The quality of a final product is often determined by the application’s design and the processes preceding localization. These processes are customarily referred to as internationalization, but the "i18n" abbreviation is frequently used. It involves developing a product in a way that enables its localization at a level ensuring that local market requirements are met.

A localization company that handles large IT projects can easily notice issues that could be avoided in the software design and development phase. These errors most often come out in the testing phase. Only some of them can be detected during the localization phase. They make localization and translation more difficult and increase risk, and become expensive and time consuming in the project environment.

Internalization can be carried out by following two principles:

1. Remove all cultural assumptions (you cannot be sure if another country uses the same date formats, units of measurement, etc.)
2. Enable localization in different languages by providing support for suitable character encoding standards (Unicode, in particular)

These steps make it possible to localize correctly, with all aspects of local culture taken into account.

Dialog Box Internationalization

Message and dialog boxes are the most visible software elements for users. Any localization-related error can critically affect software utility, and as a result can have a negative impact on product sales.

Dialog boxes are generally designed by developers, which means that they are adjusted to the source language. A properly designed dialog box can be localized without costly content reorganization, and in a perfect scenario even without changing the button or window size. Every such operation is time consuming and expensive.

Internationalization requires checking several dozen product elements. The most important items are as follows:

• Date/time format
• Calendars (the first day of the week, year length, week number, etc.)
• Numbering format
• Text length
• Character encoding
• Shared messages
• Political issues
• Units of measurement
• Paper size
• Cultural issues

Internationalization is not a simple process. However, it is worth implementing, because it offers many benefits:

• Reduced technical/engineering work
• More efficient translator work
• Product consistency
• Lower product localization cost
• Ability to test the product in the development phase

Note that internationalization does not apply only to software. Virtually any product sold on multiple markets should be internationalized.

As a team with 17-years of experience, we can analyze your product in terms of internationalization and make a complete list of revisions. Please send your inquiry through the Contact section.