Making Apps International: A Guide to Reaching Global Users

Making Your Apps International

Testronic Labs
Filipe Samora - AppsWorld - 2011/11/30

AGENDA

1. Why Make Your Apps International?

2. Prepping Your Apps for International Markets

3. How to Make Your Apps International

Why Make Your Apps International?

Can’t Read…

WON’T BUY!

WHY MAKE YOUR APPS INTERNATIONAL?

“Translation is not necessary.
Don’t most people speak English anyway?”

11 out of 12 people worldwide don’t speak English
Speakers of English as a foreign language feel more comfortable using apps in
their native tongue which increases the chances of them buying these apps


You might also be surprised to hear that English is third on the list, behind Mandarin and
Spanish in terms of native speakers…

List of top 10 languages by number of native speakers
(2010)

No. Language Native Speakers
1 Mandarin 845 million
2 Spanish 329 million
3 English 328 million
4 Hindi-Urdu 240 million
5 Arabic 206 million
6 Bengali 181 million
7 Portuguese 178 million
8 Russian 144 million
9 Japanese 122 million
10 Punjabi 109 million
Source: Wikipedia


While English is the top
online language, it only
reaches 26.8% of the
online population.

In other words, with your
English-only website and
apps, you’re ignoring
73.2% of the online
population!

2010


Now, what would happen
if you translated your
website and apps into the
other 3 top languages on
the chart?

By doing that, you would
drastically improve your
reach to 63.5% of the
internet population.
Simply put, that would
more than double your
available prospect pool!


It is estimated that the worldwide smartphone application market will grow
to $15.65 billion and the number of smartphone users will increase to
1 billion by 2013.

PREPPING YOUR APPS
FOR INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

PREPPING YOUR APPS FOR INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Even if you aren’t thinking about releasing your app in multiple languages, you
need to ensure your app is ready to accommodate different languages. This
process is known as internationalisation.

Internationalisation should be step one in the design and development process of going
global. It involves setting up solid foundations so that your system architecture is
translation-ready, supportive of multilingual data, user interface and regional
requirements.

1. Technical Component
2. Linguistic Component


TECHNOLOGY STANDPOINT

EMBRACE UNICODE

Unicode supports double-byte (Asian languages), special character sets (e.g., Eastern
European) and bi-directional (right-to-left, e.g., Hebrew, Arabic).

Unicode eliminates dependencies on byte values. It is a fixed-width, 16-bit character set,
which enables it to capture more than 65,000 characters. That means that Unicode can
represent scripts and symbols for writing text in nearly every language.


ISOLATE TRANSLATABLE TEXT FROM CODE

Textual elements, e.g., GUI component labels or text messages that vary with locale,
should not be hardcoded in the program. Instead they should be stored outside of the
source code and retrieved dynamically (JSON, PO, XML, XLIFF, etc.). This eliminates the
need to recompile your app for different languages.

 Translatable text

JSON file

String ID Path to translated graphics



CHECK IF ALL YOUR CONTENT CAN BE TRANSLATED

Pre-populate a built application with
dummy translation automatically,
according to applied settings, in order
to detect implementation issues in
the software, prior to starting the real
translation phase. This process
verifies that application’s GUI or
functionality will not break with the
translated text and examines whether
the application can support special
characters and text expansion.



PRESERVE LAYERED GRAPHIC FILES AND ORIGINAL FONTS

By doing so you will avoid additional costs during multilingual graphics
production. Supplying the translator vendor with only flat GIF/BMP/JPEG files
without original fonts will result in higher cost and reduced quality when
attempting to mirror source graphic output.



ALLOW FOR TEXT EXPANSION

Bear in mind that most European
languages expand by 25-50% from the
English. Provide character space limits
to the translators for strings that cannot
be expanded in restricted boxes.
Although you can resize your dialogs
before after software translation before
rebuilding the translated application, the
process will be much more efficient if
most of the dialogs and controls have
sufficient size before translation.


LANGUAGE STANDPOINT

TRY TO WRITE GLOBALLY

It’s not easy to ask writers to stanch their
creativeness, to drop slick jargon wording or to let go of
comforting local references and instead, draft generic
examples that resonate worldwide.

However, if you’re aiming at going global, bear in mind
that a lot of jargon, slang or local culture-specific
references will not necessary translate into other
languages / regions / cultures.


LANGUAGE STANDPOINT

AVOID ABBREVIATIONS

Some languages do not have abbreviations (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Arabic) so avoid
them. Abbreviations are often an emergency solution for squeezing text into a cramped
layout. Consider adjusting the layout first.

PLAN FOR RIGHT-TO-LEFT

If your app will be released in
Arabic or Hebrew, for
example, plan for the layout to
be reversed. Don’t assume
that sentences can simply be
flipped; this may cause
usability issues as well as
weird text display wrapping.


LANGUAGE STANDPOINT

CREATE A GUIDE FOR TRANSLATORS

Your translation suppliers shouldn’t have to guess what something means and you can’t
afford to explain everything to them as translations go along. Create a guide that
provides details on your project including a glossary of terms. If possible, work with
translators who are already familiar with your subject matter.

 Your objectives, what you are trying to achieve with your app
 Preferred Style (formal/informal)
 Target audience
 Expressions / Messages to avoid
 Contextual information for ambiguous strings
 Screenshots of the App

HOW TO MAKE YOUR
APPS INTERNATIONAL

HOW TO MAKE YOUR APPS INTERNATIONAL

Translation

Reproduction of text in another language so that the meaning is still the same.

Localisation

Localisation involves taking a product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate
to the target locale (country/region and language) where it will be used and sold.

SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF


Three main approaches…

1. Machine Translation

2. Freelance Translation Suppliers

3. Integrated Localisation and Testing Lab


MACHINE TRANSLATION


MACHINE TRANSLATION – PROS & CONS

PROS: It’s cheap $$$$$$$$$$$$

CONS: You get… what you pay for.


MACHINE TRANSLATION – PROS & CONS


FREELANCE TRANSLATORS


FREELANCE TRANSLATION SUPPLIERS – PROS & CONS

There are plenty of websites out there which allow you to hire the
services of freelance translators:


FREELANCE TRANSLATION SUPPLIERS – PROS & CONS

PROS: You should be able to get better quality than Machine
Translation

Still a relatively cheap option

CONS: Uncertainty (you won’t necessarily know who’s the best
translator to handle your job). Not every certified linguist
can translate an app or a good sales pitch for the App
Store.

Translations will not be independently proofread

Content will not be tested on the devices


INTEGRATED LOCALISATION AND TESTING LAB


INTEGRATED LOCALISATION AND TESTING LAB – PROS & CONS

CONS: It’s typically the most expensive option for localising your apps when you
consider the entire package (translation + editing + testing on devices)

PROS: You should get what you pay for



A Lab should be able to:

 Provide a team of translators, proof-
readers, editors and testers with
proven experience in localising and
testing apps

 Reduce translation costs by reusing
previously translated content

 Create and maintain translation
memories, terminology databases,
style guides and query databases in
order to ensure consistency

 Handle any last minute product
updates in a cost-effective manner



Labs will also provide you a project
manager who is responsible for:

 Defining and providing a project
plan for their internal team which
consists of clear, written project
instructions and milestones

 Examining, reviewing and
preparing the source files for
translation

 Appointing the best resources and
ensuring the project runs in
accordance to time, budget and
quality requirements



 Resolving most linguistic and
technical queries allowing you to
focus in your core business

 Creating and maintaining
multilingual glossaries, translation
memories and style guides

 Acting as a "smoke detector" that
senses early signs of deviation
from the plan, which can affect
delivery dates and project budget



Last but not least, Labs will be able to test your apps

Why…testing???



Because you want to avoid comments like these…
Slow and cheesy
by ...E.Y.- Version 1.0.0 - May 12, 2010
The game is painfully slow to play. The registration
process is very difficult, with many steps. Poor
translation, typos galore. A sad waste of money. RUN
AWAY!

Nice avatars, awful app
by ...C.S.- Version 1.0.0 - May 15, 2010
I suppose we could consider this app an open beta,
and wait for the devs to go in. But (a) I doubt the
company is eager to balance it on the fly and (b) no
one's paying me to correct their app for them, or to
deal with their faulty testing. It's just easier to delete it,
and way easier to not download it in the first place.



Because you want to avoid comments like these…
Come on!
by ...P.B.- Version 1.0.2- June 12, 2010

This would be a pretty frikin awesome app if u would
fix it! Every time I open the app I have to reload it
cause it says no Internet connection and I have an
Internet connection. Fix it and it would get a lot better
reviews!

Ugh!!!
by ...L.K.- Version 1.0.1- May 21, 2010

DO NOT DOWNLOAD this app unless you have
extreme patience for poor game play or they fix it. Not
worth the free price, but it does have great graphics.


1. Functionality Testing

 Interactive text input using different
input locales
 Font independence
 Text handling in the UI
 Adherence to local standards: ensuring
that time, date, currency, and numeric
values can be entered, interpreted,
stored, and retrieved according to the
rules set by the user locale.
 Localisation-independent functionality:
system errors, crashes, etc.
 Checking the overall usability of the UI.
 Compliance with system, input, and
display environment standards.



2. Linguistic Testing

 Verification of translation accuracy in
context
 Checking for typographical errors
 Checking for overlapping, truncated
or misallocated text
 Checking corrupted fonts
 Grammar checks (inaccurate
sentence structure, incorrect gender,
plurals, conjugation, or declensions)
 Assessment of cultural
appropriateness
 Checking for culturally sensitive
content
 Verifying whether corrections have
been properly implemented
 Generating a final QA report

Thank you! See you on Stand 103

Making Apps International: A Guide to Reaching Global Users

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