Translators and Computers

All presentations are in English unless otherwise noted.

[CANCELED] TAC-1 (T, 1:45pm-3:15pm) - All Levels
Software Localization Workshop
Stephanie Livermore (Gloucester, Massachusetts), freelance software localizer and quality assurance consultant; and Sandra Zolotor (Arlington, Virginia), project manager, ASET International Services Corporation

In this workshop, we will review the definitions of I18N and L10N, the scope of a localization project, and the tools available. We'll discuss the L10N workflow from a freelancer's point of view, as well as the client's expectations. We'll show you how to use TRADOS to translate an application and RCW to localize a software package. This session will offer information on resources, literature, localization software, and tips for newcomers to the localization industry to give them a head start in this competitive industry. This session is suitable for project managers as well as for translators and clients.

TAC-2 (T, 3:30pm-5:00pm) - All Levels
Translation Support Tools Forum
Alan K. Melby (Provo, Utah), ATA director, chair, ATA Translation and Computers Committee, and professor, Brigham Young University

This new conference session invites a spectrum of translation support software vendors to present their products to conference attendees in a panel/Q&A format designed to spotlight the relative strengths of each. Alan Melby, who chairs ATA's Translation and Computers Committee, will moderate. You are invited to submit questions in advance to tstf-2002Conference@atanet.org.

TAC-3 (F, 10:15am-11:00am) - All Levels
Concept-Based Translation of an E-Business Software User Interface
Youliang Ren (Denver, Colorado), senior technical translator, J.D. Edwards & Company

Rolling out e-business software on a global scale requires high volumes of top quality translation materials. Concept-based translation is based upon the principle of a function-equivalent stating that the translator must first interpret and understand the true meaning of the source text prior to translating it into the receptor language. However, due to the space constraints of the user-interfaced fields on the screen, the ambiguities of lexical items in the software are particularly troublesome to translators. This presentation describes how to make available, and take into account, all semantic, syntactic, and contextual information when defining the idea behind the terms by linking to a concept-based product-specific terminology database and using customized, intelligent translation tools.

TAC-4 (F, 1:45pm-2:30pm) - Intermediate
Testing Localized Applications: The Linguist Goes from Word to Code
Rocío Chavarriaga-Doak (Somerville, Massachusetts), ATA-accredited (English®Spanish) translator specializing in technical translation and software localization

The speaker will guide those translators who have never performed software testing through the process and standards of software localization. The presentation's goal is to offer a general overview of linguistic and functional testing of localized applications, as well as to suggest ways to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for the job.

TAC-5 (S, 8:30am-10:00am) - Beginner/Intermediate
Linguistic Quality Assurance Testing of Help Files
Marcello Napolitano (Milpitas, California), freelance ATA-accredited (Italian«English) translator, and administrator, ATA Italian Language Division

This session will discuss the localization of RTF and HTML Help files used in Windows-based software. Help files are one of the three main components of a software localization project (together with the user interface and the documentation). They are complex documents with specific syntax that can give the translator many challenges, both during the translation and the final linguistic quality assurance testing. We will focus primarily on the testing of Help files for linguistic accuracy and functionality after the translation is complete. We will also review the freeware and commercial software tools used to perform Help file linguistic testing.

[CANCELED] TAC-6 (S, 10:15am-11:45am) - All Levels
Website Visibility Strategies For The Chinese Market
Mike Adams (Cody, Wyoming), Arial Global, LLC; and Sheh Lio (Cody, Wyoming), director of globalization, Arial Global, LLC

Your website has been localized in Chinese, but how can your potential Chinese customers find you in the vast clutter of cyberspace? This presentation will give an overview of the popular search engines in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Tactics will be revealed on how to get listed with these engines through keyword selection, page optimization, submission, and relevancy enhancement. It will also focus on the "Do's and Don'ts" when promoting your website via the Internet. With this knowledge in mind, your web globalization efforts will be tremendously enhanced.

(Related Sessions: Agencies, Bureaus, Companies (ABC-2), Localization Vendors: What We Hide from the Clients; Japanese (J-9), Japanese Dictionaries and Terminology in the Electronic/Internet Age; Science and Technology (ST-7), XML Translation: How to Deal with the New Documentation Technology; Slavic Languages (SL-6), Navigating the Cyrillic "Swamp": Understanding Encodings; and Terminology (TERM-1), Internet Terminology at Your Offline Fingertips)