Identifying Your Target Market for eLearning Localization
Before you can begin localizing Articulate Storyline content, you need to determine your target market. For example, if you are translating content into French, your linguistic team needs to know whether you are targeting users in France or in Canada with your French translations. Knowing your target market influences the vocabulary, grammar, and even imagery used in your localized eLearning course. It also ensures that your linguistic team considers relevant local regulations and cultural norms.
Once you have selected your target audience, prepare a plan for your eLearning localization project. Make sure you have identified any resources that will need to be shared with linguists, such as translation memories or glossaries. You will also want to name any internal team members who will participate in the project, including subject matter experts and local reviewers. Setting Your eLearning Course Up for Localization
In today’s interconnected world, reaching global audiences requires more than just translating your content word-for-word. Content localization is the art and science of adapting your message for different cultural contexts. It has become an essential strategy for businesses looking to make a meaningful impact across borders. This comprehensive guide explores how localization transforms your content into culturally resonant experiences that drive engagement, build trust, and ultimately convert international audiences.
When you first set up your Articulate Storyline project, you will want to use variables to make the eLearning content localization process easier. Sentence structure is different in each language, so the variable may need to move within a sentence to read correctly. When localizing Articulate Storyline courses, you can create a single course with multiple languages using one of several methods. - Your first option is to use branching: at the beginning of the course, the learner will choose their preferred language, and then you will send them to the localized content using branching. However, if you are also using branching within the course for content, this can get complicated.
- Alternately, you can create separate layers for each language within the same course using true/false variables. Again, this can get complicated if you also use layers to add interactivity.
- The third method is states and triggers, which require you to set certain variables and triggers to show the localized version of an object.
You can also translate and republish the course for each language. This simplifies the initial process of localizing Articulate Storyline content. But if the course changes in the future, you will need to update and re-publish each language.
Before you start localizing an online course, you will want to evaluate which solution best fits your company’s needs based on how the original course was designed.
Preparing Translatable Content and Reference Materials
Before you can begin localizing Articulate Storyline courses, you will need to extract the translatable text. In addition to the course text, you will need to include any branching options, buttons, and other UI elements. This will create an XLIFF file, Word document, or another supported format that your translation team will handle via one of their preferred CAT tools (computer-aided translation tools), allowing them access to glossaries and translation memory.
We also recommend that you provide context for translators, who may not see the layout or key imagery when localizing Articulate Storyline strings in a CAT tool. The easiest way to do so is to export the original course for linguists to view, whether as a video or a Microsoft Word document. You can also provide them with notes or screenshots from the team that developed the course. If you have any glossaries or style guides you use when localizing other content, please share them with the translation team before they begin localizing Articulate Storyline content.
eLearning Localization & Production
Another key step is to work with a team of eLearning localization experts. Your translation team should be familiar with localizing Articulate Storyline content and the many elements involved. This team will translate, review, and proofread the course text, ensuring consistency in terminology across all your training materials.
They can also localize multimedia elements in the course, including both audio and video files. For each file, you will need to choose between subtitles and/or voiceover. (Unsure of which option is right for your audience? We have prepared a guide to subtitles and captions.) If you choose both, the team will also ensure that subtitles are synced with the localized audio.
Your localization team will also review and localize the visual elements of your localized eLearning course. For example, if your course includes images, they will localize them for the target language(s), i.e., reproduce them in the target language(s) of translation. They will also review icons and colours to ensure that they are culturally appropriate.
Testing Your Localized eLearning Course & Soliciting Feedback
Localizing Articulate Storyline requires two types of testing once the translation process is complete. Linguistic testing is performed by native speakers of the target language. They are looking for spelling and grammar errors, layout concerns such as cut-off or overlapping text, and out-of-context words.
Functional testing ensures that all links and buttons work, all elements are translated, and that the interactive elements of the course (such as quizzes, branching scenarios, or slide layers) deploy correctly in the translated version.
Before the course goes live, you may want to ask stakeholders for final input. For example, if you have localized an eLearning course into German, the team in the Berlin office may need to weigh in before end users can access it.
Publishing Your Localized eLearning Course
Now it is time to publish your course. Unless you have created a single multilingual course using one of the strategies mentioned above, you will need to publish each localized version of the course separately. When you do so, choose appropriate settings for each language.
Once the course is live, carefully track learner feedback and performance in each language. Based on this feedback, you may need to deploy changes to the localized eLearning course. You may want to develop a change management procedure for localizing Articulate Storyline content.
An eLearning localization project is often ongoing—when the source material changes, you will need to update the translated course to reflect those changes.
Tips and Best Practices for Localizing Articulate Storyline Courses
Write With Localization in Mind
Good translations start with well-written source documents. If you know that your course content will be localized, aim to use simple, clear language and avoid ambiguity wherever you can.
For example:
“I saw the man with the binoculars.”
In English, it is unclear if the speaker was using binoculars to see a man or whether they saw a man who was using binoculars himself. When translating into other languages, issues may arise if the translator does not have an answer to this.
Instead, it is better to write:
“I saw a man holding binoculars” or “while looking through my binoculars, I saw a man.”
In addition, your source text should use cultural references sparingly. It can be challenging to find a local equivalent, and learners in another market may miss key information when conveyed through cultural references.
For example, training for data center employees in the United States might poke fun at the stereotypical programmer who “drinks endless cans of Mountain Dew.” But this reference might go over like a lead balloon with colleagues in Paris or Beijing, where the same stereotypes do not exist.
Build Glossaries and Style Guides
eLearning localization experts always recommend using a glossary and style guide, especially for large-scale projects. If you have a large course, several translators and editors may work on it, and your glossary and style guide ensure consistency throughout the process.
It is especially important to ensure that the vocabulary in course content and assessments matches when localizing Articulate Storyline courses. Translators should not use one synonym in the course text and another one in a quiz question.
Design With Text Expansion in Mind
No matter what method you use to localize your course, you need to be aware that the translated text may take up more space than the English. For example, text translated from English into French tends to grow by 30%. In other words, for every 100 characters in the source text, you can expect 130 in the translation.
Your eLearning course design must consider this. Make sure layers and other elements have enough space to accommodate additional text.
Ensure a Realistic Timeline
As you have seen in this article, a successful eLearning localization project has multiple steps, and translating the text is just one of them. Depending on the complexity of your Articulate Storyline course, you will want to build in plenty of time for testing and feedback.
For example, you may want to have an internal reviewer look at the translated text before importing it back into Articulate Storyline. If that is the case, build in adequate time for feedback and implementation.
Localizing Articulate Storyline courses is a complex task with many moving pieces. Selecting the right partner ensures your course is delivered on time and meets your internal localization goals.
Art One Translations works with organizations to deliver multilingual eLearning solutions across a wide range of languages and subject areas. We support clients at every stage of the process, from planning and understanding how to localize eLearning content effectively to adapting courses for different languages, cultures, and learning environments. Each project is handled by a carefully selected team of professional linguists with proven expertise in eLearning localization and relevant subject matter, ensuring that learning content remains accurate, culturally appropriate, and effective for learners in every target market.
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