Localizability

Intermediate process for verifying that a globalized application is ready for localization. An application is ready for localization if the application's executable code has been clearly separated from the application's localizable resources.

An intermediate step prior to localization is testing for localizability. In this step, you ensure that you have separated the application's resources that require translation from the rest of the application's code. If you correctly test for localizability before proceeding to the localization step, you should not have to modify your application's source code during localization. Localization is the last step in the process of developing a world-ready application. In this step, you customize your application for the specific cultures or regions to be supported. This step should consist primarily of translating the user interface into the target languages.

Localizability testing verifies that you can easily translate the user interface of the program to any target language without re-engineering or modifying code. Localizability testing catches bugs normally found during product localization, so localization of the program is required to complete this test. As such, localizability testing is essentially a hybrid of globalization testing and localization testing. Successful completion of localizability testing indicates that the product is ready for localization. You can use pseudo-translation localization to avoid the time and expense of true localization. Pseudo-translation is perhaps the most cost-effective way of finding localizability bugs.