Guidelines for customers

Information on enquiries, quotations, orders and co-operation

You, the customer, can do a lot to help us produce a good and accurate translation written to suit the purpose for which it is intended, and delivered on time in the format you require.
Sometimes we are asked if our translations comply with the DIN 2345 standard. What many people do not know, however, is that this standard places demands both on the translator and on the customer.
Below, we have drawn up a checklist based on this standard, telling you what information we ideally require from you in order to produce the best possible translation for your particular needs:

You should provide or attempt to provide:

	the complete source text, either as a legible print copy on paper or, better still, in electronic form as a file
	information on the purpose of the translation and the target group (e.g. is it intended for company-internal discussion or for widespread publication, will it be read by native speakers only or by readers for whom the target language is a lingua franca, is it intended for experts or for the general public etc.?)
	general information on your company and its products etc.
	reference documents wherever possible
	special company-internal terminology and abbreviations; when software and software instructions are to be translated, it is important to provide us with any texts which already exist in the target language (e.g. screen shots of user interfaces).
	the name, telephone number and e-mail address of someone in the company who is in a position to answer any queries
	your deadline request
	your wishes regarding the way you want the translation delivered (paper, electronic file – on CD, floppy or another medium) and the file format (this is extremely important if the files are to be used for further processing)
	any special wishes you may have with regard to style, formal appearance, image handling etc.
	details of how the translation is to be delivered to you (mail, e-mail, courier etc.)

It is a great help to us if you can provide as much of this information as possible when you send your request for a quotation. This enables us to assess the amount of time required more accurately and give you a detailed, realistic and favourable quotation.

E-mail: office@technomedia-translations.de