Re: Translation of on-screen menus
The client, in reviewing the draft, is concerned that the cost of
translation into something like ten target languages will be greatly
increased because of the need to generate substitute screen shots and
has suggested, as an alternative, that we mock up the menus and dialogs using text tables (the deliverable is in Word). The result would be logically equivalent to screen shots of the actual menus, but it would not be graphically identical.
What does the gathered usability jury say? Would this be a reasonable
compromise or would users find it confusing? One risk I foresee--and
that I'll mention in my response--is that the menus and dialogs as translated by the translation agency might not be identical to the menus and dialogs as translated ahead of time by the company for their on-screen display.
The application I work is translated into 11 languages currently, with plans for several more.
To save translation costs, we minimize the number of screenshots in our user manual. We would definitely not be allowed to include screenshots of menus.
Instead, we use tables or lists of menu items. The table rows are in the same order as the screenshots, but they also include a column for a description or purpose of the menu item.
Jane
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References:
Friday Humaor - AND It's On Topic!: From: Rob Domaschuk
Translation of on-screen menus: From: Dick Margulis
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