Software Localization and Internationalization Services

RIC International provides a full range of localization and internationalization services to companies ranging from Fortune 100 to small biotechnology start-ups. We help companies adapt their software, websites, and web applications for use in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

How is Localization Different from Translation?

Localization of software is adapting software for use in various languages and locales. Localization involves more than just translation of user interface (UI) and documentation. Software may need to be adapted for dealing with:

• Local APIs (Application Programming Interface), operating systems, search engines, or even currency and accounting standards;
• Double byte characters used in Asian languages, such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean;
• Right-to-left writing systems of Arabic, Hebrew, or Farsi;
• Culture-dependent meanings of icons and underlying connotations of color schemes;
• Sorting algorithms for non-Roman character sets;
• Enabling various input methods;
• Locale-dependent variations, such as date formats (dd-mm-yyyy vs. mm-dd-yyyy), calendar systems (e.g., Japanese use an Imperial Calendar, Muslim and Hebrew calendars are based on lunar months), currency, address formats, etc.

Internationalization

Before embarking on a localization program, it is important to verify that your software is adequately Internationalized. Internationalization is a process of making software ready for rapid and cost-effective localization into (practically) any language and for any locale. Internationalization does not involve any translation at all. It is simply making changes to the software to make both localization and maintenance of international versions easier.

Ideally, Internationalization is a fundamental part of the product design and development process. In reality, a vast majority of software needs further internationalization work after it is released in the American market. Internationalization involves, among other things:

• Enabling software installation and operation with foreign characters sets, platforms, and other localized programs (I18N Enablement);
• Enabling software to be easily translated, maintained, and supported after it is localized;
• Externalizing translatable resources from executable binaries and creating resource-only libraries;
• Moving button and graphics text into string variables;
• Adopting single source materials for documentation management.

Benefits of Upfront Internationalization

In the real world, it is rare to see software that has been one hundred percent internationalized. But doing as much Internationalization upfront as possible before starting the Localization and translation processes has benefits that tend to far outweigh the costs. Internationalization can:

• Facilitate smooth translation process and tracking of future updates
• Allow for increasing product language set — easily!
• Reduce support costs (one set of binaries, not unique product versions);
• Enable bug fixes to apply to all languages, and the same bug fixes can be delivered to worldwide customer base;

The more thorough the Internationalization process is, the better the outcome of the whole software development process in terms of:

• Stronger code integrity;
• Faster turnaround;
• Better quality of the code;
• Reduced overall costs;
• Consistency;
• Satisfied international customer base;
• Efficient software updates;

In other words, Internationalization saves money and prevents many problems!

Localization Process

In order to help your development and business teams, our localization engineers, Internationalization specialists, and software programmers are available to you to assess your needs and develop the most cost-effective and practical solutions for your organization. They can do as much or as little as you need: from educating your technical team on internationalization issues and guiding them through your internal internationalization process; to helping you plan and budget the process and design internationalization QA tests; to getting involved in the whole internationalization process hands-on. The choice is yours.

After completing Internationalization — or, more likely — completing it up to the constraints imposed by real-world time and budget pressures, we are ready to start localization. Unlike Internationalization, which involves engineers and business managers, Localization involves a team of translators, localization engineers, multilingual desktop publishers, QA engineers, testers, and a localization project manager. RIC International can localize your software into any major European, Asian, Middle Eastern or Latin American language, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, etc.

RIC International's Localization Process adheres to standards set by the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA).

Contact Us

To learn more about our localization solutions and our technical translation services, or to request a quote or a proposal, please call us at 1-800-240-0246 or e-mail us at info@ricintl.com