IT translations: types and characteristics

If you are looking for IT translations, it’s probably because you have successfully developed a programme, application or platform that you want to distribute in different countries.

In the IT field, a wide variety of documents are created that require translation: on-screen messages, information about the programme and platform on the company's website, translation of technical manuals, etc.

There must be terminological consistency between all these areas in order to provide a pleasant user experience platform, game, application or software.

1. What are IT translations?

IT translations refer to translations of IT-related materials.

Information technologies have gradually become a fundamental and ubiquitous component in people’s life. Nowadays, virtually all devices have built-in computers, or the possibility of combining their computer control systems.

The importance of using a professional translator

Such texts are usually highly technical, so only translation professionals, which is a major challenge for professional technical translators.

IT translation has become a translation type itself, with many characteristics shared with technical translation, although there are also a lot of differences between the two disciplines.

The difficulty of computer translations, like technical translations, are the high presence of technical terms, which make them difficult to understand for a non-specialist audience.

Therefore, you should count on a professional translator specialised in the field.

2. Most common types of IT translation

In the IT field, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, a wide variety of documents are generated that require translation. Some of the most frequent are:

2.1. Manual translation

The bulk of an IT translator's work lies in the translation of software and hardware manuals. This type of document not only contains a high amount of technicalities, but also includes specific concepts that need to be understood correctly.

2.2 Translation of IT articles

Articles aimed for IT professionals often contain scripts or code examples. In order to translate these documents correctly , it is necessary to have a minimum knowledge of the programming language they describe.

2.3 Translation of comparative reviews

These reviews are usually about software and hardware products and are usually intended for specialised magazines or IT websites.

They usually contain a large number of tables and summary tables, requiring a high level of concentration to manage the numerical data. It also requires a high capacity to work with images.

2.4 Software translation/ localisation

Software localisation is not limited to the translation of the content, but requires its adaptation to national requirements, such as:

• Including region-specific data
• Modification of print formats
• Modification of the characters used
• Modification of drawings and colour combinations

Software localisation is often understood only as the translation of the interface into the target language. However it is much more than that.

2.5 Translation of computer games

It consists mainly in the translation of the game's interface and menus, as well as the characters' dialogues. This type of translation requires extensive experience in the field of video game translation.

The translation must always be adapted to the audience and particularities of the target language must be taken into account.

3. Request your quote for IT translations

We can conclude that computer translators have to meet very specific requirements.

In addition to technical knowledge in IT fields, professional translators must show a great ability to keep up to date in an ever-changing sector.

That’s why it is essential to use professional translation services by a professional, capable of doing a quality job.