Translation is part of the content, not an afterthought
Translated text in an exhibit helps visitors who read other languages, and it signals that they were expected. Done late and cheaply, it often produces awkward wording, broken layouts and mistakes that are embarrassing in public. Done as part of the plan, it is manageable. The key is to treat translation as a stage in content production, with time and budget of its own.
Decide languages and scope
Start with who the visitors are. Local census information, visitor surveys and community contacts help show which languages matter. This is a question of tourists and multilingual visitors on one hand and local communities on the other, and the two groups may need different languages. It is better to do a few languages well than many languages poorly.
Next, decide what is translated. Options include:
- Everything, which is thorough but costly and takes time to maintain.
- Key content only, such as introductory text, wayfinding and safety information, with a summary for the rest.
- Layered: a short translated summary at each exhibit, with a longer text available on a handout or the visitor’s phone.
Whatever you decide, record it in the brief and keep the list of languages consistent across screens, labels, audio and video.
Write source text that translates well
The quality of a translation depends on the original. Text that is clear and plain in the first language is easier to translate accurately. Helpful habits include:
- Use short sentences and plain words, in line with plain language practice.
- Avoid idioms, puns, slang and cultural shorthand that have no equivalent.
- Be consistent with terms. If a thing is called a “gallery” in one place and a “room” in another, a translator may treat them as different things.
- Avoid text that depends on other text, such as “see the above” or pronouns with unclear referents.
- Write dates, units and numbers in a clear and consistent way, and check them.
- Spell out acronyms on first use.
- Avoid putting words inside images, since those are difficult to translate and update.
Freeze the source text before translation starts. Edits afterward mean translating again, which costs money and risks versions drifting apart.
Give translators context
A translator working from a spreadsheet of fragments has little idea what each line is for. Supplying context makes a big difference:
- Where each string appears: a button, a heading, a caption or a paragraph.
- Any character limits.
- A glossary of key terms and names, with approved translations or notes on terms that should not be translated.
- Pictures or screen captures of the layout.
- The intended audience and tone.
- Notes on sensitive terms, especially where words carry history or controversy, as discussed under cultural safety.
Choose translators with subject knowledge when the content is specialist, and consider whether they are comfortable with the regional variety needed. Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese and many other languages vary by place and have more than one written form, so ask which variety suits your audience.
Machine translation tools can offer a rough draft, but they make mistakes, particularly with specialist terms, names and tone. If used at all, treat their output as a draft that a qualified person must check, and do not use it unreviewed for public text.
Text expansion and layout
Translated text rarely matches the length of the original. Some languages produce longer text than English and some produce shorter, and the difference varies by sentence. As a rough planning habit, designers often leave generous spare room, commonly in the region of a third or more, in labels and buttons. That is a rule of thumb, not a measure, so test with real translations.
Other layout points:
- Allow for different writing directions. Languages written right to left may need a mirrored layout, not just flipped text.
- Check that fonts include every character needed, including accents and non-Latin scripts.
- Test line breaking, since some scripts do not use spaces in the same way.
- Check that sorting, search and keyboard behavior handle other languages correctly.
- Keep buttons flexible so longer words do not overflow, and see touch targets for the minimum size that must be kept.
How visitors switch between languages is a design problem on its own, discussed in language switching. For audio and video, translations may be delivered as subtitles, dubbed tracks or separate versions, and subtitles need to fit the reading speed of viewers, as covered in captions and transcripts.
Review with native readers
Translation should be reviewed by someone who reads the language natively and is not the original translator. This catches mistakes in meaning, tone and local usage. A good review process involves:
- Showing the text in its real layout, on screen or in a mock-up, and not only in a document.
- Asking reviewers to mark errors, awkward phrasing and anything that reads oddly.
- Having the translator respond to comments and update the glossary.
- Checking final files again after the layout has been fixed.
Where possible, include members of the communities the text is about. Their review is also a chance to confirm that names, place names and terms are used in the way they prefer.
Back-translation, in which another person translates the text back into the original language, is occasionally used to spot major misunderstandings, but it can miss problems of tone and fluency, so it complements native review and does not replace it.
Maintenance
Translations go out of date when the original changes. Keep a record of source versions and the translated version matched to each, so changes can be tracked. Store the translated text separately from the layout files when possible, so updating a sentence does not require redesign. Budget for updates and corrections after opening, and invite visitors to report errors; they will find some.
Finally, test the whole experience in each language, not only the text. Check pronunciation in audio, captions in video, date formats and any images or symbols with different meanings in other cultures.