Re: Cross-language "same content on same page" issues

[Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> I'd be interested in hearing if someone on the list
> is subject to the
> regime of keeping the same content in different
> language versions of a
> manual on the same pages in the different manuals. I
> understand some
> certification bodies demand this for certain types
> of publications.
> 
> I know that it is rather non-user-friendly (to say
> the least) and that
> some manuals will become quite ugly (manuals issued
> for "compact"
> languages get alot of empty pages etc.), but I'd be
> interested in
> hearing your experience, anyway.

Been there, done that. The fact is, HOW you go about
accomplishing this depends on your target language and
the audience. One tried and true means of making the
translation fit is to design your documents with
translation in mind. That is, the English copy should
allow room for text growth (about 25% on average) in
the translation, and you should also keep in mind
layout issues pertaining to the direction the text
will be read (left to right, right to left, top to bottom).

=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)

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