Assessing the impact of readability on translation quality and productivity

In view of the importance of government communication in community languages, and the large volumes of translations done annually in this regard, the current study set out to measure the impact that text simplification could have on the quality of translations in some of these community languages. Empirical data on the relationship between text readability and translation quality could give government departments and language service providers information to inform decisions on whether or not it would be advisable to adopt a workflow in which texts that are to be translated are first assessed for readability, and should the readability level of the text be too low, are then simplified. This is particularly important in view of the shortage of highly qualified translators in some of the community languages of lesser diffusion. Improved translation quality will have a measurable effect on the effectiveness of government communication as well as in other spheres of public life.