SDL is a leader in global content management and language solutions, emphasizing the importance of quality in translation projects over cost and speed, as indicated by a survey of 2,784 respondents. The top challenge in achieving quality is inconsistencies in terminology, leading to significant rework among professionals in the translation supply chain. Recommendations to improve translation quality include prioritizing terminology management, familiarizing with formal quality standards, and utilizing objective assessment tools.

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SDL_ig_TTI_Research_Quality_160616
The importance of quality
When we asked respondents to specify the relative importance of quality, speed and
cost for translation projects, quality came out clearly on top:
Survey scope
We had 2,784 respondents across
115 countries and in 9 languages,
from translation professionals across
the entire translation supply chain –
enterprises, corporates, government
bodies, language service providers
and freelance translators.
1. Prioritise terminology
management
The research findings together with the
rapid advancement of technology would
suggest that embracing terminology
management is one of the easiest ways to
take quality control to a new level.
* Unless otherwise specified, all results in this eBook come from the SDL TTI survey of more than 2700 people in the translation industry. For further information, see
the survey executive summary at www.sdl.com/tti or www.translationzone.com/tti
Even for cost-
conscious
corporates and
LSPs (language
service providers,
or agencies),
quality is
4x
more important
than cost.
Quality is
2.5x
more important
than speed
6x
more important
than cost
Quality
$£¥€ $£¥€
Quality
Speed Cost Cost
See the full survey results here
Corporates: www.sdl.com/tti
LSP: www.translationzone.com/lsp/tti
Freelance Translators: www.translationzone.com/fl/tti
Nearly
2/3
(64%) of
those polled
have to do
rework.
Percentage of respondents required to do rework based on third
party feedback
But quality is also hard to achieve
Whilst quality is so important, it can be hard to get it right first time.
48% 44% 31% 27% 24% 17%
Terminology
inconsistencies
Styling Translation
inconsistencies
Translation
doesn’t
sound
natural
Formatting
and tagging
errors
DTP
problems
Terminology is the top challenge
Inconsistencies in the use of terminology emerged as the top cause of rework.
Always Often Rarely Never
Frequency of feedback
4% 3%
58%
Frequency of
feedback
Constructive feedback on
the quality of translation
is rare (or non-existent)
for 61% in our study.
35%
4% Formal,
standardized
assessment
59%
24%
37%
4%
35%35% No
measures/
ill-defined
measures
24% Qualitative
feedback 37% Mixed
measures
59% either don’t measure translation
quality at all, or use ill-defined or
purely qualitative assessment.
Quality Assessment: All respondents
56%
Three ways to improve translation quality
say that terminology
management is a priority
Requirements
Rules Standards
Regulations
TransparencyLaw
Policies
Standards
Governance
2. Familiarise yourself
with existing standards
If, like the majority of our respondents,
you find that you know little or
nothing about the formal quality
standards used in the translation
industry, take some time to learn
about them.
3. Embrace an
objective approach to
measuring quality
Choose a specialised assessment
tool to take the subjectivity out of
measuring quality.
SDL’s Translation QualityAssessment
(TQA) is such a tool.
Define what quality is
(which might vary in
different contexts).
Measure (and analyze)
translation quality
consistently over time.
Clearly indicate where and
why any translation falls short
of the defined criteria.
SDL Translation
Technology Insights
Research Study 2016
A comprehensive survey investigating the
role of technology in the translation industry
and how it is helping to shape the future.
Insight 1: Quality