The ultimate quality checklist for translation and localisation

Whether you are a localization manager or project manager in the translation industry, it is critical that before you deliver a translation project, you carefully go through a review checklist for quality assurance.

In fact, part of completing the project should be the process of following the checklist. It’s pretty much a list of items that require verification before submitting the project to the client.

As an editor or translator, we’ve made things easy for you. Instead of coming up with your own checklist, we’ve created a comprehensive checklist for you. Our checklist will help you go through the translation project and verify that the project’s instructions and specifications have been followed.

Below is an overview of the checklist we have created.

Overview of Our Ultimate Translation Review Checklist

Before You Start the Project

• What is the purpose of the translation? (persuade/legally bind/inform)
• Who is the target audience? What is their reading level/ethnicity/background/language/location?
• Has the target language been agreed upon?
• Are support documents, surrounding documents, and reference materials available? Be sure to give them to your vendor.
• Is a sample of the product referenced in the source document, or photos or screenshots of the product available? Does the vendor have them?
• Are there any parallel texts in the source language, such as company literature? Be sure to supply the vendor with the texts.
• Are there parallel texts available in the target language? Supply them to the vendor.
• Should date and time formats, currency, names, and units of measure be retained with their cultural equivalents?
• Have you used the following translation tools: terminology, machine translation, glossaries or translation memory?
• What is the project’s timeline?
• Are there confidentiality or copyright issues?

Once You Have Completed the Translation

Accuracy and Style:

• Spelling errors
• Grammatical errors
• Omissions
• Verb agreements
• Punctuation errors
• Diacritics
• Colloquialisms and idioms
• False cognates
• Topical context
• Offensive terminology
• False friends
• Cross-cultural references and regionalisms
• Linguistic patterns
• Have you double-checked industry-specific terms for accuracy?
• Has all the content been successfully translated?

Formatting:

• Font size
• Font consistency
• Line spacing
• Color
• Translation of proper nouns
• Currency
• Measurements
• Are diagrams and tables properly formatted?
• Alphabetical order of listicles
• Colloquialisms and idioms
• Does everything display properly?
• Are the graphics in the right positions?
• Does text flow around graphics the way it is meant to?
• Have you performed the translation per the client’s instructions, supplied a style guide, reference material, and a glossary?
• Did you make a backup copy of the final draft, fonts, design files, and foreign language fonts?
• How do you rate the overall translation?

As a project manager, localization manager, editor, or translator, can you really afford to be without a full checklist for each and every project you translate?

Access the Ultimate Checklist

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