One of the many challenges that have confronted businesses and other organizations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is how to carry on with certain critical functions when your workforce is forced to go remote. Even before this recent outbreak, however, the digital revolution in the global economy had forced many organizations to re-think their traditional models, particularly when it comes to training its local and international staff.
Even when the current crisis ends, the economy may face a seismic shift in terms of business operations and how a workforce interacts with each other, with a greater reliance on technology and remote working. Given this new reality, this week’s blog will focus on how eLearning and online training localization can help your organization to confront this new reality.
The Growth of the eLearning and Online Training Industry
eLearning and online training are not novel concepts. Many organizations and businesses have already implemented training regimens and platforms for managing their training content. International corporations and organizations have also seen the benefits of localizing their training materials and content to support their overseas employees who speak languages other than English, or even for their U.S.-based employees who are Limited English Proficient (LEP).
As of 2017, roughly 77% of businesses used some form of eLearning, and the eLearning industry is expected to reach $325 billion by 2025. Studies have also shown that investing in comprehensive eLearning and online training programs lead to higher revenue per employee and higher productivity. Moreover, eLearning is much more environmentally.
Furthermore, eLearning and online training aren’t just limited to the business world. It has also become an essential part of education, with more and more colleges and universities offering virtual classes or using eLearning programs to supplement their classroom instruction. With the closing of many schools across the country, many schools now need to adapt to an eLearning environment quickly. This “forced experiment” could have a lasting impact on how learning and education are delivered.
Why You Should Localize Your eLearning & Online Training Content
Whether you belong to an international corporation, non-governmental organization (NGO), educational organization, or even just a local business, localizing your eLearning and online training content is a necessity these days.
First of all, by localizing your training content, you give everyone within your organization the opportunity to learn at the same level as their peers, regardless of their native language. While your engineer from Saudi Arabia or Human Resources Manager from Brazil may speak English very well, you shouldn’t assume that they are most comfortable in English. To be truly invested and engaged in your employees’ learning, you should want them to learn in the most comfortable environment possible.
Moreover, by doing so, you are creating a more inclusive and diverse organizational culture. As studies have shown, diversity and inclusion in the workplace not only foster a more positive environment but also have a significant impact when it comes to improving your bottom line!
Secondly, whether your organization is international or located only in the U.S., localizing your eLearning and online training content can be a matter of law and local regulations. In some countries or regions, you may even need to translate the content into multiple languages. But, even if local regulations don’t require localization, its advantages are undeniable. It improves knowledge acquisition and retention and diminishes cultural differences as well.
What Are Some eLearning Localization Best Practices?
When you’ve finally decided to move forward with localizing your eLearning and online training content, there are a few industry best practices of which you should be aware. Following these tips will ensure that when designing your eLearning course(s), you can make the localization process as efficient and effective as possible:
- Use eLearning tools that are localization-friendly. Some of the more common eLearning tools that work well with localization include Adobe Captivate, Lectora, Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise, CrossKnowledge Mohive, dominKnow Claro, iSpring.
- Allow for extra formatting space in your course(s). When translating content in your course, you will likely see language expansion and/or contraction. For example, when translating from English into Spanish, the final number of Spanish words will usually be 15-20% more than the number of English source words, thus taking up more space. You will need to account for this ahead of time.
- Your content should be written using as few “local” slang, jargon, idioms, or highly-specific cultural references. These can be very difficult to translate and therefore understand for non-English speakers or those not intimately familiar with American culture. In other words, keep the language as simple and straightforward as possible, keeping in mind that people from different countries and cultures will need to be able to understand it. Business or organizational jargon and acronyms are acceptable, as long as you explain them.
- Ensure that the course design is also localization-friendly. This means making sure that the user-interface (UI) is intuitive (regardless of language), any images and graphics can be switched out quickly, and avoid any text on images where possible. Following these key steps will speed up the localization process as well as keep your costs down.
- Be prepared with all the necessary information when you approach your localization partner. When you’re ready to get started, you’re going to need to provide the required information for your localization partner so they can give you an accurate quote. Be sure to have determined the languages into which you want to localize your course, the number of words of both on-screen and audio text, the number of post-localization review cycles you want to do, etc. The more information you can provide up-front, the fewer “surprises” you will encounter later with costs!
You can find even more helpful tips for preparing for your eLearning localization project here.
In conclusion, whether you are exploring eLearning and online training courses for the first time or you want to expand your existing eLearning content library by localizing your courses and training materials, make sure that you are as prepared as possible. As the world has been forced to work remotely for the past weeks and months because of COVID-19, it has become more apparent than ever that they need the tools and resources to remain as productive as possible. These vital tools and resources include eLearning and online training, in whichever language(s) your workforce speaks!
At Translation Source, we are experts when it comes to eLearning localization. Whether you have already created your eLearning content or not, we can help walk you through each stage of the process, explain what you should expect, and how to avoid some common pitfalls. For more information, contact us at (800) 413-7838 or email us at info@translation-source.com, and we would be happy to discuss how eLearning and online training localization can help your organization.
