Medical Translation Insight

Corporate training departments can choose between a variety of tools to develop internal e-learning courses, each with their pros and cons in terms of cost, versatility and learning curve. For those training a global workforce, the "localization-friendliness" of the tool can have serious cost implications and become an important factor in the selection process. Separately, once the tool is chosen, being able to make full use of its features and capabilities can help smooth and speed up the localization process.

Adobe Flash is still one of the most used tools for e-learning and computer-based training programs. And who knows better about localization best practices than the developers?

Adobe's globalization team recently posted the outcome of an extensive study undertaken to identify best practices in localization of Flash-based content. Starting with creating the English content so that it becomes localization "friendly", the article shows how users can realize cost and time savings.

The take-aways and best practices are worth noting by corporate training groups and medical translation suppliers alike. For example:

"Keep the number of text layers within Flash project as low as possible. If any text formatting is required, do it only one text layer (as much as possible)."

And:

"For any localizable text within a graphics (graphical text), it is important to provide source English assets. If source editable asset is not provided, it has to be re-created..."

Now, that is sound advise and often ignored (or not known) by training program developers.

So, head on over to the Adobe Globalization blog for their useful Adobe Flash Localization Guidelines.

Of course, Flash isn't the only tool out there. Take a look at these other resources for more useful insight into the translation and localization of training materials:

• Localization Tools for eLearning: Articulate, Flash and Captivate
• Implementing a Rapid e-Learning Development Tool
• Updating Training Content Dynamically
• Video Production and Localization for eLearning
• Recording and Translating Audio for eLearning

ForeignExchange provides specialized medical translations for training courses developed by pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Contact us to find out more!