By Garima Jand

Quality is the degree of excellence of standard or level. It matters for anything and everything that we use or buy. We expect that every product should be of the best quality. Similarly, translation also involves quality. The language service industry has a number of different quality standards. They are also different for translation and interpretation. Translation refers to written information, whereas interpretation refers to spoken information. Organizations around the world, involving a multitude of sectors, missions, and mandates, rely on translation for content as diverse as product labels, technical documentation, user reviews, promotional materials, annual reports, and much, much more. Quality standards in translation are of various kinds. ISO 17100:2015 does not apply to interpreting services. There are specific quality standards which have been developed for translation services. A few of them include include the Italian UNI 10574, the German DIN 2345, the Austrian Önorm D 1200 and Önorm D 1201, and the Canadian CAN CGSB 131.10. ISO 9001 is the foundation of quality management. Quality standards ensure improved service performance, improved and well-organized workflows, credibility and consistency.
 
In the case of our country, not all translators are aware about the concept of quality standards. There are a very few translation companies which are aware and follow these standards and own the marks. Awareness of things has always been a major issue in our country and it lacks in some people involved in language services in India. Although, as the years are passing by, people are getting aware slowly.
As a matter of fact, it is a problem for those translators who are not aware of these quality standards, especially for translators dealing with foreign languages. That is because the people in foreign countries are well aware about all aspects of translation. Awareness lacks here in India. It affects every individual when he/she is unaware about something. In a way, it hampers the professional growth and development of translators. For example, when a language professional has the ISO 17100:2015 mark, the client is assured that he will get the best quality work from the translator. So undoubtedly, having such a mark is always a plus to any translator’s career. But, it is not at all easy to have that mark. They seem to be fancy names, but it is an expensive badge too. It costs a lot every year for a translation company to have a mark of quality standard. And we, as translators cannot increase our price saying that we have a particular mark of quality standard. This cannot be the reason for our increment of charges. However, providing the best quality work is the duty of every professional.

There are a few people in India who do not know enough about the latest things which are coming up in this global world. We need to stay aware and conscious about all the happenings in the world. It is very important to be with the time and have proper knowledge of all the events of the globe and have our own perception of the situation or fact. If a person remains unaware, it definitely obstructs a person’s growth in some or the other way.

A Quality standard provides requirements for the core processes, resources, and other aspects necessary for the delivery of a quality translation service that meets applicable specifications. In today’s world, the global translation market has grown immensely in the past ten years. A significant number of companies are entering foreign markets. It means that companies or businesses that have never dealt with foreign countries and looking for translation services. This is the case in lot of fields including law firms, banks, technical firms and many more. Quality standards exist to ensure translations of professional level. When there are crucial documents of any business, proper translation is very important to avoid problems in future. Translation is the conversion of a text from one language into another. Hence, the content of any text should not be changed in any circumstance.

Translation quality standards play a very important role but they are no substitute for providing on-going training and feedback to translators, as well as arming translators and editors with the necessary resources and information on the subject matter, context in which the translation will be used, etc. Translation teams who are equipped with glossaries, style guides, support materials, and contextual information can produce a translation of much higher quality than those who are just handed a text with no background. Therefore, a polite and helpful behavior along with complete support of the client, translators can provide the best possible work Being a part of the language services industry involves undoubtedly complete linguistic knowledge of two or more languages. It is every translator’s responsibility as well as his legal obligation to provide the best quality translation even if he does not have the mark of quality standard.

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