User Interface (UI)

All the elements that make up the user interface are called UI items or UI elements. UI elements are the core building blocks for all software interfaces. They are responsible for interactions between the user and the application. They are what allows for effective user navigation and input/output data, to name just two core functionalities.

We have menus, submenus, menu items or commands, dialog boxes with options of various kinds (checkboxes, radio buttons...), lists, buttons, and so on. But the program also speaks to us directly, with messages that can be warnings, error reports, questions, short descriptions of menus or commands (tooltips).

Let’s look at some of them in a little more detail:

• Dialog boxes: windows or screens used to change options or settings. They can include tabs, fields, check boxes, lists, etc.

• Menus: drop-down lists used to select commands and options, or to access dialog boxes. They include menu bars, menu options and context menus.

• Strings: error messages, status messages, questions and tooltips used in the application. This part is usually the most difficult one as strings often do not contain context information.

• Hot keys: hot keys are key combinations that allow you to access menu or submenu options. They are displayed by one underlined letter (for example, Open) in the application and by a & symbol before the letter (for example, &Open) in software files. By pressing this key in combination with the Alt key, user can activate a certain command. A hot key assignment must be unique in each menu, submenu or dialog box to allow correct software functionality. The use of some letters is also preferred (use the first character or a character as close to the beginning of a word as possible, don’t use accented characters or avoid using characters with downstrokes, etc.). It is important to be consistent with the hot keys used in the target operating system.

It is critically important that the UI elements are translated consistently. To ensure consistency, you need to:

• Check online UI TM if working on UI project in Phrase (Search tab in the right pane)

• Check offline UI TM exports if working on UA projects in Trados Studio (export saved on FTP: 🗃️/Tableau/FromJTE/_References_/01_TM/UI_TM export)

If this still does not help, translators need to send a query via Query Sheet.