Why is translation quality so important?

We understand that companies decide to translate documents because they want to achieve specific outcomes.

We understand that in the corporate world the desired outcome is usually either to increase earnings directly (by winning a bid, making a sale, or convincing decision-makers) or indirectly (by building brand image and reputation among the target audience).

At Veritas Traducción y Comunicación, S.L., we understand that your original document's purpose is to communicate and connect effectively with readers, and we understand that just as a poor-quality text in the source language will fail to do this, so a poor-quality translation will fail to achieve your objectives.

High-quality translation = Effective communication = Increased earnings

We understand the clear and direct impact translation quality has on communication outcomes, which is why we recommend you view decisions affecting translation quality in terms of the return on investment it generates.

We also recommend you approach translation the same way you approach source-language document production.

We know that the documents you commission us to translate are important to your organisation and that they will have been through a tightly controlled production process.

We know that they will have been drafted, edited and reviewed by a team of people before receiving final approval, and we know that you expect your Translation Service Provider to employ similarly stringent quality control procedures when translating your documents.

What is translation quality?

Quality is something that practically every Translation Service Provider claims to offer. But what is translation quality? How can you recognise it?

Although it is often argued that translation quality is subjective, it is nevertheless possible to establish objective quality criteria for the translation itself, the work process and the overall service.

Here are the basic criteria that a Translation Service Provider offering a quality service should fulfil:

i) Translation

• Correct transfer of information from the source text to the target text.
  
• Appropriate choice of terminology, vocabulary, idiom and register in the target language.
  
• Appropriate use of grammar, spelling, punctuation and syntax, as well as accurate transfer of dates, names, figures, etc. in the target language.
  
• Appropriate style for the purpose of the text.

ii) Work process

• Certification in accordance with national and/or international quality standards.

iii) Service

• Speed and appropriateness of response to customer queries.
  
• Fulfilment of delivery commitments.

Quality standards

Veritas Traducción y Comunicación, S.L. is certified in accordance with the UNE-EN 15038 (certification number ST-0004/10) and UNE-EN-ISO 9001 (certification number EC-5443/10) quality standards. These certifications endorse our work methodology, quality management system and the quality of our translation and language services.

How can you judge the quality of a specialised translation if you do not speak the language?

This is one of the aspects that may initially make it difficult to assess the quality of a translation. If the text has been translated into your native language, then you probably have a good idea of the quality of the finished document, but not of the accuracy of the technical translation. However, if it is not translated into your native language, then you may find it even more difficult to judge whether the translation meets your requirements.

However, the translation has been done for a purpose and one of the best judges of the quality of the text is the target reader (distributor, user, customer, etc.). Ask for reader feedback. Is it a good translation? Is the terminology correct? Is the translation suitable for its purpose?