Simplified Technical English case study
Also known as Simplified English, the advantages of Simplified Technical English (STE) are most evident when creating documentation that will be translated into a number of languages.
Characteristics of text in STE
As the text volume is typically reduced by at least 20% and the remaining text becomes more repetitive, the use of Simplified Technical English normally results in 30 to 40% less translation cost. In addition, STE will reduce the number of unique terms and improve translation quality and consistency. The graph below shows typical results of rewriting Standard English into Simplified English.
Customer example
Our customer is a manufacturer of mobile X-ray based imaging solutions. They created an operator manual and a service manual in Standard English. This manual is to be translated into 7 other languages.
Before using Simplified English, the manuals had a total word count of 67,300 words. The number of pages was 454. In Simplified English, the word count came down to 49,600 words. The page count was reduced to 406.
Standard English cost calculation (in EUR)*
| |
Word count |
Word rate |
Target languages |
Cost |
| No match |
59,315 |
0.14 |
7 |
58,128.70 |
| Repetition |
7,985 |
0.04 |
7 |
2,235.80 |
| Total |
67,300 |
|
|
60,364.50 |
Simplified English cost calculation (in EUR)*
| |
Word count |
Word rate |
Target languages |
Cost |
| No match |
36,515 |
0.14 |
7 |
35,784.70 |
| Repetition |
13,085 |
0.04 |
7 |
3,663.80 |
| Total |
49,600 |
|
|
39,448.50 |
The company thus saves almost EUR 21,000 or 35% on the translation of these manuals. For subsequent manuals, the savings would increase further thanks to better re-use and yield from translation memory.
Text in Simplified Technical English is easier to understand and may not even require translation. Where translation is needed, Simplified Technical English helps to drastically reduce translation cost and time-to-market, as it effectively eliminates redundant words and improves consistency.
With the ever increasing number of languages that companies need to deal with, these savings add up quickly. As content in Simplified Technical English is easier to validate, technical writers will be more productive, and fewer iterations and less rework will be required.
For this reason, the time-to-market is reduced by a similar percentage.
Please contact us for more information or a quote.
* Prices used in the above calculations are indicative of average actual pricing but in no way constitute a binding price offer.
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