| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you ask for a higher fee for translations of internet sites? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you ask for a higher fee for translations of internet sites?".
This poll was originally submitted by tontoon
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For mor... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you ask for a higher fee for translations of internet sites?".
This poll was originally submitted by tontoon
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 19:57
German to Polish
+ ...
| my option missing | Nov 16, 2006 |
I miss the answer "I don't translate websites"
Therefore, I can't vote in this one.
| | | | peiling 
Germany
Local time: 19:57
Chinese to English
+ ...
It didn't occur to me to charge higher, esp. since I was provided with it as a table in Word or Excel format so there's no maneuvering on my part. What's the higher rate for?
| | | | | Just added some more options | Nov 16, 2006 |
Hey tygru,
I miss the answer "I don't translate websites" Therefore, I can't vote in this one.
I just added some more options to choose from:)
Thanks for participating,
Patrick
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Pei Ling Haussecker wrote:
It didn't occur to me to charge higher, esp. since I was provided with it as a table in Word or Excel format so there's no maneuvering on my part. What's the higher rate for?
This really is a waste of time given today's technology. With a CAT tool you can give the client his file back in the same format it came. It doesn't take any more time really. He gets the key words translated and the image names. You charge him a bit more to compensate your investment in the software and he's happy to pay it because he'll save a lot of time. I can't believe only 10% of people charge more. Or are you all translating in Excel or Word?
| | | | Brandis (X)
Local time: 19:57
English to German
+ ...
| I had opted for yes | Nov 16, 2006 |
Hi!
because they can be very different, flash, java, embedded movie stuff, text always anyway, sometimes also small databases and applications. The price is always different. Maintain a higher baseline. Best Brandis
| | | | Dyran Altenburg (X)
United States
Local time: 13:57
English to Spanish
+ ...
Pei Ling Haussecker wrote:
It didn't occur to me to charge higher, esp. since I was provided with it as a table in Word or Excel format so there's no maneuvering on my part. What's the higher rate for?
Delivering an exact, functional, server-ready replica of the whole website (100,000 words or so).
All the client has to do is upload it to their server (or I do it myself, depending on the client's needs).
--
Dyran
| | | | peiling
Germany
Local time: 19:57
Chinese to English
+ ...
| That explains it. | Nov 16, 2006 |
I'm usually handed with Word/Excel file in the first instance, without any request for delivering them in internet-ready format. If that's the requirement then I can understand the premium.
Dyran Altenburg wrote:
Delivering an exact, functional, server-ready replica of the whole website (100,000 words or so).
All the client has to do is upload it to their server (or I do it myself, depending on the client's needs).
--
Dyran
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Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 13:57
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| It's a specialized skill, which of course should be paid for | Nov 16, 2006 |
Obviously, if the client sends me the text of a web site as a Word document for delivery as a Word document, I charge my standard rate.
The higher fees apply if they're sending me a whole web site –HTML files, graphical text with ALT tags, JavaScript, CGI code, etc.– and expect me to send back a ready-to-upload foreign-language version.
When someone hires me, they're getting a certified translator who previously worked as an IT specialist for 14 years. If you want e... See more Obviously, if the client sends me the text of a web site as a Word document for delivery as a Word document, I charge my standard rate.
The higher fees apply if they're sending me a whole web site –HTML files, graphical text with ALT tags, JavaScript, CGI code, etc.– and expect me to send back a ready-to-upload foreign-language version.
When someone hires me, they're getting a certified translator who previously worked as an IT specialist for 14 years. If you want expertise, you have to pay for it.
Having a background in coding web sites sometimes even comes in handy for fairly straightforward jobs. For instance, I'm currently working on a Spanish-English translation of some relatively simple HTML files. But the source file was coded incorrectly, and all the extended characters (vowels with accent marks, etc.) come out garbled when viewed on certain browsers. In addition to translating the site, I'm fixing the extended characters. I think it's worth paying extra to get this sort of full service.
[Edited at 2006-11-16 21:24] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 13:57
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| CAT tools are helpful, but they don't handle everything | Nov 16, 2006 |
Timothy Barton wrote:
With a CAT tool you can give the client his file back in the same format it came. It doesn't take any more time really.
Hi, Timothy --
I agree, it's amazing how few people charge extra for this, though it appears different people understood the question in different ways.
CAT tools can do a lot, as you noted, but they have limitations. For instance, almost all web sites include graphical text: banners, headings with unusual fonts, GIFs for navigation buttons, etc. These have to be handled in image-editing software.
Most clients don't have (or can't find) the original layered graphics, so you have to do creative editing in Photoshop to clone out the original text, plunk in the new text and create new GIFs.
If the menu has to be a particular width but the buttons' width varies based on the length of the text, then you have to do all kinds of math and layout planning. All that time has to be billed.
The same holds true for a lot of text that is generated by client-side and server-side scripts: A lot of it has to be handled outside CAT tools (though I try to make sure the results end up in my TMs).
[Edited at 2006-11-16 22:37]
| | | | Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 19:57
German to Polish
+ ...
| no more excuses not to vote :o) | Nov 16, 2006 |
Patrick Dotterer wrote:
I just added some more options to choose from:)
thanks!
| | | | | I have always to date been sent the text of the web site as a Word document | Nov 16, 2006 |
For this reason, I obviously did not understand the implications of the question, and I voted "No". However, if you do all the web site technicalities as well, and use IT expertise, then that is a different matter: of course you would charge for the extra service.
Astrid
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:57
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Totally true | Nov 16, 2006 |
If the work comes in Word or compatible, easy to process format, the rate is basic. Other programs like Freehand, Dreamweaver, Pagemaker or whatever, or even HTML docs, take (me anyway) a lot more time so I charge accordingly - an hourly "real-time" rate for any other formats, even PowerPoint or Excel. My clients trust me and accept this.
Oh, and BTW Tim, not everyone has the time to learn how to use CAT tools or can afford them (eg Trados).
| | | | Özden Arıkan
Germany
Local time: 19:57
Member
English to Turkish
+ ...
Website translation requires additional skills and investment, and takes more time, so it should be charged for accordingly. There might be other tricky stuff, as well, depending on the language: in some website texts there are many strings of numbers, for instance, like price lists. Trados won't count numbers, as you know. But in my language, Turkish, decimal seperator is a comma, as opposed to the period in English. So, ten thousand should be written as 10.000, and not 10,000. And one and a ha... See more Website translation requires additional skills and investment, and takes more time, so it should be charged for accordingly. There might be other tricky stuff, as well, depending on the language: in some website texts there are many strings of numbers, for instance, like price lists. Trados won't count numbers, as you know. But in my language, Turkish, decimal seperator is a comma, as opposed to the period in English. So, ten thousand should be written as 10.000, and not 10,000. And one and a half is 1,5 and not 1.5. All these should be corrected, and it takes time if there are many. Again, as the syntax is very different, concatenation might be quite a headache. And not all repeats are repeated the same way in the target language. As long as you don't see everything in context, your job is not finished with translating the files you have, even if they're only Word files.
Therefore, I also insist on reviewing the job after Html is implemented and charge an hourly fee for review. This is something I try not to let skipped, especially after a disaster I experienced: in a website translation that I did with the TagEditor, the document had a couple of one-word strings, all in plural. "Languages" for instance. Without any context. So I translated them as they came. Then, when I looked at the finished website, I saw a huge blinking heading: 56 languages. The guys saved money for the number 56. Great! However, in Turkish, if the adjective is plural, the noun is not. It should have read "56 language", so to speak. Having it in the plural form is a linguistic scandal. I put the websites I do in my CV and profile, and I cannot explain such embarassing mistakes to each and every potential client. Therefore, while I do enjoy website and Html work, I have a budget and reputation to protect against clients who are keen to learn every new cost-cutting trick, but don't bother remaining ignorant about the translation itself. In short, website translation is no piece of cake, and should be charged for higher. ▲ Collapse
| | | | ilker ingiz
Türkiye
Local time: 20:57
German to Turkish
+ ...
Thank you all for the answers. Even if its not only my poll anymore. Thank you to the staff for the edit.
In this question I was asking about website translations with CAT Tools like TagEditor. I never tought that some client could send a word file from a website. And I wouldnt call this the translation of a website.
My answer was also yes, because of the extra time for double check and the risk of making a mistake you can't take back, like in the case of Özden (by t... See more Thank you all for the answers. Even if its not only my poll anymore. Thank you to the staff for the edit.
In this question I was asking about website translations with CAT Tools like TagEditor. I never tought that some client could send a word file from a website. And I wouldnt call this the translation of a website.
My answer was also yes, because of the extra time for double check and the risk of making a mistake you can't take back, like in the case of Özden (by the way I'm still laughing about this story). ▲ Collapse
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