Formatting and the translator : why XLIFF does matter

Gains in productivity through translation memory-based text reuse are often offset by time spent in dealing with formatting glitches. This affects all players in the localisation industry, from the end client to the language vendor to the freelance translator. However, as a non-core activity for them, translators are less well prepared to deal with these hidden formatting related costs. This article looks from the translator's viewpoint at the importance of formatting as part of the translator's work, and at the limitations in dealing with formatting of the technologies now in use. It also shows how the development and implementation of standards within the localisation industry, XLIFF in particular, may impact on the situation, so that translators can once again deal only with text, as they did in pre-digital times.