What "quality" means to us
At Applied Language Solutions, we place a great deal of
importance on the quality of our service - so much so, that we're
the first translation provider ever to offer a quality guarantee
with our translations.
The definition of quality that we put our guarantee against
refers to an acceptable level of quality based on the standards
expressed by the Localisation
Industry Standards
Association - the most widely-used QA metric in
the localisation industry today.
How is quality guaranteed?
Project set-up
Translation quality is something that relies upon a thorough
project set-up. Some of the measures used when assessing
translation quality are taken against certain pre-approved
reference documents such as style guides and glossaries, which need
to be created and put into place for use during the
translation.
Our Quality Plan contains all the steps needed to set up a new
project. It covers all the linguistic elements of translation
quality and offers a quality guarantee only when all of the steps
in the Quality Plan have been adhered to.
Click here to read our
Quality Plan
Robust processes
Once all of these steps have been followed with appropriate
reference documents put into place, processes are laid out and
adhered to for every project. Each project is different in terms of
its requirements, so we make it our business to make sure each
project receives individual attention.
In its most basic terms, a quality-guaranteed project will
consist of:
- Translation by a native-speaking, qualified
and approved translator. U se of translation memory software where
appropriate. Full use of all reference materials created at project
set-up. Use of quality checks made within the TM software. A
self-check by the translator.
- Editing by a second native-speaking linguist
of equal qualifications, using translation memory software and all
reference materials. This stage ensures that all the translator's
tasks have been performed and to the right level. The editor is
further removed from the source text and can therefore ensure a
more natural flow of the target text and a more native sentence
structure.
- Full proofreading performed by a third native
speaking linguist before project delivery. This stage is intended
to pick up any overlooked human errors such as a spelling mistake,
grammar or punctuation error, which may have been overlooked during
the more intensive work of the editor.
Timelines
Before a quality-guaranteed project goes ahead, a plan will be
drawn up with all the project stages and the timelines needed. This
plan is always visible to the customer and must be agreed upon by
both parties.
What does the guarantee mean?
Once a project has adhered to everything set out above, Applied
Language Solutions will guarantee the quality of the translated
product. In fact, we are so confident that the quality will meet
the LISA standards that we offer a money-back
guarantee on each job that we deliver.
If there are any doubts about the quality that has been
delivered, then all we ask is that you fill in a QA form stating
what errors have been found and within what proportion of the text,
within 30 days of project delivery. At that stage we will
immediately launch an internal investigation. If the result of this
investigation is a Fail on the LISA QA (meaning there are higher
than the number of allowable errors within the project) then we
will completely refund the full cost of the job in question, with
no further questions asked.
In the event of the translation project being high-volume, we
will investigate a proportion of the translation (the customer can
always select the portion for us to sample), and the results of
that sampling will determine whether a fuller investigation is
warranted or not.
Click here for the
LISA QA form, which would need to be completed in the event of
any quality dispute.
The Applied Language team looks forward to working with you on
your next Quality Guaranteed project and to being part of your
success story.
For help to understand this form and fill it in, please refer to
your Service Delivery Manager. Please note that Applied Language
Solutions' terms and
conditions still apply.