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Quality guidelines for translators

Whether seasoned professionals or just starting their careers, our members can use the guidelines provided in to help their work flourish.

Language Specialists have published quality guidelines for several branches of translation. Recommendations for audio-visual translations were developed in collaboration with translators, translation agencies, television channels, streaming services, organizations, and the Institute for the Languages of Finland (Kotimaisten kielten keskus, Kotus).

The recommendations are applicable to audio-visual translations on television, in streaming services and in recordings. The guidelines give information about suitable grammar and spelling, line breaks, timing, cohesion, localization, slang, codeswitching and beyond.

We also have separate recommendations for closed captioning. For example, Finnish law obliges public administration and organizations receiving public funding to caption video materials published online. This is to improve accessibility for different audiences. The guidelines aim to provide a uniform way to caption television programmes and online videos. The recommendations cover same themes as the ones for audio-visual translations.

You can read more about the guidelines and recommendations on our Finnish website here.