Not all translation companies are equal, especially when it comes to the quality of translations that they provide. But how do you know which provider to use or that your chosen provider will produce a high quality translation?
How do translation companies ensure that a translation is accurate?
Good translation providers rely on secure systems of checks and balances that ensure that a translation is performed to the highest possible standard and that it corresponds to a project’s specifications. The international standards for translation services are set out in the ISO 17100 quality assurance certification. A translation company that holds an ISO 17100 certification must follow the guidelines established by the ISO.
What is the ISO?
The International Organisation for Standartization (ISO) is an independent worldwide organisation that sets the standards for businesses in almost any industry. The standards are agreed on a voluntary and consensus-based basis and provide world-class specifications for various products and services.
What kind of guidelines are there?
The guidelines provided by the ISO cover the whole translation process, beginning with assessing a possible project and ending with gathering feedback about a completed project from clients and implementing this feedback into the company’s process.
The guidelines include:
- standards of translators’ qualifications and experience,
- the review and editing process,
- the way that a finished translation is shared securely with the client.
A translation project should go through the following stages:
Pre-production
Before a project is agreed, it is essential for the translation provider to ascertain if it is feasible to complete the project, for example, whether they have an appropriate team of translators, reviewers, and proofreaders in place, or if the timing is realistic. Once this is assessed, the translation provider will produce a quotation. An agreement that sets out the details of the work is then made with the client. The source document analysis is completed at this stage, and any style guides and terminology glossaries as well as all required specifications are agreed upon. These include any language adaptations to the target audience, as well as assessing the purpose of the project.
Translation
Once the project is agreed, it is delivered to a translator or a team of translators. They ensure that the completed project has:
- semantic accuracy of the target language content;
- appropriate syntax, spelling, punctuation, diacritical marks, and other orthographic conventions of the target language;
- lexical cohesion and phraseology.
The project is then passed on to a team of reviewers who edit the work and, together with the translator, implement any corrections. It is important that all translated documents are reviewed by another competent translator so that any inconsistencies or issues can be picked up. Once all corrections are made, the documents are proofread and all formatting is completed.
The final documents are checked again by the project manager who then delivers the translation to the client using a secure system.
Post-production
The translation provider should have a process in place for receiving and implementing client feedback and any corrections wherever required. If any corrections are to be made, the work is delivered to the client again afterwards in the same secure manner.
How do you know if this process is in place at your chosen translation provider?
Check that your translation provider has a current ISO certification. If you are not sure, ask your translation project manager about their quality assurance process.
Maia Nikitina
