Elearning Design: 15 Expert Tips to Improve Elearning Translation

1. Select the right authoring tool

"Ideally, you should have a tool that can export and import content for translation easily.

"For instance, there are tools like Lessonly which require translation to be done on the platform itself because you can't export it or import it easily. Articulate Rise, however, can do that."

2. Use the dynamic resizing feature

"Another important feature is whether a platform offers dynamic resizing.

"Some languages have longer words or sentence structures, like German for instance. Instead of the content being cut off because of character limits, dynamic resizing means the tool resizes the page so that a whole word can fit."

3. Design for localization from the outset

"There's a mindset shift that's needed. It's about thinking, first and foremost, about localization. Don't design for English, with everything else as an afterthought. When you design in English, think that it's one of the many languages that the content will go into.

"Keep in mind that you're not only taking the English content to serve your English-speaking learners. That same content needs to work for all the other markets and all of your other learners as well."

4. Use machine translation strategically

"Machine translation can be a very useful tool, especially in terms of cost and quick turnaround. However, there are a lot of risks when it comes to the quality of those translations, especially when there's a complex grammar structure.

"In Japanese, for instance, it really matters how you say something and in what order. Machine translation is not going to understand that.

"With machine translation, you want to write things in a very short and succinct manner. You can also have translators post edit the machine translation to make sure that the style that your brand wants and the specific product names aren't mistranslated."

5. Ask yourself: Do we need to localize this?

"The big question around multimedia assets is: Do you want it localized or not? Is it something that is essential for the learning outcome?

"For example, do you need that specific screenshot to be localized? If the answer is no, then you can just leave those assets untouched. If the answer is yes, then what are the parameters you need? For example, if it's a video, do you really need it to be voice? Maybe subtitles are enough.

"Do you want to have different versions of the video for each market? Or do you just need a video hosting platform that allows you to upload different subtitles files?

6. Take different devices into account

"Another useful feature is to have a platform that can adapt whether the audience uses mobile, PC, or tablet. That way, learners can actually access that content in a way that suits them."

7. Consider varied learner needs

"People also have different levels of access to Internet. In some countries, people are in the habit of downloading content on their home network so that they can watch it while they're traveling, rather than consume content on the go."

"Maybe Internet access is expensive or is very slow in that market. These are all the things that you should consider up front to understand your audience and how they will consume the content."

8. Prioritize long-term, scalable solutions

"The difference between designing for one language and localizing into other languages is often about scalability.

"For example, if you are just creating eLearning content in English, you might use all sorts of different features, quizzes, animations, and interactions. But when you scale that up – and it might be 5 languages or 50 languages – that cost increases as well. So think about that when you're designing those elements."

9. Think about multimedia elements

"When localizing, you might need to go back and look at your multimedia. Try to minimize the amount of videos or images.

"Sometimes, multimedia elements are necessary so your modules are engaging and people look forward to using them. But, multimedia also brings an extra layer of engineering. That's something that will have a great impact on your costs and your budget."

10. Simplify language and use repetition

"It's useful to paraphrase sometimes. It might be necessary when you are doing things like assessments or quizzes, when you want to test the understanding of a lesson.

"But, there are some sentences that will be repeated across the module and concepts that don't need to be rephrased. So repeat those sentences throughout the course. Examples include "Next," "You've Reached the End of the Lesson," or "This is Your Result." "

11. Minimize videos and in-text images

"One multimedia element that takes more work to localize is images which contain text in them.

"Ask yourself: Is the text in the image essential or can you write the text out as part of the course? If the text is not essential in the image, you will not have to localize that image and the translator can edit the text. This will save the cost of having to replace the image in all the localized courses."

12. Evaluate layout and design for languages

"If content has been designed only with the English content in mind, it might just fit in the available space. But in a language like German, for example, the content will probably be longer. In Chinese or Japanese it will be shorter.

"If you make your layout and your design work for those languages, it can remove steps that might otherwise be necessary to make the content work in the other languages. Moving text boxes or resizing elements to make them fit is wasted effort, wasted cost, and you can engineer that out."

13. Consider animations instead of live videos

"Instead of using videos with real actors and having to potentially rerecord that situation entirely, can you do it in an animation? And just have voiceovers that change in each language?

"Animation works really well because you have a lot of options for extending frames, for example, to fit the voiceover properly into the time. With real video, that's much more difficult."

14. Ensure content is culturally appropriate

"When you want to launch an asset or a module in different markets, your demographics and cultural experiences will change. It's really important to think about this before creating the text, scenarios, and even images.

"For example, using Caucasian models when localizing for Asia is unlikely to work for them. You will have to reshoot images or get new stock images for different markets.

"Also, avoid culturally specific references like sports analogies. American football versus European football is a big one, but maybe that culture has a different predominant sport like cricket or softball.

"Considering this might add some time to the development process, but it will be essential down the line when it is time to change those designs for the different markets.

15. Involve your translation provider early

"Get your provider involved in the design process. They can advise on internationalization steps.

"For example, we could look at the content and advise on which elements would not translate very well or work very well in the second markets. This is something we advise clients on to pre-empt those problems coming up in the future."