Localization
Localization is the multidisciplinary process of adapting a foreign text to the cultural context of the country whose language is the target of the translation. Hence, localization is more than translation.
Localization is the reworking of an existing software product for the purpose of using it in countries with a different language. Localization provides for the translation of the documentation and user interface, alterations to the design procedure, as well as some reworking of the programs.
(Glossary service by subject, http://www.glossary.ru/)
A simple example: “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carrol is a translation - the most famous by Boris Zakhoder. While the work published in Russia under the title “Anya in Wonderland” by the writer/translator Vladimir Nabokov is a form of localization.
In addition to the “localization” of works of literature, the localization of websites and software is in highest demand.
Website localization
The localization of your Internet site is the adaptation of its content with regard to the particular cultural features of the language. The result is the cultural and linguistic integration of the site in altered form, with no loss in terms of quality or meaning.
Website translation has some particular features. The site and text contain such informational elements as: main and secondary menus, page headings, multimedia objects, flash clips. For complete and organic website localization, it is vital to repaginate the translated text so that its design, structure and organizational logic do not differ from the original.
Software localization
Software localization is required to implement international projects for business automation and the design and service of the customer’s computer networks, both internal and external. As you are aware, software localization requires not just high-quality translation, but also preservation of all the functional characteristics of the program. As a minimum requirement, following localization the program should work at least as well as the original version.
Our company has performed localization work for such companies as: Vympelkom, Novy Disk, Informzaschita, as well as for its own "East-Link.com" project.
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