Localization is the content, service or the product adaptation to the local market. Localization does not imply the translation process, but rather follows the translation phase when the source language is replaced by the target or translated language with additional cultural adaptation.
The word localization is associated with LISA - Localization Industry Standards Association. The association was a Swiss trade body that dealt with translation of computer software and related to the technical documents like the manuals, user guides and any other technical material. Among its members counted large information technology companies of that period as Adobe, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, McAfee, Nokia, Novell and Xerox. The company existed from 1990 up to 2011.
Localization versus Translation
Localization is mostly accepted as a Translation process, though it starts once the translation is over. Translation is intended for monocultural audience rather than localization for multicultural audience. Actually most of the localized products are the IT-related applications and software, video games and web pages, movies and cartoons. A large number of companies are localizing their products and services to make them accessible for multilingual end users.
The localization market is considered being the country where the product is being adapted. Localization can be done not only for a country, but also for a segment, group or segment of cultural significance. Some countries may have different cultural and linguistic features. There are as well countries having two or more official languages. For instance, almost 99% of Japanese speaks Japanese, but the country has 11 officially recognized languages, some of which may be secondary and so on.
The purpose of the Localization
The purpose of the localization is to adapt the product to the local market taking into consideration the emotional aspect of the language in order to avoid the cultural conflicts. To build a product which is in accordance with the traditions and emotional aspect of the given country, it is necessary to have a detailed and predefined plan for the product development. The detailed plan will allow to avoid the future expanses related to the problems and peculiarities of the cultural adaptation.
Localization components
When localizing a product or service, non textual and textual components that are localized are as follows:
1. Graphic elements
2. Local currency
3. Hours and dates
4. Addresses
5. Phone numbers
6. Preferences for colors
7. Cultural references
Other components, up to the physical structural features of the product can be added to the above list.
Localization and technologies
Technologies continue to evolve. Similar to the translation tools, the localization uses its own tools to separate the process between the different employees and work stages among them. Localization tools allow the different collaborators to work in different places and even countries. The tool performance is enriched with different options and almost every worker need to be equally distributed over the system. Successfully localized products and services respond to the local needs. Several cooperators like programmers, translators or product managers consider the localized product as finished when they are in confrontation with the country cultural specificities.