Content Design for Easy Localization

How you design your e-learning content from the beginning can make or break your localization efforts. Even when using Articulate's built-in localization features, thoughtful content design upfront will save you countless hours of rework and frustration later. By creating your course with localization in mind, you'll streamline the process, reduce costs, and ensure consistent quality across all language versions. The good news is that designing for localization often results in clearer, more effective training for your original audience too.

Key Design Principles for Easy Localization

• Use simple, clear language: Avoid idioms, slang, metaphors, and complex sentence structures that don't translate well. Write in active voice with straightforward phrasing. For example, replace "The ball was thrown by John" with "John threw the ball." This makes the original content stronger and greatly simplifies the translation process.
• Design flexible layouts: When working in Storyline, create screens with extra white space to accommodate text expansion. Languages like German, Finnish, and Russian can take up to 30% more space than English. Design your layouts so they won't break when text expands, considering how buttons, text boxes, and other elements might need to adjust. Keep in mind that the localization feature will identify layout issues even if you miss them.
• Separate text from images: When text is embedded in images, you'll need to recreate those images for each language version. Instead, layer text over images or use captions in Articulate, which will automatically be included in the translation workflow. This creates a much more efficient process when working with multiple languages.

Next Steps

1. Review existing courses: Examine your current e-learning content and identify design elements that would complicate localization.
2. Create a content style guide: Develop guidelines for content creators that incorporate localization-friendly writing and design principles.
3. Build a starting template: Design a template specifically for courses that will be localized, with flexible layouts and text areas.
4. Test with pseudo-translation: Before fully localizing, try replacing your text with longer strings to see where layouts might break (Articulate helps you find and fix layout issues).
5. Start small: Apply these principles to a single module as a test case before redesigning your entire curriculum.

Summary

Designing e-learning content with localization in mind simplifies the translation process, reduces costs, and ensures quality across languages. By using clear language, designing flexible layouts, separating text from images, and leveraging variables, you'll set yourself up for efficient localization within Articulate's tools. These design principles not only make localization easier but often improve your original content as well. With thoughtful design from the start, you can create training that effectively reaches learners around the world while maintaining a streamlined production process.