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Localization
 

What is Localization?

According to the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA), "Localization involves taking a product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target locale (country/region and language) where it will be used and sold."

Software Localization

• Software localization involves the conversion of the User Interface (UI) and supporting materials (documentation and on-line help) of a product from its original language in order to fit foreign languages and cultural nuances.

• It makes it possible for international users to interact with the software in their own language and according to their own cultural conventions.

• Software localization also often involves the legal adaptation of the product to follow local legal regulations.

Website Localization

• Website localization involves the adaptation of text, icons, and formats to a particular language and culture.

• This process often involves changing date, time, currency formats, as well as contact information (phone numbers, names, and addresses) and other components, to fit local requirements.

• Website localization is critical for reaching a global audience, and developing your business in global markets.

Why localize?

• Only 48 percent of current Internet users around the world speak English as their native tongue. That number will continue dropping to 32 percent by the end of 2003.

• According to the 2000 Census, 18 percent of the U.S. population speaks a language other than English at home.

To remain competitive in a global economy, it is essential for companies to reach markets across countries and cultures.

Why choose the Academy of Languages?

• With the Academy's expertise, your software and/or website can tap into the revenue potential of a burgeoning foreign language market within the U.S. or abroad.

• Academy of Languages provides superior quality localization services to technology companies and firms in need of adapting their products to foreign markets.

• Our experienced translators, localization specialists and managers deliver localized products in multiple languages, within our clients' budget and deadlines.

• Our technical and linguistic resources, as well as our cultural expertise allow the Academy to provide excellence in localization services.

Our localization process

Our project managers are certified software localization engineers who will guide you through the detailed process of converting your products into one or more foreign languages.

Localizing your product does not merely consist of translating your text into a foreign language. It is a complex process involving cultural adaptation and technological challenges. Some of the tasks involved in this process are:

• Material analysis

• Glossary development and maintenance

• Translation of software strings and documentation

• Cultural adaptation of graphics and symbols

• Identification of local measurements, monetary units, formats and dates

• Formatting

• Publishing

• Testing

• Revisions

Technical capabilities

• To ensure an effective localization process and a quality end product, the Academy works with the latest translation technology, including CAT tools such as Trados.

• The Academy also supports PC and Mac platforms, and can handle your Desktop Publishing needs with a wide range of software applications, such as QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Frame Maker and Photoshop.

Testing

• Our testing capabilities include linguistic and functional testing.

Some of our recent localization projects

Software localization

Localization of source code, documentation and help files for Nexcard
NexCard is a line of universal shareable address books that deliver contact information to any user, anywhere. The Academy localized all the source code needed for Nexal's engineering to build the French version of their software, as well as all the documentation and the help files.

Localization of CD and documentation of NEC / Tally printers
The Academy was contracted to localize the documentation for NEC printers into Spanish and Chinese. The documentation and installation files were translated and published into PageMaker in order to create an indexed PDF for the CD which shipped with the line of printers.

Translation of strings for Tally printers
The Academy has been working with Tally for a number of years translating software strings and printer messages primarily into French, Italian, German and Spanish for several of their commercial printers. We also provided translation services into Korean.

Translation of instructional CD for the University of Washington Medical School
The project involved the localization of a CD containing an interactive course in phlebotomy. The course was translated into Spanish and French. In addition, the Academy localized the FrameMaker and Freehand files used in the creation of the English CD course.

Web-site localization

www.cmc-inc.net
cmc-inc, a manufacturing consulting company based in Bellevue, WA chose the Academy to localize their site into German and Japanese. With the localization of their website, cmc-inc's objective was to increase their inquiries in Germany and Japan, the other largest countries in terms of OEM companies, after the US. Because of the highly technical nature of the site's content, our client's main concern was to find a vendor that had the technical knowledge and experience required to guarantee the highest quality of translation. The Academy worked with a team of experienced German and Japanese technical translators and reviewers and was able to deliver a localized site which met the client's expectations.

http://www.credit-power.org
This web site was successfully localized into Spanish for the US. The project involved careful translation of personal finance and credit terminology that would appeal to various Spanish-speaking cultures. The Academy was able to respond to the client's approach, which intended to provide web surfers from different cultural backgrounds with familiar usage, so they could continue to explore the site.

Washington Academy of Languages
This was a multilingual project involving localization of Washington Academy of Language ESL (English as a Second Language) page into French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Arabic, Russian and Indonesian. This localization project involved several challenges related to the variety of target languages, including Asian languages, which require double-byte enablement, and Arabic, which is a bi-directional language (reads from right to left).

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