Managing terminology translation and localization in DITA for agricultural organizations is essential for reaching diverse audiences and ensuring accuracy in different languages and regions. DITA provides tools and best practices to streamline the translation and localization process.

Content Tagging

In DITA, content is tagged with metadata that indicates its language and other relevant attributes. This metadata helps localization teams identify which parts of the content need translation and in which languages. For example:

<title outputclass="translate">Introduction</title>
<p xml_lang="en">This is the English content.</p>
<p xml_lang="fr">Voici le contenu en français.</p>

The “outputclass” attribute indicates that the title should be translated, while the “xml:lang” attribute specifies the language of each paragraph. Localization teams can filter and extract content based on these tags.

Translation Memory

Translation memory (TM) is a valuable tool in DITA for reusing previously translated content. DITA allows for the storage of translated segments in a TM database. When similar content appears in different documents, the TM system suggests translations based on past work, increasing consistency and reducing translation time.

Conditional Text

Localization often involves adapting content for specific regions or cultures. DITA’s conditional text features can be used to manage language-specific variations. For instance, you can create conditional text sections for different dialects or cultural references and provide context to translators. Here’s an example:

<p conkeyref="dialect-us">Color</p>
<p conkeyref="dialect-uk">Colour</p>

This allows you to maintain a single source while accommodating language variations.