In increasingly globalized markets, more businesses are using localization testing as a vital tool to ensure a seamless and engaging user experience for their global audiences. As these companies adopt localization as part of their globalization strategy, it becomes increasingly challenging for new businesses to take their market share in the global market. Because accurate translations of your products, services, websites, or apps are not appealing enough to grab the customers’ attention. You need to implement thorough localization testing to ensure your localization efforts are 100% free of glitches, linguistically, culturally, and functionally.
When it comes to successful localization, creating a positive first impression on your website’s visitors or your software/application’s users is key. Typos, awkward translations, broken strings, and other issues in both the content and user interface can harm how the customers view your brand. How to avoid these situations? Use localization testing services.
Localization testing is the failsafe measure to ensure your localized websites or software is perfectly adapted to the user’s local language, culture, and other regional settings like date, time format, currency, etc., before going live.
However, there’s more to localization testing services. Keep reading to find out what localization testing is all about and how to perform localization testing on your website, software, or application.
What Is Localization Testing?
Customers from different regions of the world speak different languages with their standards, ideologies, and perspectives on their life vary with locations.
Localization testing refers to the process of testing software or content to determine whether the product is appropriately accommodated to a specific region or locale’s language, culture, and other requirements. It is an essential step in the overall localization process to ensure the accuracy of the text translation, the proper use of locale-specific symbols, currency, time format, etc., and compliance with the target market’s standards and regulations.
When it comes to making your websites and apps ready for global acceptance, localization testing is not an option but a necessity.
How to Perform Localization Testing?
Localization testing generally concentrates on proper adaptation in language, user interface, and user experience.
The objective of localization testing lies in whether the translated content in the software/website loads in the same language of that target region and if the localized user interface and the overall user experience of the software/website appear as expected by the local users. Localization testing encompasses many different variables and factors, which can be a daunting task if you don’t have a robust localization testing framework to guide the testers.
Consider using this checklist to help streamline your localization testing process and maximize your efforts.
1. Collect all the information required to help the localization testers thoroughly understand your product/website.
- All relevant documentation
- Background information
- Glossaries
- Industry-specific terminology
2. Make a user guide with detailed instructions for localization testers to reference and follow.
- Use this guide to familiarize the testers with the ideal use scenario of your website/product and remind them where to look when implementing localization testing.
- Use exploratory testing approach so that the localization testers can guide themselves when needed.
3. Validate all the core factors.
- Translation accuracy
- Cultural appropriateness
- Appearance and layout
- Functionality
Localization Testing: Best Practices
Localization testing ensures your software application or website complies with the linguistic, cultural, and functional requirements of your target market. The localization testing for software and website share some similarities, but understanding their nuances is always essential.
Software Localization Testing
When performing localization testing for software, such as an app, it is critical to verify the loading of the appropriate language (with accurate translations), ensure the presence of suitable regional and cultural elements, and identify any evident issues in the user interface (UI) or user experience (UX) from the outset.
After you’ve completed the high-level examination of the software, you can delve deeper into the software, focusing on the following aspects:
- Adaptation of Hotkeys:
Check if hotkeys have been correctly adapted for different language layouts. For example, if a hotkey designed for an English keyboard layout is compatible with a Russian keyboard layout, or the keyboard specific to another language?
- Font Compatibility:
Confirm whether the font loads properly for each language. The font type varies with different languages. For example, Arabic use different fonts than Latin-based languages like English and Spanish. So the Arabic text can’t display properly with the font type used by Latin languages.
- Placeholder and String Validation:
Verify the correct loading of all placeholders load correctly and ensure the accurate translations of all strings that all strings without any concatenation issues.
- Check if widgets have left enough room for the translated text to fit in.
You may also explore our software localization services.
Website Localization Testing
Similar to localization testing for software, website localization testing also begins with a high-level evaluation of linguistic and cultural elements for appropriateness, and issues with the UX or UI. After that, you will concentrate on testing the functionality of the website.
- Verify whether the translated CTAs (call to action) carry the impact as the original one on your new target audience. If not, adapt your localized CTAs to suit language-specific nuances to ensure they are convincing enough to motivate users to take action.
- Check if all hyperlinks work consistently across all supported languages and whether the anchor text in each language leads users to the correct destination.
- For e-commerce websites, conduct thorough testing against the checkout process, checking variables including pricing, product descriptions, currency conversions, etc. Conduct localization testing at this stage by imagining you are a customer trying to place an order. Upon completion of the ordering process, check if the thank you pages load properly with the correct confirmation emails.
- Don’t forget to test the functionality of your chatbot in all translated languages if you have configured one on your website.
You may also learn about our website localization services.
Last, but not least, implement a thorough spell check for all the texted-based content across the software or website. This helps recognize and fix any tiny mistakes, polishing the final product.
Explore our our website and discover how we help different industries thrive. You can also contact our expert team directly.
Don't know how to perform localization testing?
Further discuss your localization testing needs using the form on this page.
Benefits of Using Reliable Localization Testing Services
Localization QA testing can be applied to cases that target one specific or more locations. Apart from the linguistic level of evaluation, localization testing also considers many other factors such as local traditions, common herd behavior, etc.
What factors are tested in localization testing?
- Avatars
- Currency
- Graphics
- Navigation and keyboard usage
- Objects
- Symbols
- Translation
- User interface
- Others
With that said, how can you benefit from using localization testing services?
There are numerous advantages of testing localization for your software and websites, to name a few:
- You can identify defects at an early stage and ensure the software to be launched is of the highest quality.
- You can reduce the time needed for localization testing and expedite your product’s market entry.
- You can ensure to provide the best user experience of your software/website and outperform your competitors in the market.
- You can become the local users’ first choice by providing services in their language and catering to their specific needs.
- You can establish your company as a global brand and enhance brand popularity and recognition.
- You can capture new markets and gain authority in your own industry.
Choosing A Reliable Localization Testing Company
A reliable localization testing company works with skilled software and website localization testers with years of experience under their belts to conduct localization testing for clients from different regions and industries.
Professional localization testing companies also have access to a plethora of state-of-the-art localization testing tools for language validation, screenshot comparison, target environment simulation, etc., to increase project efficiency. Using native linguists, in-country testers, and cultural consultants also make the localization testing work and the feedback provided by a language company more dependable and valuable during the process.
Contact us and know more about how we help global businesses win the hearts of their new international customers.
Final Words on Localization Testing
As a critical step in the overall localization process, localization testing makes a seamless user experience possible and increases businesses’ probability of success in the global markets by addressing linguistic accuracy, cultural adaptation, functionality, user interface, and compliance.
By investing in thorough localization testing services, businesses can confidently target multiple demographics, and hence, enhance customer satisfaction, build trust, and maintain a competitive edge on a global scale.
Wordspath can help
Wordspath provides many cost-effective language localization services and multimedia solutions such as transcription, subtitling, and voiceover services, with guaranteed accuracy and at scale.
We take pride in our quality-driven workflow that combines the excellent work of our linguists, desktop publishers, project managers, customer service, and technical team. Their endless support allows Wordspath to provide first-rate language solutions in 150+ languages for thousands of customers who need to connect with the world.
Wordspath also offers machine translation post-editing services translating the content with our proprietary MT engine and having our in-house/contracted linguists review, edit, polish, and proofread the results.
Meanwhile, we are highly experienced in delivering tailor-made localization-related solutions such as desktop publishing, transcription, subtitling, and voiceover. Our ability to quickly handle a wide range of content types between nearly all language combinations sets us apart from our competitors. Should you need to consult on your best-fit language solution, you can contact us through live chat or email to info@wordspath.com. Or simply request a free quote.
