Preparing material for the international marketplace: more than technical localization required

When a Web-based distance learning program is designed to be delivered to an international and culturally diverse audience, it has a special set of concerns with content localization. Often content localization issues are less obvious and more subtle than many information technology (IT) issues. While the latter deals with such challenges as differing character sets and text expansion during translation, content localization issues involve taking the content of the soft-skills training product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target locale where it will be sold and used. This paper presents a case study of a Web-based, English language training program in the field of aviation. The challenges of an attempt at standardization while facing the need for some localization of radiotelephony phraseology form the basis for this discussion.