Software Localization Services

Software localization is a similar process like website localization. Software localization requires customizing your product for consumers in a target market. It is an efficient method to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers. A complete software localization enables your international clients to interact with your software seamlessly in their own language. In the age of globalization it is necessary to provide information in a variety of languages so as to make the market for all your products and services become more and more internationalized. This is especially true for the software market, where the product itself comprises exclusive localizable information.


What is Software Localization?
Software localization or translation implies not only the mere translation of the product's user interface but also that software gets adapted to the culture of the target country, so that at the end they can reach a larger audience. Software localization is the complex process of translating the software and adapting it to the linguistic conventions and cultural features of the users from the target country. This process often requires a lot of effort and long hours from the development teams which include the following:

• Programmers
• Localization engineers
• Translators
• Quality assurance (QA) specialists
• Project managers.
• Freelance specialists etc.

Software Tools
Without specialized tools, localization of software, especially the complex one, is very difficult and time consuming. Fortunately, there are several specialized tools available today. While some are are more general translation and customization tools , others are custom made for the software localization process. Some of the popular software tools are:

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe FrameMaker
• Adobe Illustrator
• Microsoft Office suite
• Adobe InDesign
• Macromedia Fireworks
• Paint Shop Pro
• Macromedia Flash
• Quark Xpress
• Macromedia Dreamweaver
• Microsoft Help Workshop
• SQL server
• Adobe GoLive

The Importance of Software Localization
The present-day market is international. Though software translation is not very economical, it allows companies to access foreign markets which would have been otherwise impossible or difficult to penetrate. Moreover, not all people are English speaking. Software nowadays is translated in order to be available on larger markets. If you plan to develop your software in several languages, it is better to take into account certain localization and translation issues from the very beginning. The best advise is to do before the software is written. There is no doubt that that keeping localization issues in mind while working on the project's specifications will definitely help reduce costs and reduce the effort involved with the localization of the product on foreign markets. Software localization or software translation is beneficial for both developers and customers due to the following reasons:

• Messages are available in their native language.
  
  
• The entry fields are formatted in such a way that is common to their respective country (for instance: name, address, date, hour, etc.)
  
  
• For entering information, different types of keyboard are taken into account.
  
  
• The error messages in the native language provides quick solutions for the problems.