Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

Accessibility of Information 
By consistently using the same constructions to present information, the 
text assumes a certain visual or iconic consistency with each visual represen-
tation being associated with the information it conveys in image memory. 
This in turn allows Iconic Linkage to take advantage of image memory (see 
tion allows us to determine which information we have already seen and 
need to recall and which information we have yet to learn. 
Retention of Information 
Since repetition aids habit formation (see Chapter 3), Iconic Linkage, by 
virtue of the fact that it repeats textual constructions, increases retention of 
information. Furthermore, borrowing from the theory behind parallelisms, 
the grammatical symmetry of parallelisms also helps readers remember in-
formation more easily and it reduces confusion while improving clarity and 
readability (cf. Mancuso 1990:231; White 1996:182). 
Problem-Solving 
Since Iconic Linkage reduces the cognitive resources needed to decode and 
access information, it reduces the amount of problem-solving required to 
comprehend a piece of text. This is because the “problem”, i.e. a sentence, 
has already been solved and so each time the sentence is encountered the 
solution is reinforced rather than created again. This has implications for the 
minimax principle introduced by Levý (1967) and incorporated into Gutt’s 
relevance approach (2000:8). 
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also Faulkner 1998:4) which reduces the processing load and speeds up 
retrieval of information by using recognition as a precursor to recall; recogni-

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Usability Engineering 
Improvement of Consistency & Predictability 
It is clear that using the same phrases and constructions to present the same 
information improves the consistency and predictability of the text. With 
no major surprises lying in wait for users, they can proceed through the text 
in relative comfort.