For developers, building translation tools that are compliant with these three language-industry standards is important. These standards allow interoperability between different tools that greatly benefit developers, translation companies and professional translators. Since the introduction of these standards, many translation tools have undergone certification that allows the logo of the specific standard to be used. Thus some translation tools, such as the SDLX 2004 translation memory system by SDL International, has been certified by TMX, while the Heartsome Translation Suite is fully compliant with all three standards.

Having focused on the three interchange standards in relation to the four translation types, we now turn our attention to the importance of data-interchange standards for the different groups who are involved in translation (Table 2).

End-users such as professional translators and those involved in the localization industry find data-interchange standards of considerable importance, as they enable a variety of tools to perform specific functions during the translation or localization process. A terminology database may be accessed, for example, to search for a suitable equivalent while using a translation memory system. Assuring a smooth flow of work from one tool to another, for example from using a translation memory system to update a terminology database to translating a text with the support of a terminology management system, is an added benefit for professional translators, translation companies and localizers and preferable to just working with one tool at a time.

Table 2 Translation groups and data interchange standards

VI = very important; I = important; P = possible

Two groups that are concerned with standards but not as end-users are researchers, who are involved in the development of standards before publication, and developers, for whom it is important to ensure compliance with these accepted standards in order for tools to be marketable. For example, some newer versions of translation memory systems must obtain certification for TMX before they are released onto the market. This is one strategy to boost sales since end-users want to ensure that the new tool they intend to buy is compatible with the tools they already own.

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