How a localized e-learning program engaged thousands of global employees

Introduction

When a healthcare manufacturer launched a company-wide training program, extensive translation and localization was needed. Propio’s linguistic expertise swiftly tackled the 30,000 words of technical e-learning and localized it in 11 languages to help unify the global workforce.

To address crucial operational processes, this global healthcare company created a series of web modules to instruct employees on the proper procedures for documentation. In order to reach its workers and guarantee consistency of training across all sites, the modules needed to be localized into 11 languages.

The modules consisted of 422 files, 96 non-editable graphics and more than 30,000 words, all of which contained source content that required localization.

The languages requested included Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (European), Spanish (European) and Turkish.

The Challenge

Embedded within the modules were more than 70 screenshots that illustrated key components of the training such as paperwork and forms that employees would need to learn and use in their everyday work. The screenshots contained text, as well as examples of handwriting, signatures and other various handwritten symbols, all of which had to be localized and reproduced in the necessary languages

Adding to the challenge of the content, timing for completion was critical. The client had to deliver the fully localized training modules to their in-country reviewers within eight weeks.

The Solution

This project required close collaboration at every stage due to the complexity of the files. Propio’s Core Team instituted a solution that worked seamlessly from the translation, formatting and engineering perspective.

The Core Team is comprised of in-house experts including language leads, engineers, desktop publishing specialists and quality control experts, as well as project management and subject-matter experts. The team conducted extensive scoping of the training modules before initiating any work.

This scoping phase helped uncover the original content platform used for the English training modules and allowed the translation process to begin while engineers assessed the module structure simultaneously. Creating these efficiencies saved valuable time—and costs—in the overall project.

As part of the standard Propio process, comprehensive internal documentation was created, including:

Linguistic guidelines to ensure consistency across of all units of measurement, punctuation and acronyms
Specific job instructions detailing each step in the process, providing information about reference materials, and pointing to the guidelines and checklists to be used at every step
A troubleshooting section aimed at the engineers, translators and project managers that contained a summary of the issues and challenges identified within the files at the scoping stage, along with a solution or workaround for each of them

After successfully translating the 70 forms, Propio’s desktop publishing specialists converted the translated documents back into screenshots that matched those used in the source training modules—including handwritten notes.

Translation of the forms ran concurrently with the desktop publishing specialists’ compilation of suitable digital script-type fonts that could be used as replacements for the physically handwritten notes.

Proven Results

Propio’s process efficiencies allowed for the on-time delivery of the modules in the eight-week time-frame. These efficiencies resulted in 20 percent savings of both time and associated costs, and Propio’s e-learning localization know-how ensured proactive management for any potential issues that could arise during a project of this scope.

All project deliverables were subject to Propio’s intensive quality assurance process to confirm that no issues were introduced during the localization and that the functionality of the source files was preserved entirely in the target files.

With the successful localization of the modules, the healthcare company was able to engage all 25,000 global employees and deliver the proper training.

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