The Importance of Localization Testing

As website and applications reach out to an ever-broader audience of users, it becomes increasingly important to perform thorough and extensive localization testing as part of the QA process.

Localization testing does not simply mean checking that text has been properly rendered in the correct language (although that is a big and important part of it), but also includes checking that as much of the content and design as possible have been updated to reflect how ‘things are done’ in a region.  Some values are formatted differently in different regions, such as day/date, currency, and postal codes, many languages make use of accented letters and other characters not commonly found in English-only text, and some languages even read right-to-left and may need controls positioned differently on a form to account for this (Arabic and Hebrew in particular).

In 2016, with the rise of mobile apps and the growing importance of global markets, automation tools were starting to emerge to assist with some aspects of localization testing.

However, a significant portion still relied on manual testing by human beings with cultural fluency in the target language. This was especially crucial for aspects that went beyond basic translation, like ensuring date formats were displayed correctly, currencies were appropriate, and imagery wasn’t culturally insensitive.

For instance, a seemingly simple element like a date picker could cause confusion if not localized. Consider an American user accustomed to the MM/DD/YYYY format encountering a website that displayed dates in DD/MM/YYYY. Even trickier are formats that depend on the language, like יום שלישי, 18 יוני, 2024 (Tuesday, June 18, 2024) in Hebrew. Localization testing also ensured text with right-to-left reading, like Arabic and Hebrew, was formatted correctly to avoid garbled interfaces. 

Beyond these technical considerations, cultural nuances were also important. A color scheme that might be appealing in one culture could be offensive in another. By incorporating localization testing into the QA process, companies can ensure their websites and applications deliver a seamless and culturally appropriate user experience for their global audience.

Additionally, localization testing needs to be performed robustly in all supported environments, including desktop, mobile, and popular web browsers.

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