Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019 - 53

been apprehensive about attempting
localization of their courses.
E-LEARNING COMPONENTS REQUIRING
LOCALIZATION
Organizations differ in their approach
to e-learning course design and to the
components they include therein. Let's
examine some of the more common
features of e-learning programs.
1. Content and narrative translation and
formatting. The program content will
include all on-screen text (OST), which
will need to be translated and formatted.
For example, text that is translated into
languages that expand, such as French,
German and Spanish, will need to be
reformatted so that it appears properly on
the screen originally designed for English
text. This can present quite a challenge
with more complex screens and is best
done by an experienced multilingual
desktop publishing (DTP) specialist.
The content and presenter notes typically
make up the course narrative and will
include descriptions of what is being
discussed, as well as instructions and tips
for the user. The narrative may take the
form of true voice narration or may be in
the form of closed captions.
Whether using voice narration or subtitles,
the timing of the localized application will
need to be adjusted in order to account
for matching the voice or subtitles with
the on-screen text. It wouldn't make sense
for the narrator to be speaking about an
item on the screen when another is being
highlighted or referenced. The cadence
of each language will dictate the timing
of how long a screen appears and must
account for the amount of time it takes to
narrate the translated text or for someone
to read the translated subtitle before a
new slide appears.
2. Graphics. On-screen graphics may
contain text that needs to be translated.
When text is embedded in the graphic,
the text will need to be reproduced in an
external file and translated, after which

the original graphic can be localized.
Localizing can be defined as replacing
the source language text with the target
language text and formatting it so that it
appears correctly. As this step is frequently
done using a graphics editing application,
it is most commonly performed by a DTP
specialist rather than a translator.
3. Mouse cursor movement captures.
Due to the instructional nature of
most e-learning programs, there are
usually cursor movements pointing to
items and actions that the narrator is
explaining. These cursor movements
need to be reflected in the localized
program, and the timing of these cursor
movements needs to be synced with the
accompanying narration.
4. Navigation and action buttons.
Depending on how they are designed,
e-learning programs will often incorporate
navigational or action-related buttons
containing translatable text. Examples
of these include buttons such as PREV
(previous), NEXT, SUBMIT and CONTINUE.
As with embedded graphics text, this
content is either manually extracted,
translated and reinserted by a DTP
specialist, or may already be translated in
the tool. In the latter case, selecting your
target language will prompt the system to
display the translated navigation.
5. Subtitles and voice-over recording.
Development budgets may control
whether subtitles or actual voice narration
is used when designing a course. Subtitling
is far less expensive and time-consuming
than providing a narrator. The same is true
about localization; it costs far less and
requires less time to translate subtitles
than to record the translated narration
using a live voice. Studio time, directors
and professional voice talent all add up
to what can be a costly proposition. The
end result of a voice-over, however, is a
much more professional-looking, and
sounding, product. Most importantly, the
participant retains more of what is being
presented, since she or he is not forced
to read subtitles rather than focus on the
lesson at hand.

TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY
ELIMINATES MANY
OF THE BARRIERS
ORGANIZATIONS USED TO
FACE WHEN LOCALIZING
THEIR E-LEARNING
PROGRAMS INTO
MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.

CONCLUSION
Delivering training via e-learning platforms
is a proven approach and is projected to
increase year after year. The introduction of
social, mobile, analytic and cloud (known
as SMAC) technologies has facilitated the
adoption of e-learning solutions.
Organizations spend significant resources
designing, developing and testing
e-learning programs in order to effectively
educate clients on products or services
and employees on internally focused
topics. By only providing education in a
single language, you are excluding those
who do not understand that language
and those who do not understand it
sufficiently enough to be able to learn in it.
Making your e-learning and other
computer-based
training
curricula
available in multiple languages will
serve to increase the number of people
who can benefit from this educational
tool. Additionally, comprehension and
retention levels will be dramatically
improved as people learn in a language
they can understand and work in.
Ralph Michael Strozza serves as the chief
executive officer of Interpro Translation
Solutions, which he founded in 1995. He
began his career in the localization industry in
1982 and has staffed and managed corporate
translation teams in North America and
Europe. Email Ralph.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE -LEARNING ANALYTICS 20 19 I WWW. T RAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019

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