Localization and digital interaction
Miguel A. Jiménez-Crespo · 2024
Localization operates on texts that are interactive and digital, which are meant to be used by audiences of diverse backgrounds and with diverse abilities. These texts are also multimodal, meaning that the message is conveyed through a combination of channels: the text itself, sound effects, images, and interactive or moving elements (Mejías-Climent 2021; Charalampidou and Meex 2023). This combination of meaning-making modes imposes restrictions or limitations that shape the process and the final product of localization, resulting in what is known as “constrained” ( Titford 1982 ) or “subordinate translation” (Mayoral et al. 1988). The objective of this chapter is to help localizers produce more user-friendly localized products for audiences of all abilities and backgrounds. We will discuss issues related to user orientation (Suojanen et al. 2015), such as digital interaction and its communicative context, multimodality, usability, user experience (UX), and accessibility.