From corporate clients to LSCs worldwide, clients of translation agencies are constantly faced with the same question: how do we ensure we’re hiring services we can trust?

When the work produced is in a language clients can’t understand, they must be able to rely on agencies to produce translations that fit their purpose – linguistically, stylistically, culturally, and in so many other dimensions. While each company will have their own style and expertise, there’s only one proven way of ensuring the highest quality is attained: adherence to quality standards, and which better standards to meet than ISO accreditation? 

ISO Accreditation in the translation industry

Though the practice of translation has been around for thousands of years, what was once a task reserved for monks, linguists, and scholars has grown and developed into the booming modern-day translation industry we know today. Globalisation and the age of technology have led to an ever-increasing demand for intercultural communication, requiring more translators, project managers, and agencies to meet the demand. 

As a result of this growth and development, a need was also faced for standardisation, ensuring that the companies springing up were working with qualified individuals and adhering to practices that would provide reliable output. From legal documents to medical texts and accounting reports to technical manuals, the importance of accurate, well-done translations cannot be overstated, with errors possibly leading to disastrous outcomes in various fields. As such, the International Organization for Standardization, ISO, devised standards to govern the quality of translations, among other aspects, reassuring clients that the companies that adhere to them are up to scratch. Read on to learn more about the standards most applicable to translation agencies. 

ISO 17100:2015 Translation services

The ISO standard that regulates translation services - ISO 17100:2015 - provides requirements relating to a company’s:

• core processes,
• human, technical, and technological resources – ensuring translators, project managers, and revisers have the qualifications and experience necessary to ensure excellence,
• translation steps - which must include at least two professionals,
• pre-production processes,
• data protection,
• client feedback,

And other aspects required within a company to deliver a quality translation service that meets any and all applicable specifications. These include specifications determined by the Translation Service Provider, the client, industry codes, best-practice guides, and legislation.

A comprehensive standard, ISO 17100:2015 ensures that companies operating in the translation industry take every step necessary to provide a high-quality service across their operations and mitigate risks for their clients in the process. 

ISO 9001:2015 Quality management systems

The next standard applicable to the translation industry is ISO 9001:2015, relating to quality management systems. A generic ISO standard that can be met by companies of any sector and any size, ensuring companies:

• Demonstrate their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and statutory, and regulatory requirements
  
• Improve customer satisfaction by effectively applying quality management systems, including system improvements meeting customer and statutory and regulatory requirements.

Though this standard is unrelated to language services specifically, combining standards ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17100:2015 stand as proof of any agency’s focus on quality and exceeding client expectations in every job. It assesses processes, which, as we all know, are the key to delivering services of excellence. 

ISO 18587:2017 Post-editing services

As technology progresses and machine translation (using artificial intelligence to automatically translate text from one language to another) advances, it is increasingly being integrated into workflows to make the translation process more efficient and cost-effective. 

As a reflection of this progress, the ISO devised a standard to regulate the use of MT (machine translation), providing requirements for full, human post-editing of machine translation output and the competencies required of post-editors – including that those skills are regularly updated.  

In adhering to this standard, companies ensure that their every project is delivered with qualified professionals and reliable output is produced. 

The Benefits of Working with an ISO-Certified Company

When clients begin their search for a translation company, they often seek to ascertain whether the company adheres to any standards, specifications, or best practices. By opting for an ISO-certified company, they can rest easy in the knowledge that the company’s practices and policies align with the highest quality standards, ensuring a product of excellence is delivered. 

Here at Diskusija, we’re an ISO 9001, 17100, and 18587 certified company, but read on to find out precisely what that means.

Diskusija: Leading the Way to ISO Accreditation in Lithuania

Having three decades of experience in the translation industry, Diskusija had always had a range of clearly defined processes in place, which have each been honed and perfected over the years. However, seeking international certification presented itself as an opportunity to reassess each process, making further improvements wherever possible and ensuring consistent progress over time, something we welcome with open arms as a means through which to bring ever more value to our clients. 

It was in 2016 that Diskusija was officially certified as meeting two ISO standards: the most popular quality management standard - ISO 9001:2015, and the translation services standard - ISO 17100:2015, an industry-specific marker of quality and precision. These certifications showcase Diskusija’s commitment to the highest quality across all of our processes and our position as one of the first translation agencies in Lithuania to implement standard 17100. We’re also proud to have been the first translation agency in Lithuania to become certified as meeting ISO 18587:2017 for post-editing services in 2022, a marker of the new challenges faced in the industry and our ability to keep up with advancing technologies.

Here at Diskusija, we’re proud to have our certifications renewed year after year as we continue to strive for continuous improvement across our operations – one of our core values.

Want to find out more about the values that drive us? Then click here.