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We all pretty much know about localization; however, businesses rarely practice pseudo-localization, and many don’t even hear about it. Global companies use the pseudo-localization technique to keep their localization process seamless and smooth. Pseudo-localization test is conducted to ensure that your website, software, or mobile app is ready for localization.
Doing pseudo-localization will reduce the chances of errors and mistakes in your localization. You can manually do it or use a professional pseudo-localization tool for the purpose. Developers can use a professional cloud-based localization management platform to test different elements of websites and software readiness for localization. This article discusses the working and significance of pseudo-localization for your localization project’s credibility.
Pseudo-Localization – Definition
Pseudo-localization is a sort of testing that ensures that your mobile apps, websites, games, or software are ready for localization. Professional developers use this method to identify potential problems in the app or software and combat all errors before the actual localization phase starts. Especially, the product is tested from a translation perspective, like what sort of changes might happen to the user interface if the content is translated into other languages. By doing pseudo-localization, developers make sure that localization modification and changes do not have any adverse impact on user experience.
How Pseudo-Localization Works?
The overall work on pseudo-localization depends on the pseudo-language; it is used to substitute all user interface elements that are supposed to localize. Users of the source language must read the pseudo-language; however, it also contains some elements from other target languages that might cause problems while translating.
For pseudo-localization testing, you can also get help from professional tools. It will save your time and cost; fewer efforts will get wasted on wrong localization. Pseudo-localization can also help you with the internationalization of user interfaces that respond very well to international audiences.
How Pseudo-Localization Testing Makes Your Brand Ready for Localization?
Pseudo-localization should be an integral part of your product development cycle, especially if you are targeting multiple regions at once. Following are some important issues that you can resolve by pseudo-localization testing.
Hard-Coded Content
Hard-coded content in your apps and software can be a major hindrance to your localization. It may also cause trouble for your developers and make them feel frustrated. Localizing something with hard-coded elements is very time-consuming. Your developers may need to spend hours and days writing the code from scratch or make a lot of modifications to the existing code. It is very hard to extract the content from HTML and replace it with translated content. So, to make your existing software localization friendly, you do pseudo-localization testing by adding dummy translations without including hard-coded content. It will also get easier for you to spot the hard-coded content.
Non-Localized Text in Graphics
Localization is not just about text translation; it goes ways beyond it. Your visuals and graphics on the user interface should be localized as well. It is important to make sure that all of your images have translated text on them. With the help of pseudo-localization, you can identify those images that still have native content. If you are using a professional translation project management system, it would be even easier to do pseudo-localization testing because you can easily search through the different components of the software. Moreover, your tool may contain features that would help you separate the images from the source language text.
Translation Messed with Interface
Every language has its own unique writing style, and some languages may take more space than others to deliver the same message. So, there is a high chance that your translations may mess up with the software design and user interface. For instance, your translated text may not fit into the allocated space, and things will totally get out of shape. Similarly, some languages use the right to left, and others use left-to-right writing styles, which is also another important thing to consider. Ask your developers to add an auto-adjust feature to your software, so it automatically adapts itself to translated content. Using the dummy translations during pseudo-localization testing, you can get an idea about how well translations fit into the user interface. It would also allow you to know about the responsiveness of your software design towards the translations.
Conclusion
You must employ pseudo-localization testing in your localization journey to avoid any trouble. It will prevent errors and help your developers give smooth and hassle-free localization processes. You can also use a professional cloud-based localization management platform to automate your localization tasks.
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