Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

Graphics 
Graphics are a fundamental component of technical documents in general 
and user guides in particular. The term “graphics” means graphs, charts, 
pictures, photographs, icons, diagrams and drawings. The target audience is 
a key factor in deciding what type of graphic to use. Graphics are an aid to 
communicating ideas and concepts clearly and quickly rather than using 
paragraphs of text explaining the same concept. When it comes to actually 
implementing graphics in a user guide, there are a number of generic prac-
tical guidelines which should be considered: 
Graphics must be referenced sequentially in a document (Borowick 
1996:102) 
A graphic should appear on the same page as its reference in the body of 
the text. A graphic should, according to Borowick (
ibid.
) never come 
before its first reference in the text. Sometimes, however, documents 
may have all graphics collected at the end of the document. Neverthe-
less, they should be numbered, captioned and referenced. 
Screenshots 
In addition to textual information, pictures of the software interface can 
also be used in user guides. These pictures are known as 
screenshots
or 
screen grabs
and an example is given in Figure 3 below. 
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Software User Guides & Quality
Figure 3: Screenshot from Alchemy Catalyst 6.0 Translator Edition (Courtesy of 
Alchemy Software) 
Screenshots present a unique set of problems for translators in that they 
are often taken from software which has not been localized yet, which has 
been partly localized or which is still undergoing development and is liable 
to change. Consequently, care must be taken to ensure that any references 
to items in a screenshot are accurately translated and that they are still pre-
sent in the final version of the software. Esselink provides a detailed and 
enlightening discussion of the challenges involved with screenshots 
(2000:349-355). 
Other types graphical devices used in user guides include graphs which 
are used to depict
trends or relationships between variables. T hey are a
vis ual representation of information and are a good way of conveying infor-
mation quickly. Drawings and diagrams are visual reconstructions of an 
object and may be representational or abstract. They help the reader to 
visualise physical objects. 
Photographs are the most realistic way of representing an object, but 
their use is not always advisable because, according to White (1996:236) it 
is “difficult to be selective about the visual information you wish to pre-
sent”. For instance, if a user’s attention is to be drawn to a particular part of 
a computer’s hardware (e.g. the motherboard), a photo of the entire inter
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Technical Communication 
mechanism of the computer will leave the reader searching for the part 
fective because, depending on how the diagram is drawn, it is possible
to 
information. 
Photos also raise the issue of print quality and printing costs as they must 
be of a sufficiently high quality in order to ensure that they are clear and ef-
fective. However, the use of high-quality photos also raises the cost of 
printing the documents.