by Catherine Jan on May 15, 2011<\/abbr><\/p>\n<\/div>\n So what does this mean for the website translator?<\/p>\n We must pay attention to\u00a0readability<\/strong>.<\/p>\n These six guidelines come from\u00a0Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works<\/a>\u00a0by Ginny Redish. What follows after each heading is about how I personally (attempt to) apply these tips.<\/p>\n 1. Give people only what they need <\/strong>(page 94)<\/p>\n I would not edit out much of my client\u2019s website but there is one sentence which invariably deserves to be deleted: the welcome message.<\/p>\n Source text: Welcome to our site!<\/em><\/p>\n Proposed translation: [none]<\/p>\n Why not leave out these four useless words to make the useful words more prominent?<\/p>\n On the Les Feuilles Volantes blog (in French), Sara displays much more attitude. She talks about not translating the opening message on French-language brochures<\/a>\u00a0since\u00a0they are typically of little interest to readers.<\/p>\n 2. Use \u201cyou\u201d<\/strong> (page 172)<\/p>\n Don\u2019t use the third person when talking to your online audience.<\/p>\n Source text: Clients enjoy our hotel\u2019s spacious rooms.<\/em><\/p>\n Proposed translation: You\u2019ll enjoy our hotel\u2019s spacious rooms.<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Source text: Parents should check their children\u2019s heads for lice on a regular basis.<\/em><\/p>\n Proposed translation: Check your child\u2019s head regularly for lice.<\/p>\n If you are writing for an organization, use \u201cwe\u201d<\/strong> (page 178)<\/p>\n Source text: Company ABC has been making desks for 25 years.<\/em><\/p>\n Proposed translation: At Company ABC, we\u2019ve been making desks for 25 years.<\/p>\n Using \u201cyou\u201d and \u201cwe\u201d makes the copy sound much more like a conversation.<\/p>\n 3. Use your web users\u2019 words<\/strong> (page 195)<\/p>\n Do not confuse your readers.<\/p>\n I liked Nick Somer\u2019s example in \u201cThe empowered translator<\/a>\u201d on Betti Moser\u2019s blog:<\/p>\n The references to Bavarian dialect are all very well if you happen to know German, but they probably won\u2019t add much to a Korean\u2019s understanding of the text. Forget \u201cKaiserschmarrn\u201d and \u201cPalatschinken\u201d plus explanatory translator\u2019s note in brackets. Won\u2019t \u201ctraditional Austrian desserts\u201d work just as well?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As I wrote in my\u00a0previous post about writing web copy<\/a>, I used words that my reader would understand. I avoided words like \u201csource language\u201d and \u201ctranscreation<\/a>\u201d and other examples of translationspeak. I\u2019m talking to direct clients, not agencies, so I use words they know.<\/p>\n This also means that I try to ground abstract concept nouns<\/a>\u00a0and replace them with concrete and understandable words.<\/p>\n 4. Use lists to make information easy to grab<\/strong> (page 206)<\/p>\n Source text: Bring sunscreen, running shoes, a hat and a bottle of water.<\/em><\/p>\n Proposed translation:<\/p>\n Bring<\/p>\n Wouldn\u2019t hurried customers find this bulleted list much easier to read?<\/p>\n 5. Make links meaningful<\/strong> (page 318)<\/p>\n Redish is against writing \u201cclick here\u201d and \u201cmore\u201d as link text. We should use the content of the link instead.<\/p>\n Source text:<\/p>\n We offer<\/em><\/p>\n Proposed translation:<\/p>\n We offer<\/p>\n Website readers know what links look like. If a word underlined, it is a link.<\/p>\n 6. Break down walls of words<\/strong> (page 107)<\/p>\n No large and intimidating blocks of text<\/a>. Keep paragraphs short. Use headings to divide your text into user-friendly chunks.<\/p>\n Headings can be<\/p>\n To my surprise, Redish advises against using nouns as headings! So \u201cGetting here\u201d is better than \u201cDirections\u201d?<\/p>\n Letting Go of the Words<\/em> is recommended reading if you\u2019re interested in writing and translating web content. Mine is full of post-it notes that serve as helpful reminders.<\/p>\n Translators, can you recommend other resources about writing for the web? (You might be interested in Matthew Stibbe\u2019s \u201c30 Days to Better Business Writing\u201d<\/a>.)\u00a0What techniques do you use to make your web writing more readable?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n -See more at: www.catherinetranslates.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.catherinetranslates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/webwritingbooks.jpg\")
<\/a>Online reading is different<\/a>\u00a0from reading on paper. Because\u00a0website readers like information snacking<\/a>. They want to grab and go.<\/p>\n\n
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