How Do Automation and Scripting Streamline Localization Workflows?

Key Points:

About Automation and Scripting.
Automation and Scripting Main Features
How to use Automation and Scripting in the Most Operative Way?
How Do Automation and Scripting Streamline Localization Workflows and Increase Efficiency?

Concisely, automation and scripting are about allowing the user to make changes in any project automatically by setting the system to trigger chains of actions like applying machine translations, translation memories, and others based on changes in any language targeted in the project.

Automation and Scripting Main Features

There are several automation and scripting features that can be used in localization workflows to streamline the process and improve efficiency. Some examples include:

File Preparation: Automation tools can be used to prepare files for localization by extracting translatable text, creating a translation memory, and preparing the files for translation.
File Format Conversion: Automated tools can convert files between different formats, such as XLIFF and TMX, making it easier to work with different CAT tools and translation memory systems.
Translation Memory Management: Automated tools can help manage translation memories by updating them with new translations, merging them, and removing duplicates.
Quality Assurance Checks: Automated tools can perform quality assurance checks on translations, such as checking for consistency, grammar, and style errors.
Terminology Management: Automated tools can help manage terminology by creating, updating, and maintaining glossaries and terminology databases.
Workflows Management: Workflow management tools can be used to automate the localization process by automating task assignments and status updates, providing real-time analytics on project progress, tracking progress, managing resources, and ensuring that deadlines are met.
Automated Language Identification: Automated tools can help identify the source language of a text, and then proceed to translate it to the target language.
Custom Scripting: scripting can be used to create custom tools and processes to support specific localization needs, such as extracting text from specific file types, or integrating with other systems.
Machine Translation Post-Editing: Automated tools can perform machine translation and then offer a human translator to proofread and correct it.

File Delivery: Automation can be used to deliver the translated files to the client in the desired format, such as website localization, mobile app localization, and software localization.

Scripting can also be used to automate repetitive tasks, such as file preparation, quality assurance, and file delivery, and to integrate different tools and processes in the localization workflow. In addition to that, Automation and scripting can also be used to manage and track the different versions of the files and keep track of comments, suggestions, and feedback.

How to use Automation and Scripting in the Most Operative Way?

Use It at the Design Stage

With automation, users can set custom rules on certain projects to make visual context changes and fixes automatically to eliminate or decrease the probability of errors, and unnecessary waste of resources, time, and additional costs.

Use Translation Memories

TM is your own database of sentence pairs, or text segments that have already been translated and used, and can be reused when translating similar or identical content in the projects.

Auto-Fill Rules for Language Variations

Having several language variations within the same project (English US, and English UK), with only minor differences, instead of copying and pasting the translations while updating one of the languages, you can set up auto-fill rules in order to perform automatic updates in another.

Quick Translation Turnaround Time Using MT

Machine Translation (MT) can speed up translation times and help deploy more quickly. It is impressively useful when it comes to tight deadlines, low translation budgets, or temporary translations to create multilingual prototypes.

Source Change Management

The features of this practice can be of great use for organizing the localization project. The features shall include filtering translations, assigning tasks, exporting translations with particular statuses, and much more.