For the translation of open enrollment documents, you may have multiple guides for different locations and repetition of content between them. How should you handle the translation of multiple open enrollments documents to be cost effective, given the repetition, as well as accurate and consistent? We handle this scenario every year for a client who develops these new hire guides and flyers for multiple locations of their end client and trust in us for the Spanish translation of the open enrollment guides, flyers, PPTs and other marketing material around their OE period. When we reference multiple locations, an example would be a location in California where the health plan may be Kaiser, different from what is offered to employees in another state. If you are still in limbo about whether or not you should translate, you could consider our top 5 reasons why translation would be to your benefit.
Adobe Compare and the Translation of open enrollment documents
So many end clients do version control in their design files and not outside of the design file in a Word file. In addition to text changes, there may be imagery and layout changes on a table with different $ amounts. Who is responsible for highlighting these changes? Our client, a global HR consultancy, relies on the value of our project management to decide on the strategy to tackle this kind of project.
If done right, translation costs should be reduced as well as typesetting costs. We start with identification of the main guide and then run Compares in Adobe Pro to find the changes between them. We also use Draftable online which can be more reliable than Adobe Compare these days. We then mark up PDFs with notes and instruct our DTP team on where to make the revisions. This may include sending along the source English design file so they can lift dollar amounts from a table, see an image size, etc. It also helps that our DTP team is very experienced with these kind of projects and mark ups. Someone who is not may be overwhelmed. However, we organize it well, have clear and consistent instruction on what to revise and then go through our rounds of proof which is such an important part of this process with the translation of open enrollment documents.
Should the client be responsible for the revisions between guides or trust that the translation company has found all the differences? Our process is that after running the Compare documents in Adobe Pro, we offer those Compares to the client to confirm the scope of the project. We are then responsible for marking up those compares. Consider your translation partner as a partner in your success. If they are not focused on your success, you are missing out on what could be…
So let’s break down how costs are saved in a project like this. You may have a total of 10 guides for various locations throughout the United States. Different states and employees in those states may be entitled to different benefits, health plans, coverage options, copays, etc. Without doing a compare, you would translate each guide independently. You could merge it all into file and then do an analysis for repetition of content (which is discounted to a client). However, you have to decide whether that discount is as great as the one you can offer by doing the Compares and pulling out only new content.
If you decide on the latter strategy, then you take a base typeset design file and mark up that PDF with PDF notes to instruct on the revisions. You do this with a final file – one that has gone through rounds of proof (print and screen) by translators and project management. We also send that final file to the client to comment on anything they want changed in the design, especially when dealing with a lengthier language in the translation of open enrollment documents. Once the DTP team is making the revisions, they also save out that design file with the new name of the design file – version control, version control! So you typeset once……make revisions….then only those revised areas are proofed – again, print and screen, translators and project management. So how can you translate once and reuse content in open enrollment documents? Partner with the right team…
Have an open enrollment project that needs a strategy on how to handle it to save you costs? Let us take a look and give you some ideas!
