Translating Technical Manuals from English to Spanish

Let us divide and conquer. There are several types of manuals. Our interest here are technical manuals and their translation. They provide detailed information about a product or system. Their contents include, in most cases, similar sections. You can find product's design, operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, safety information, and repair procedures. Eachsection typically provides diagrams, parts lists, charts, and pictures for clarification purposes. Engineers, technicians, maintenance workers are their target readers. At least, they should be.

By the Book

Technical manuals are crucial to the proper usage, handling, operation, and maintenance of equipment. Not following their instructions mightensue personal injuries or even death. There in lies their relevance. In the translation world, we must pay the utmost attention to words. They are not leisurely interchangeable. Not ever, least of all in “Technicaville”.

Stepping Stones

Here, terminology is king. Updating regularly athorough term base for each client will save you hours of headaches. Trust me. Efficient terminology management comes with big rewards. Use your specific software to create a consistent glossary of technical terms. Make sure to include client’s approved translations, context, and examples in use. This will get you as closer as possible to full document’s coherence.

Style guide: most manuals include similar texts, but many set phrases might be used differently by each client. Make sure to take notesof their preferences. Your style guide should include guidelines for the use of abbreviations and acronyms, sentence structure, formatting, and punctuation. This relevant step in your process will help you main tain readability and consistency.

Text space: as we discussed in a previous article, Spanish text can be around 20% longer than English. You need to considerate adjusting your translation. It has to flow properly and provide full details, without hindering your visual aids in the document.

Experts review: leave nothing to chance. Engage bilingual subject matter experts (SME) to review your translation for technical accuracy. This is a major step to guarantee compliance with industry standards. Get ridof concerns before they arise.

Tone and voice: save warmth, enthusiasm, and driven engagement for other tasks. Technical manuals should be formal, instructive, tothe point, and neutral. When you establish the right tone, stick to it untilthe last full stop.

Localization: Spanish includes many varieties. Youneed to focus your text according to the specific Spanish-speaking audience. Rules and regulations differ between countries. Make sure to localize your translation to adjust it accordingly. Consider legal requirements, industry standards, andbest practices. Do not risk compliance.

Final Touches

Visual elements should match perfectly your writtentext. Consistency is a must to avoid confusion and misuse. Diagrams, charts, and tables should complement the text seamlessly. Be thorough and leave no images hanging. Apply bilingual labels, captions, and annotations with no exception. Clearer is always better.

Usability: you need to make sure that the manual fulfills its purposes properly. Usability testing by native speakers is your secret weapon. They are the perfect audience to test drive your work. And they will review how clear, comprehensible, and user-friendly your translation turned out. These insights will allow you to sharpen your work, and make it crystal clear.

Version update: products are constantly renewed. There fore, technical manuals go through countless versions, updates, and improvements. Make sure to apply a powerful control system. This will help you keep close track of revisions, updates, and changes. You do not want your initial work to become obsolete after merely the second version.  

Technical manuals are a commitment between manufacturers, technical writers, translators, and professional users. Actual work improves greatly, if all the participants hold their end of the bargain.