The Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) defines localization as follows:
"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."
Localization can go far beyond translation when the product being localized is a software product or a website.
The Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) defines Internationalization as follows:
"Internationalization is the process of generalizing a product so that it can handle multiple languages and cultural conventions without the need for re-design. Internationalization takes place at the level of program design and document development."
A product that is well internationalized during its development cycle will pose fewer challenges during its localization. Separation of text and source code, the capacity of the product to handle different character sets and local standards are all crucial aspects of the internationalization phase of a product.
The Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) defines Globalization as follows:
"Globalization addresses the business issues associated with taking a product global. In the globalization of high-tech products, this involves integrating software localization throughout a company, after proper internationalization and product design, as well as marketing, sales, and support in the world market."
The term "globalization" is used to express different concepts; it is sometimes used interchangeably with "internationalization." In line with the above definitions, we like to think that the concept of globalization covers the many business and management issues a company faces when bringing a product to other regions of the world (after the product has been internationalized and localized for that region).
In order for a piece of software to function properly in China, Korea and Japan, the English-language code has to be enabled to support double-byte Asian characters. A double-byte character is composed of a lead byte and a trail byte that must be stored together and manipulated as a unit.
We would be happy to provide you with an estimate for localization of your website. So that we can produce an accurate bid, we will require access to all the necessary source files that constitute the product, including all html, asp or xml files (or other file formats) as well as layered graphic files.
As with most translation projects, our general process applies:
When applications require frequent updates, we will assign a translator/editor team in each target language to facilitate quick turn around of translated text. We work with your staff to prioritize updates.
We do not have testing facilities, but are able to provide testing experts/QA consultants to work with your staff to ensure product compatibility, functionality, and installation.