Managing terminology translation and localization in maritime organizations using DITA is essential for delivering accurate and contextually relevant content to a global audience. DITA provides several mechanisms and best practices to handle terminology translation and localization effectively.

Terminology Translation

One approach is to maintain terminology translation tables or glossaries within your DITA content. These tables can include pairs of source and target language terms, allowing for easy reference and consistency across translations. Here’s an example of how a terminology translation table might look in DITA:

<terminology-translation>
  <source-term>Safety measures</source-term>
  <target-term>Medidas de seguridad</target-term>
</terminology-translation>

In this example, the “terminology-translation” element pairs the source term “Safety measures” with its translation “Medidas de seguridad.” These tables help translators maintain consistency across different language versions of the documentation.

Localization Variables

DITA also supports the use of localization variables, which allow you to insert language-specific content or terms directly into your topics. For example:

<paragraph>This document provides important information about <locale-variable name="safety_term">safety measures</locale-variable>.</paragraph>

In this example, the “locale-variable” inserts the appropriate translation of “safety measures” based on the selected language or locale, ensuring that the content is linguistically accurate in each version of the documentation.

Translation Management Systems

For larger-scale translation efforts, maritime organizations can integrate DITA with Translation Management Systems (TMS). TMS tools help manage translation workflows, track progress, and maintain consistency across multilingual content. Integration can involve exporting DITA content for translation, importing translated content back into DITA, and handling updates efficiently.

<translation-management-system>Connect to TMS API for translation workflow</translation-management-system>

In this example, the “translation-management-system” element specifies a connection to a TMS API, enabling seamless translation coordination.