint handling, and reliability. To trace customer satisfaction a regular survey is necessary that provides a statistical measurement of inbound and outbound deviations from the negotiated service level reported by clients. Tracked over time this is a reliable quality index, and can be associated with in-process metrics to measure the effectiveness of reviews and the process over time. On the other hand, translation is an intangible service, circumstances of execution are always different, and many factors can negatively impact the value of customer satisfaction and eventually bring bias to the results of surveys that can undermine a vendor’s effectiveness.

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Therefore, it is necessary to guard against excess: the effort put into achieving customer satisfaction is sometimes extreme, even counterproductive, because some of the expectations ascribed to the client have not been confirmed by any analysis. In these cases, there is a major risk of focusing on issues that the client may be unaware of and are immaterial while leaving real issues unresolved and actual expectations unsatisfied. The items in a survey typically address the following types of issues:  Overall satisfaction with the product or service;  Satisfaction with critical characteristics;  Satisfaction with the experience of purchase, usage and servicing;  Overall satisfaction with delivery;  Overall satisfaction with cost;  Overall assessment of how well the product or service meets requirements. Since the items in a survey describe customer requirements, and customer satisfaction with the items indicates conformance to those requirements or specifications that define those requirements, the scores can be interpreted as a measure of quality. The Canadian federal government’s Translation Bureau admits that the ultimate test of the quality of a translation is client satisfaction. To measure client satisfaction and quality of translations the Translation Bureau implemented a “Continuous Evaluation System” based on sampling and periodic surveys. A survey, by its nature, cannot measure the emotional feeling toward an intangible service, and even with a standard set of rules, judgments will be different as interviewees will naturally base their feelings on different projects, which were done by different teams in different locales under different conditions. This also means that the wider the sample base the more inconsistent the results of the survey will be, clashing with the fundamentals of statistics, a science where accuracy relates largely to the size of the sample. The smaller the sample size, the greater the bias. In addition, a deeply unhappy client who is not in a long-term relationship with a vendor that is determined to preserve will find uneconomic to report the vendor with its dissatisfaction and will likely choose a new vendor right away. Also, clients tend to remember, and report, only major problems, which weigh heavily on overall satisfaction. Finally, as Jeffrey Gitomer, the sales guru, put it, “Boasting about a near-perfect customer-satisfaction rating of 97.5 percent is a major mistake. That means 2.5 percent of your customers are mad, and they’re telling everyone. And 97.5 percent of your customers will shop anyplace the next time they go to market for your product or service.” When running a customer satisfaction survey, even though virtually all clients are satisfied, they can eventually go for a competitor whom they also find satisfactory. Therefore, in creating customer satisfaction surveys, questions should be asked about expectations along with satisfaction.

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Measurements could then help predict the quality of the final completed product before actual completion. In-process metrics must be developed by watching trends over time and correlating these trends with final quality.

Luigi Muzii has been working in the language industry for 30 years as a translator, localizer, technical writer and consultant. He spent 12 years in several departments of a major Italian telecommunications company, and two years in a broadcasting service company. In 2002 he started his own consulting firm to act as an information design and delivery consultant. He was visiting professor of terminology and localization at the LUSPIO University in Rome for almost ten years, and is the author of a book on technical writing, and of many papers and articles. He was one of the founders of the Italian association for terminology (ASSITERM) and of Gruppo L10N, a group of localization professionals volunteering in educational programs.

Selling translation is a hard job. In certain markets, an extremely hard one. Competition in the industry has always been based on price: the system favors lower costs and loyalty, rather than excellence. This is also why translations have always been sold by the pound: it is simply easier and customers believe they know what they are buying and how much they are spending. The main cause is in the industry’s typical business model and structure of labor. Besides undermining productivity, this flaw encourages firms to remain micro-sized to avoid risks, constraints, and contingencies and to resort to standards and technology not to improve efficiency, or increase competitiveness, and stimulate demand, but to foster a positive perception in customers. But can standards prove actually useful? Is compliance sought after purposely? And how much are quality standards actually relevant to translation quality? Provided that quality is still making sense…