Translation challenges in the localization of web applications

Abstract

This preliminary study aims at exploring the nature of challenges that translators face when they take on a localization project of a web application. Taking into account that localization is an activity constrained by time, process and economic resources, translators need to make use of their full skill set to overcome the various challenges imposed by the source text and the localization process itself. For the purpose of this study, an ad hoc monolingual English corpus composed of the user interface strings of web applications has been used. Since multiple types of challenges are found in a localization project of this nature, this paper focuses on those related to internationalization practices and to constraints imposed by the translation memory segmentation process. Although localization is a mature field and a great deal of guidelines and best practices is available for content creators and tool developers, as found in this qualitative study, localizers can still suffer the consequences of deficient internationalization practices and non-ergonomic translation tools.