Analyzing the Impact of CAT Tools on Localization Workflows

This essay critically examines the impact of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools on localization workflows. It begins with an introduction to CAT tools and translation environments, followed by a brief overview of three translation environments: Matecat, SDL Studio & Multiterm, and OmegaT. The essay also briefly describes localization workflows. The main body of the essay discusses how CAT tools, such as the translation memory (TM) feature, enhance consistency, reduce costs, and improve efficiency in localization projects. The essay highlights the benefits of CAT tools, emphasizing their role in reusing translated content, promoting terminology consistency, and streamlining the overall localization process. The essay concludes by underscoring the positive impacts of CAT tools on the localization workflow and their significance in the translation industry. The essay highlights the importance of TM in storing and reusing translated content and underscores the advantages of using CAT tools in improving translation workflows.

Running head: IMPACT OF CAT TOOLS ON LOCALIZATION WORKFLOWS
Impact of CAT Tools on Localization Workflows
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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IMPACT OF CAT TOOLS ON LOCALIZATION WORKFLOWS
Introduction
Computer-Assisted translation technology can be considered to be a kind of
computerized tool that can be used by translation environment (Bowker 2002). Computer-
assisted translation consists of various tools that support various functions such as checking
spelling and grammar, managing terminology and searching texts. Human professional
translators make effective use of computer software for supporting translation workflow (Somers
2003). An important functionality of CAT tools is to create and manage TM or translation
memory. CAT tools save time, reduces the chances of error and improves accuracy. Translation
memory helps in reusing translated and related segments based on previously translated texts that
have been stored in the TM programs or units.
This essay critically discusses the impact or effect of CAT tools on the localisation
workflows. Before proceeding with the main topic of discussion, this essay discusses the concept
of CAT tools and translation environment in brief. This essay also outlines the concept and
features of three translation environments such as Matecat, SDL Studio & Multiterm and
OmegaT. It also describes localisation workflow in brief.
Translation Environment and CAT Tools
Translation Environment and CAT Tools
Translational Environment tool is the new name for the translator named ‘Translation
Memory’ software and the ‘Computer-assisted translation’ tools. The first term signifies that the
tool performs a particular function in the package, while the second term signifies that the
package is bulky and performs all sort of tasks (Felmeister et al. 2016). The good Translational
Environment provides excellent translational procedures. It typically performs the five

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functionalities- editing, assuring quality, updating database, and generating translating the file,
content segmentation and content indexing.
Preparation of file: The Translational Environment CAT tool is basically used to
translate the long texts and the repetitive texts. Translational Environment tool can speed up the
translation procedures. The tool can read and translate the text not only from the beginning but
also from the middle as well.
Terminology: The texts may be history related, geography related. The text can be
general as well. The same terminology can have different meanings (Jorens and Schepens2016).
Translational Environment tool is capable of interpreting the correct meaning for the specific
terminology. A specific terminology can have varied meaning in history and geography and
other subjects. Translational Environment CAT tool is capable of recognising the subject.
Alignment: Translational Environment CAT tool stores the translated file in the database
so that the tool can reuse the document for the future use. The tool thus work effectively
compared to the other translators and takes relatively less time. The file always stays in the
database so, for this reason, Translational Environment CAT tool can give the results very easily.
Sub-segment matching: The sub-segment matching is the facility provided by the
Translational Environment CAT tool. The individual when types a certain word then the
translational environment CAT tool can give suggestions. The tool shows the results as soon the
individual starts typing (Moran and Lewis2015). The individual will not have to search typing
long words instead they can get fast effective results with the aid of Translational Environment
CAT tool translator.

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OmegaT
OmegaT is a CAT tool and is written in the Java language. OmegaT has come with
various features. OmegaT is basically used by the professional translators (Your-translations.com
2018). The tool has multiple functionalities like the fuzzy matching, dictionary matching and the
glossary matching. The tool is also useful to conduct the reference material searching. It runs on
Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS (Jorens and Schepens 2016). OmegaT is absolutely free
of charge, the individuals who cannot afford the CAT tool they can use the OmegaT software.
The OmegaT tool provides the localisation workflow functionality. The tool is relatively easy to
use, and one will not have to purchase any books or manuals to study about the OmegaT tool.
OmegaT basically starts displaying a short tutorial named ‘Instant Start’. The tool is capable of
translating varied files in multiple formats. The users can insert fuzzy matches utilising the
keyboard shortcut and the mouse. The tool showcases the similarity in fuzzy matches with the
aid of multiple colour usages. The date, time and the username are shown by the OmegaT
(Gakidou et al. 2017).
The OmegaT has come with spell checker functionality. The tool consists of spell-
checker functionality and with the assistance of the spell-checker, OmegaT can check spellings
in Firefox and Thunderbird. However, the user interface of the app is not good and is not user-
friendly. The interface lacks quality design, colour textures and the appearance. The newcomers
or the beginners can face immense problems while using the software. Thus OmegaT must focus
on developing user-friendly applications (Federico et al. 2014). The OmegaT tool is relatively
easy to use. They need improvisation and should make necessary changes so that every
organisation and every individual can use the OmegaT tools effectively.

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After all the translation is done, OmegaT performs various tag validation. The tag
validation can make sure that the there is no tag error. The OmegaT tool calculates statistics for
the translation memories and the project files before the initiation of the project (Jorens and
Schepens 2016). The tool collects machine translation from the Google Translate, Apertium and
the Belazar displays those in an isolated window. The windows in the OmegaT’s tool can be
moved, minimised, tiled, tabbed and can be maximised as well.
Matecat
Matecat is basically an online tool and tool is easy and is relatively very easy to use.
Matecat is always free to use for all the users. The enterprises, freelancers, universities are get
facilitated by the Matecat tool (Matecat 2018). The Matecat is known to provide benefits to the
unlimited users, unlimited projects and unlimited storage. The CAT tool outsource projects
continuously, it does not refuse the customer in general and serves almost one lac twenty
thousand professionals. The Matecat tool is capable of translating more words per hour (Imre
2015). The tool is capable of generating twenty percent more matches of words. Therefore, it has
the capability to translate more words per hour compared to another translator. The Matecat is
responsible for facilitating the localisation workflow. The tool has the ability to disperse the
project activities with ease; those tasks can be easily managed with the help of the Matecat tool.
The Matecat is widely known to cater the users the most appropriate translation suggestions the
entire procedure is automatic, and the users can get fast efficient service with the aid of the
Matecat tool. TM generally accumulates the translated segments (Blain et al. 2015). At the time
of translation, the Matecat tool makes queries to the TM so that exact matches can be retrieved
from the source segment. Once the matches have been made, the result gets stored in the
database for future use.

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The Matecat tool runs on the web-server that can be accessed via Chrome. The tool
provides a platform where new MT functions can be integrated, and the CAT tool can be utilised
for the post-editing experiments. Matecat is also utilised to measure the productivity (Matecat
2018). The tool consists of an advanced AI for the Moses toolkit. Matecat is relatively easy to
use as it provides the easy to use user interface. The interface has the capability to attract
customers so that it can gather multiple users for the similar project. Matecat has come up with
advanced logging functionalities as well. Matecat tool with the aid of the Moses-based server can
be able to enhance CAT-MT communication. Matecat gathers the information about the
recurring terms and the expressions, and all these get extracted at the time of the assessing the
documents (Moran and Lewis 2015). Matecat also stores the data as soon as they become
available. Matecat uses this data for the future use. The information can be accessed at any time,
and that information can be used via a link in the Editing Page and it is known as the Editing
Log.
SDL Studio &Multiterm
SDL Studio and Multiterm can be used to translate the terminology. The SDL studio
helps in the translating the terminology much faster. The tool makes the translations more
relevant and consistent. The tool enables the translators to develop new termbases and it also
helps to add relatively new terms. The tool assists in editing the termbases from the editing
environment of the Studio. The translation is very simple and easy. The tool assures the quality
of vocabulary as well as the specific terminology by utilising the specific terminology tool. SDL
Multiterm gets accepted throughout the world (Imre 2015). The translators have been using the
tool to assure consistency in terminology across all the content types and languages. SDM Studio

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is also utilised as a standalone desktop tool. It facilitates the localisation workflow. This tool also
assists in creating terminology databases.
Localisation Workflow
Localisation is a process of making a product culturally as well as linguistically
appropriate for the users where the product will be sold. Website localisation can be considered
to be a strategy for international marketing (Jiménez-Crespo 2013). Website localisation focuses
on translating the website content or digital information into a form that can be understood by the
local markets. Website contents can be modified according to the demand of the clients.
Localisation workflow can be considered to be a process that is predefined with the aim of
organizing as well as executing various steps that are needed for the content localisation (Hines
2013). It is known to be a stand-alone process and is independent of any technology. It is based
on the demands of the clients. Localisation aims at customizing products based on the suitability
of the locale.
Internationalization is a process that prepares a product before it undergoes the translation
process. After the process of internationalization has taken place, localisation can take place
without referring the source (Esselink 2000). Companies use the process of localisation
workflow for two main reasons:
a) When internationalized clients show interest in local products.
b) When the company wants to expand its business in the international markets.

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Impact of CAT Tools on Localisation Workflows
Localisation Project Management deals with managing and monitoring the
implementation process of localisation strategy (Dunne and Dunne 2011). The main components
of a localisation workflow are actions, users and automated notifications. The localisation
workflow constitutes of procedures for incorporating local features of the target markets into the
products. Translation technology plays a significant role in the process of localisation.
Localisation reverses the globalization trend (Hines 2013). Translation is considered to be one of
the main activities of the localisation process where the translation and CAT tools play an
effective role. Automated localisation workflow consists of source content that can be of any
format. The target of the workflow is to translate the content after internationalization is carried
out.
CAT Tools such as OmegaT, Matecat and SDL Studio Multiterm have several positive
impacts on the localisation workflow. The translator memory of the CAT tools help in reusing
existing texts that have been translated earlier (Circuitmagazine.org 2018). The TM stores such
string segments in its database (Aboutranslation.com 2018). Certain types of matches can be
found by using TMs such as new words, 100 percent matches and fuzzy matches. Some of the
impacts of the CAT tools on the localisation and translation workflow are:
a) Consistency: The CAT tools promote consistency throughout the entire content by
utilizing its reuse element. SDL Studio Multiterm promotes terminology consistency and is
considered to be a powerful CAT tool. Matecat tool helps to get more number of matches by
reusing various contents (Matecat 2018). It is considered to have the largest TM in the world. In

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the absence of the regular translator, the TM can be used for reference. OmegaT tool also helps
the localisation workflow to promote consistency.
b) Reduced cost: The TMs store previously translated contents. Later on when the same
contents are needed to be translated with few modified or additional lines then the companies or
users do not have to pay for the entire translation. CAT tools will enable the localisation process
to detect the content and translate only the new content (Circuitmagazine.org 2018). The
companies or the users will be charged only for the additional or new contents. CAT tools make
sure that this feature is added to the localisation workflow (The Savvy Newcomer 2018). It will
also make sure that the localisation workflow eliminates the cost of licensing of various CAT
tools such as Matecat and OmegaT.
c) Quality Assurance: CAT tools consist of inbuilt characteristics for assuring the quality
o the content such as auto-correct, auto correction of formatting and grammatical errors, and
missing tags and numbers (Translationcommons.org 2018). These characteristics make sure that
the localisation workflow is able to effectively save the time of the project manager.
d) Reduced time: CAT tools make the localisation workflow capable of ensuring quick as
well as high quality translation. CAT tools make use of TM or translation memory for
identifying similar translations that have been done previously that helps in reducing time
(Circuitmagazine.org 2018). CAT tools such as OmegaT and Matecat help the translators in
checking similar or specific translations by quickly checking the history of TM (Your-
translations.com 2018). This will help the localisation workflow to improve the process of
searching.

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IMPACT OF CAT TOOLS ON LOCALIZATION WORKFLOWS
e) Alignment: Sometimes there is absence of TM in the localisation workflow. CAT tools
such as SDL Studio Multiterm helps align the contents manually for creating a TM. CAT tools
also help the localisation workflow to update the TM on a regular basis (Esselink 2000).
f) Project management: CAT tools can play a significant role in managing translation
projects. It helps to enhance the productivity and ensures high quality. CAT tools enable project
managers to manage multilingual projects that have several target languages (Dunne and Dunne
2011). It helps the localisation workflow to reduce the time to create various projects and
condense multiple jobs into a single user-interface.
g) Source file variety: Translation agencies can work with several types of source files
such as graphics, web-based formats and desktop published files by using the functionalities of
CAT tools. CAT tools make the process of localisation workflow simpler and easier by allowing
translation of different types of file.
Conclusion
This essay concludes that the localisation workflow and the process of translation are
made easier and simpler by building as well as updating the translation memory units during the
process of translation. It said that the localisation workflow is facilitated by the translational
environment. It discussed the main features of the CAT tools such as terminology detection and
interpretation, alignment, file preparation and subsequent matching. This essay showed that
OmegaT, Matecat and SDL Studio Multiterm help to simplify the localization flow. Matecat
helps in post-editing experiments. SDL Studio Multiterm supports terminology translation.
OmegaT supports spell-checker and grammar correction functionalities. The most significant
benefit of the CAT tools is the gain in efficiency and time. According to this essay, CAT tools

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assure rigorous consistency of the terminologies throughout the entire contents. This essay
pointed out the quality assurance features of the CAT tools that simplify the localisation
workflow and translation process. This essay clarified the concept of CAT tools and the various
impacts of these tools on the localization workflow.

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