TRANSLATION & LOCALIZATION QUALITY ASSURANCE

Quality Control

We have proven our quality control process in place for translation projects, which consists of three-major steps ("TEP": Translation – Editing – Proofreading/content management) and a final quality assessment ("QA") performed by the project manager. Each of the three steps in the TEP process is completed by a different certified translator team with native speakers of the target language.

WE SURVIVE ON CONSISTENTLY DELIVERING OPTIMAL QUALITY!

Thousands of competitors are out there claiming to be able to offer good Chinese translation service, so what make us stand out? We are reassured about our safe position as long as we know and keep two core competences:

1: Un-compromised translation quality
2: Marvelous client services

Every translator approaching you claims to be an experienced/excellent one, but in many cases, the results do not turn out to be quite positive. WE ARE DIFFERENT! A.C.Translation is a professional Chinese translation team consisting of only the best-of-the-best talents active in this industry. We SURVIVE on top translation quality, and STRIVE TO BE CHINA'S NO.1 TEAM offering offshore translation services for you. NO QUALITY, NO A.C.TRANSLATION.

COUNT ON US. When you have assigned your Chinese translation projects to A.C.Translation, it's "rest assured". With our confirmation, you can just put your heart at rest, knowing that we are going to deliver a top quality translation job by due time (if not much earlier). Any exception? Yes, we would of course "bother" you by sending queries if there were any doubt and uncertainty about the source text - only this could ensure the translation is delivered free-of-error.

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We use only linguists and specialists carefully selected to match the subject matter and content of your project. We stand by all of the translations performed by our translators. If there are any issues or questions with one of our translations, we will work with you until you are completely satisfied with the quality and accuracy of your translations.

Our quality control process for translation projects consists of a three-step translation process ("TEP": Translation – Editing – Proofreading/content management) and a final quality assessment ("QA") performed by the project manager. Each of the three steps in the TEP process is completed by a different certified translator team with native speakers of the target language.

Step One - Translation

Translators should provide a free-flowing translation of the source text that does not sound like a translation through its contemporary and idiomatic use of our mother tongue - Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. It should also be stylistically in keeping with the tone, specifications and target audience identified in the client's brief.

Step Two - Editing

An independent editor should ensure that the translation accurately conveys the message of the source text and meets the client's style requirements. Editors should check the language without the source text and read the text as if they are the target audience, asking questions such as "Does the language sound clumsy and literally translated?" and "Can you guess the English text from which it originated?"Editors should correct mistranslations and check for technical accuracy and consistent use of terminology, grammar, spelling and punctuation. The editing stage should result in a polished text that reads as if originally written in the target language.

Step Three - Proofreading

Proofreading after typesetting or putting the translation online should always be undertaken by linguists who has not seen the text before and who will check the language file for grammatical, spelling and typing errors as well as hyphenation, punctuation and corrupted accented characters. Online files should also be checked for basic functionality such as blind links, error messages and missing images. This stage is the final opportunity to ensure the suitability of a copy in context, including consistency between headings, pages and drop-down menus.

One last extra step - Internal QA

An in-house QA process thoroughly checks the edited document against the source text. At this stage, an in-house linguist should focus on identifying any critical content errors such as product names, figures, misinterpretations, omissions and any inconsistencies against client-approved terminologies.
After completing the internal QA, the localized text should now be perfect in terms of linguistic style, consistency of terminology and technical correctness.

This TEP + QA process is a proven methodology for achieving natural, accurate and persuasive communication with a value that cannot be compared with those bargain basement pricing approach.

If the time frame is not too urgent, we will often have one extra step before the actual TEP+QA of a large project, which is usually the development of a comprehensive glossary of terms specific to the client’s project. This process will be managed by a content/terminology manager whose sole function is to receive, interpret, convert and implement terms via a dynamic glossary that is distributed and integrated across our teams of linguists. We leverage processes and tools to ensure that the correct terms are implemented at all times, fusing accuracy with time-efficiency. This process provides consistency, while allowing each translator to submit modifications and adaptations where he/she may deem necessary.

Our pride also lies in the superior talent of our experienced translators, efficient editors and competent content managers and proofreaders. For those technical contents and other translations that require a strong background knowledge of industry-specific information, we usually rely on subject-matter experts to ensure the correct usage of industry terminology. These professional resources have access to translation glossaries, authoritative and up-to-date dictionaries and industry-specific terminology tools. We believe strongly in the necessity to employ industry-expert linguists as each industry relies on specific terminology and nomenclature that is ever-changing and critical to conducting its everyday activities.

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We adopt the same quality standards for all translation and localization projects, thus the quality assurance is an essential part of each and every production process in this translation house.

Generally speaking, this means that all of our translation projects are handled by native Chinese speakers and reviewed by a second linguist either translated 'in-house' or by another external translator. We employ the following check-list in our TEP and QA procedures:

Use of correct terminology
Grammatical accuracy
Use of appropriate style and tone
Using the translation memory provided to maintain consistency
Correct interpretation of context
Consistency of terms
Instructions have been followed accurately
Checking of the format and layout

Also we perform Quality checks on any DTP project we do. However, we can provide this service as a standalone service for the customers whom wants high quality output. Our Desktop Publishing QA checks includes the following:

1. To compare the target files against the source to ensure consistency in layout, paragraph spacing, fonts, etc.
2. To ensure that every image is placed in place, and localized (if that's needed).
3. To pay attention to language specific issues like punctuation, special characters, direction of text, etc.

Like any supplier of goods or services, a translation house will potentially bear ethical and legal obligations to its clients / customers. This has turned to be of enormous importance with the development of the language industry at global scale. For the protection of the both parties, certain standards have been developed that seek to spell out our mutual duties. We may discuss about these standards in a separate page.