Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

Help the user get started 
The guide should introduce the functions and benefits of the software, 
demonstrate how to install and configure the software and teach users how 
to use elementary functions. It should also provide the users with precau-
tionary information and warnings about potential errors (Weiss 1985:5). 
Help increase productivity 
Having shown users how to get started, the user guide should then take 
them through the advanced functions of the software, teach users to utilise 
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Technical Communication 
the software more effectively, introduce shortcuts and how to apply the 
software to the users’ own particular needs (
ibid.
). 
Troubleshooting 
Once users are at an advanced stage in the use of the software, they need to 
know what to do when things go wrong. In order to do this they need to 
be able to identify problems and find appropriate solutions, distinguish be-
tween problems which can be rectified by the users themselves and those 
problems which require expert assistance (
ibid.
). 
International Readers 
With the increasing level of globalisation of world markets and the ever 
shrinking nature of the world as a result of modern communications, trans-
port and multinational companies, there have been quite significant changes 
in the way international markets and communications work. An increasing 
number of companies are using English as a working language (see Byrne 
1999:37). Indeed, given what White (1996:32) calls the “globally interac-
tive, multicultural and multinational” nature of the modern workplace it is 
clear that there is a perceived need for some form of 
lingua franca
. 
It has been estimated that there are some 1,200 million speakers of Eng-
lish in the world but only 350 million of them are native speakers (Byrne 
ibid.
). This means that there is a huge English-speaking readership for tech-
nical documents and it is important that we take into account the cultural 
and linguistic differences associated with these readers. While Byrne (
ibid.
) 
concentrates solely on the need for linguistic compatibility of documents 
for different English-speaking audiences, White (
ibid.
) emphasises certain 
cultural differences. He maintains that the way in which information is 
conveyed can vary quite significantly from culture to culture. 
What might be complimentary to one audience may be offensive to an-
other. What might be crystal clear to one culture may be incomprehen-
sible to another. 
The way in which information is processed is often different for different 
cultures. This can affect the way a document is structured or even the way 
information is packaged and structured on a paragraph or sentence level (cf. 
Gerzymisch-Arbogast 1993). 
On a personal level, certain forms of address used in one culture may, ac-
cording to White, be inappropriate and considered rude in other cultures. 
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The Function of User Guides
Rather than the mere use of standard formalities, the cultural requirements 
may mean that the way instructions are given may need to be modified. Of 
course it would be virtually impossible to avoid every potential cultural and 
linguistic pitfall in a user guide. However, as part of the audience definition 
stage of the production or translation of a user guide this information can 
prove valuable and worthwhile for the specific audiences being targeted.