Localization kit: What you need to know

So, you’re ready to start your localization journey, and (hopefully) you’ve gone through internationalization testing to check if your product is designed and developed to be easily adapted for other markets. Now that you’re done with that, it’s time to move on to the actual localization process.

But how do you ensure everything runs smooth? A localization kit is a great document for boosting efficiency and ensuring project clarity. Let’s explore what a localization kit is, why it matters, and how to create one.

What is a localization kit?

A localization kit, or l10n kit, is essentially a toolkit that helps prepare a product or content for a specific market or region. It contains various resources needed by translators and others involved in making the product understandable and relevant to the target audience. Serving as a guide and a toolkit, it ensures that the localization process is systematic, efficient, and produces high-quality, culturally appropriate results.

Why do you need one?

You get quite a lot of benefits out of using a localization kit. First off, it can really streamline your workflow because it consolidates all necessary resources and guidelines in one place, which helps teams quickly find and utilize the information they need without hunting for scattered documents.

Another major advantage is that a localization kit can help enhance user experience and satisfaction. It does this by ensuring that content is adapted to meet local cultural norms and preferences. Plus, it can facilitate better penetration of new markets, making a product or service appealing and relatable to those audiences.

Implementing a localization kit can also lead to significant cost and time savings. Through clear guidelines and established standards, the kit reduces the amount of effort required for localization tasks and minimizes the likelihood of costly revisions and rework. This efficiency translates directly into lower costs.

Furthermore, your localization kit is not single use; it can scale for future projects. The kit provides a reusable framework that can be adapted and applied to new localization efforts. As market needs evolve or new tools and technologies emerge, you can update and refine the kit so that it remains relevant for future projects.

What does a localization kit contain?

Now that you know that a localization kit can benefit you greatly, let’s look into what you need to start building it. Since it is a comprehensive package of materials and information, it can include a wide range of things like:

• Source content, such as original files (software strings, documents, web content, multimedia, etc.), style guides, and glossaries.
• Technical documentation like file formats and instructions on handling them, build/deployment instructions, and platform and browser requirements.
• Linguistic and cultural guidelines, which can consist of target audience profiles (think of language, cultural nuances, and preferences) and localization guidelines (e.g. date formats, currencies, legal requirements, etc.)
• Contextual information like visual aids showing how the content is used or displayed, as well as user manuals and documentation.
• Project management details, starting with the schedule and milestones for the localization project to the roles and responsibilities, but also the Quality Assurance procedures.
• Tools and resources, where you list all software used in your localization efforts (e.g. localization management platforms, Computer-Assisted Translation tools, translation memory, and so on).

Additional considerations

The content of a localization kit will vary depending on the specific project and client needs. For instance, a game might include concept art and character profiles in the kit, while a software program might have specific coding requirements.

The more time and effort put into creating a comprehensive localization kit, the smoother the entire localization process will be. Plus, these kits need to be updated and improved over time, especially as new reference materials or style guides become available.

Add POEditor to your kit

As already mentioned, you need a localization platform in your kit. It allows you to consolidate everything. Text files, style guides, reference materials – POEditor keeps them all organized in one central location. Our platform’s intuitive interface makes it easy for all team members to find everything they need, and collaborate directly on the platform.

Managing translations effectively is at the heart of successful localization, and POEditor has many features to help you achieve that. The platform supports a wide range of file formats and offers translation memory and machine translation integrations. Furthermore, it allows you to create glossaries, which helps maintain consistency across all translations.

So, the next time you’re crafting a localization kit to launch your product globally, don’t forget to add POEditor to your arsenal and see what it can do for your business.