Reviewing a Translation

Initial things to check

1. The language codes are correct, per frontmatter.

2. The information in the “About this translation” box is correct.

   • If translator or contributor names are missing, it’s because they are still commented out.
     Delete the hashmark and space (# ) before the lines.
   • Check the dates: one is the date of the translation; the other should usually match the date in the footer.

3. In the footer, the dates are the same in the English version and the translated version.

4. There is no code showing in the rendered page.

5. All of the text that should be translated, is actually translated.

6. The links work.

7. Check the raw file to see if all alternative texts and other not-visible content are translated.

8. In the “Help improve this page” box near the bottom, the “Fork and Edit” button works.

   If not, the fix is probably adding “content/” to the path in the front matter.

   For example:

9. For any videos on the page, the [CC] defaults to the translated language.

   If not, some video subtitles steps are probably missing.

For people who know the translated language

The most important thing for review is helping accurately convey the meaning from the English version in the translated language. For that, you will need to read the English version and compare it to the translation. Often is best to have them open in side-by-side windows.

A technique for proof-reading is to listen to the translation being read aloud, for example with a screen reader or text-to-speech in the operating system.

Specific wording:

• Consider different dialects. Where possible, the translation should use words and phrases that will be best understood across different areas.
• The translator and reviewer(s) might want to work together to consider different options for some wording.
  If you have any questions about the wording, please report them in the GitHub issue so that WAI team and other volunteers can help.
  Alternatively, send email to the publicly-archived public-wai-translations@w3.org mailing-list. We are happy to help you decide on the best translated wording by sharing the considerations and nuances that went into choosing the wording for the English page.
• When you decide on translation of unclear words and phrases that will likely be in other resources, feel free to add them to the Glossary for your language .

For people who do not know the translated language

You can still help with reviews by looking for things like:

• English text that is not translated (like alt text)
• Link accuracy,
• Formatting issues,
• and other things listed at the top of this section.

You can also help find missing content or potential issues with the specific wording.

Suggestion: Compare three versions side-by-side:

• The English original
• The translation for review
• A machine translation of the translation back into English (of course, this will be very inaccurate, yet sometimes it still works to spot issues)