6 Methods to Scrutinize Certified Translation Services

Certified translation services, as the American translator association, reports “ It is a translation that has the attestation telling about translation if it is accurate and complete as per the knowledge and ability of the translator.” It is also referred to as the certificate of accuracy and usually, translators and language solutions prepare the document. The certification is proof that work is according to the highest standard.

It is also being observed that individual and freelancer translators can barely provide translations that are certified. As it requires additional time and quality control. This is why language agencies and language solutions collaborate to have better equipped to tackle translation offerings that meet quality and are up to the mark due to its extensive quality assurance process. Moreover, they also involve their in-house subject-matter experts and linguists.

When is certified translation required?

Usually, people require this kind of translation for legal documents, medical and cases of immigration. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, education records, and many personal documents require translation in a particular format and paper whatsoever is a requirement of the target country. As they don’t accept any kind of documents be these personal business documents or academic certificates other than the languages that are acceptable in their country.

6 ways to evaluate the translation quality 

Hiring a certified translator to get the translation work that meets international standards is extremely important. The translators take care of the words and substitute them according to the requirement. Here are a few methods to name which can be used to check the credibility of the translation. 

Asking for the ISO certifications

International organizations for standardization work on the development and enforcement of ISO standards to meet the required quality. This is a non-governmental organization, and it is leading the market by establishing global standards in the different sectors. The goal to enforce these standards is to meet the quality of the product. ISO 17100 is an international standard set for translation. It ensures that the vendor delivers quality by taking care of the process, resources, and factors that they require to make the quality product.

International bodies for translation have set standards that a company has to get to provide their services in translation. Customers can always ask for the attestations and documents that translation companies get in case of getting attested from the international body of standards. Choosing an ISO 17100 certified language provider can guarantee the customer translation which meets international standards and is reliable consistent translation.

Checking the website

The easiest way to check a translation vendor if it’s certified or not is to look for the information on their website. All the translation vendors who offer certified translation mention the details on their websites with the testimonials and other relevant information for the clients to check and go through. As companies are looking for more language service providers, so the vendors put up the promotional content accordingly to their previous work.

Checking the website can be done with minimal effort. Also, the right people can easily determine if the translation agency offers their services in translation with certifications or simply claim so.

Sending an email

An email can always be sent to the relevant people to check if they are offering the certified services. Among the pool of translation agencies, it has become hard to determine the right agency with certified offerings. However, it’s better to check through valid resources if the agency is actually certified.

Shooting an email to the company is always a good approach. Moreover, the client can also talk about other concerns regarding translation. The method is also beneficial in clearing the confusion and queries that customers face by going through the website can be cleared in the email.

The customer can also talk about the method they work and the documents which they require. Besides that, clients can share their reservations, and good and reputable agencies always take care of their email box and reply back instantly, making sure that customer doesn’t go to their competitor for certified translation services. 

Calling the service

Many clients don’t feel comfortable sending an email and feel like having direct communication better. In that case, the old-fashioned route of making a call is always there. Calling a translation agency and getting to know how they respond and their networking is easy enough to help the people know how they deal and about their customer’s services.

The number is always mentioned on the website and is easily accessible. This method is also reliable in a way that customers can always check if an agency is providing certified services. Besides that, they can always ask questions and queries if any. This can clear the confusion regarding the time they take for a project, prices, and post-translation offers.

Moreover, using the method of calling is also good in a way that clients don’t have to wait for long to get a response unlike email, and clients can be facilitated immediately. 

Reading reviews online

This is one of the best ways to check if the translation vendor is a certified company or trying to pretend. There are online reviews of every company and website which customers share and post after using their services. There are clients with different feedback for the company however, customers can check the most of the reviews are positive or negative.

Moreover, reviews also tell if the company lack in a particular area of translation. This method is beneficial in a way that lets the customer know translation quality and level which they can expect from the company. In case most reviews are negative, the customer can plan to skip the company and look for some other trusted one. It is extremely important to take care of all such factors before finally choosing the translation agency to make that customer goes for the best services.

Important tip

There is one important aspect of this method that is worth notable. It is recommended reading reviews and deciding about the translation services on this base should be the customer’s last choice. As many times translation vendors get paid reviews and post these on their websites and social media platforms.

Translation vendors and their PR team also delete the negative comments and feedback. Other things that might go wrong with the reading reviews, reviews could be old and services and quality could have been changed with time. So, the dates of postings should also be checked.

Asking for the previous work

Shortlisting a few companies and asking them for their previous work can also contribute greatly to evaluate about the certification of the company. Many companies reluctantly share the previous work, and a number of them make excuses. Professional companies are confident enough to not hesitate to share the previous translation work. They understand how it is important to address a customer’s concerns for a healthy professional relationship.

Wrapping up

In a pool of translation agencies, it has become quite a task to choose a professional and certified one. As there are many scams and fake companies that are ready for fraudulent activities. Therefore, it is important that businesses go for professional language vendors after having their part of the research. They can check reviews, call companies, and ask for emails and previous work to check about the authentication of certified translation services.