Case study: translation services for financial compliance tracking software
Executive Summary
The client came to Scriptis to translate and localize their software for finance and insurance professionals. Their flagship tool simplifies and centralizes compliance information for financial advisors, MGAs, and insurance carriers. The client needed to translate the software strings and website content into French for Canadian audiences. Marketing and training materials for users and administrators of the software also required translation.
The Challenge
The client built the tool for use by a wide variety of insurance professionals. Their first localization goal was consistent use of terminology across all content: software strings, web pages, and training modules. A second challenge came with the variety of digital formats required by the client. Both of these issues were managed with the use of computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools. CAT tools play an essential role in best practices for software localization.
Performance
To ensure consistency, the project manager recommended glossary-building as an essential first step. The client collaborated with the team to create a glossary of English terms. Translators with subject matter expertise in Canadian compliance and insurance translated the glossary into French and loaded it into the CAT tool as a term base. As the linguists worked, the tool auto-suggested correct terminology to ensure consistency. It also flagged incorrect term usages.
In addition to managing terminology, CAT tools simplify publication of the same content across multiple media. After the project files are imported, the tool presents the content to the linguist in a clean two-column source-target format. File formatting tags are obscured from view and protected against unintentional editing. Translators and reviewers translate in the tool, which also runs an automatic QA program. The tool then exports the translated content with the formatting intact.
Once a project is finished, the CAT tool saves the source-target pairs in a searchable database called a “translation memory.” When a client updates content, or submits new content for translation, the CAT tool analyzes it against the translation memory. If identical or similar source phrases and translations already exist in the TM, they can be flagged and autosuggested. This saves time and effort.
After the software strings were translated, Scriptis performed pre-live testing on both the software and the website. Systematic testing by a native French speaker ensured functionality and provided a final linguistic review.
Results
French localization ensured a Canada-wide market for the client’s software. By following best practices, Scriptis conducted the project with a dual purpose. In addition to ensuring a successful delivery, following best practices established the framework for efficient localization on an ongoing basis. For our clients in finance and insurance, the ever-changing regulatory environment demands efficiency and the ability to react quickly and with utmost accuracy. Our customized workflows and strong client support tools, such as client-specific translation memories and term bases, make this possible.