What shifting left means in localisation, and why it matters
Save time, cut costs and create harder-working multilingual content
Does creating content in multiple languages feel particularly chaotic to you? If so, it might be time to shift left.
You’ve probably heard of the term “shifting left” in the context of software development. It means addressing potential issues earlier in the life cycle. Before they become costly and complex to fix.
The same principle applies in localisation. If you’re involved in publishing multilingual content, you’ve most likely felt the effects of not shifting left. It might look like struggling to meet publication deadlines. Or discovering inconsistencies in how product names have been handled. Or manually copy/pasting translated text from an Excel file into a content management system.
Shifting left means involving your localisation team much earlier in your content life cycle. It can save you time, cut costs and improve user experience. It reduces the need for rework, too.
Contact Planet Languages today to find out how we can help you shift left.
So, what does shifting left look like in practice in localizsation workflows? Let’s take a look.
Key Takeaways from this article:
| 🔸Shifting left involves localisation teams earlier, preventing costly rework and production delays 🔸Translation-friendly source text and design choices accelerate time to market significantly 🔸Early technology integration and change management create scalable, sustainable localisation workflows |
Shifting left with your source text
You wouldn’t build a house on sand. And yet many localisation projects start out with shaky foundations. If your source text is ambiguous or inconsistent, you’ll soon run into difficulties. And the greater the number of languages you’re handling, the greater the chaos.
Clarifying source text queries is time-consuming and can derail production schedules
Let’s say you’re creating a 15,000-word brochure in 20 languages. Your translators contact you at various points during the translation stage with their queries. Your inbox is inundated. After looking at the queries, you realise that the source text does indeed need to be changed. So do the translations. It’ll all take a while to sort out. You’re now in danger of missing your publication deadline.
What shifting left with your source text looks like
It’s hard to create a good translation if your source text is subpar. The “garbage in, garbage out” adage rings true here. Shifting left with your source text means:
- Proofreading and optimising your source text for translation. Our blog post on creating translation-friendly content has 24 tips to get you started.
- Checking for clear language, factual accuracy and logical structure.
- Avoiding idioms and cultural references that don’t travel well.
- Assessing your content for its potential for reuse and repurposing.
The benefits of shifting left with your source text
With a clear source text, you’ll have fewer queries from translators. No more unforeseen costs or delays at the translation stage because of source text amends.
When you involve your localisation team during the content planning stage, you can focus on strategy, not firefighting. What’s more, a great localization partner can help you make your multilingual content go further. How? By identifying how to reuse and repurpose your content for different audiences.
Shifting left with your design choices
What do the following have in common?
- An InDesign layout with hundreds of manual line breaks
- A screenshot of an infographic
- A text-heavy PowerPoint presentation
They all need extra layout work before and after the translation stage.
Poor design choices lengthen time to market
Manual line breaks wreak havoc with text flow, making your content harder to translate. An image that contains text needs to be replicated, but with editable text. And a layout that doesn’t allow for text expansion will end up looking cluttered and ugly in other languages. These issues all take time to fix.
What shifting left with your design choices looks like
Making your content visually appealing in multiple languages is hard. It’s even harder if your layouts aren’t designed with other languages in mind.
Shifting left with your design choices means taking the following aspects into consideration:
- Fonts
- Text expansion
- Character spacing
- Column width
- Alignment
- Languages that read from right to left
Our blog post on multilingual typesetting has some good pointers for you.
The benefits of shifting left with your design choices
With a well-designed, localization-friendly layout, copyfitting becomes more straightforward. That means you can deliver your message in a visually impactful way faster.
Shifting left for accessibility
Do you know if your content is accessible to people with a diverse range of abilities?
Nothing screams “We didn’t set it up right the first time” louder than having to remediate the same document in 20 languages.
This is the costly headache that you could be facing if you need to comply with the European Accessibility Act.
Making accessibility an afterthought is always harder and more costly
There’s a popular analogy in accessibility circles. When you bake blueberry muffins, you need to add the blueberries to the mix before you put them in the oven. You can’t add them at the end.
Actually, to make an edible muffin, you need all the other ingredients, too. It’s always best to bake in accessibility right from the start. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself trapped in endless remediation work.
What shifting left for accessibility looks like
Accessibility isn’t just about ticking boxes and meeting WCAG success criteria. It’s about designing your content thoughtfully, in a way that gives everyone a good user experience.
Shifting left for accessibility means asking your designers and web developers to:
- Structure content to aid navigation
- Use heading levels: H1, H2, H3, etc.
- Use lists
- Set the reading order for electronic documents
- Use a logical structure for tables
- Include alternative text for images
- Use good colour contrast
- Make hyperlinks clear and helpful for all users
It also means making captions and transcripts part of the video content creation process.
The benefits of shifting left for accessibility
When you design your content with a range of abilities in mind, everyone benefits. You can create a library of accessible documents and web pages for your team to use as templates.
What’s more, when you localize your accessible content, you’ll soon see a flywheel effect. When you make accessibility part of your process, you’ll boost your reputation, save on remediation costs, and reach a wider audience.
More information: Accessible Language Services
Shifting left in technology and workflows
Translation workflows have become more complex as AI tools and client systems have proliferated.
Often, that means localization teams need to find workarounds for poorly integrated systems and problems that shouldn’t exist.
Clunky tools make automation expensive
Not all tools were designed with multilingual content in mind. If you have a plethora of tools in your tech stack, getting them to play nicely is a challenge, even for tech-savvy LSPs.
Freelance translators may not be able to effectively integrate their tools with yours. That means painstaking manual work.
Your bespoke set-up may need custom automation solutions when you add localization to the mix. And those solutions can be costly.
What shifting left in technology and workflows looks like
Involve your localization team when you make technology purchasing decisions. It could be the best money you’ve ever saved. A shift-left approach here means:
- Selecting CMS and design tools that support multilingual workflows
- Automating repeatable steps
- Building in flexibility for different content types
- Ensuring consistent metadata tagging for assets that need localizing
The benefits of a shift-left approach to technology and workflows
When you anticipate localization needs from day one, you make smarter decisions about your tech. This sets your localization team up for success right from the start. And that makes for a localization pipeline that’s robust, scalable and sustainable.
A shift-left approach to change
Change can be deeply uncomfortable. It can lead to resentment and disengagement if it comes across as one-sided or poorly thought-out.
Are you risking leaving your best talent behind?
If you aren’t communicating what you want to achieve through change, you risk losing your best talent.
Shifting left with change management
You need buy-in to effect change. Stakeholder alignment is crucial. Shifting left here means:
- Involving stakeholders in planning, not just execution
- Documenting processes clearly
- Providing training
- Defining success criteria
- Sharing wins with the entire team
Why change management in localization matters
Many companies that were quick to adopt AI are now backtracking. Take Klarna, for example. The Swedish fintech company is adjusting its AI-first approach and is recruiting humans again.
Likewise, in the localization world, there’s a clear need for human experts to be in the driving seat.
Implementing new processes and new workflows takes skill. It takes even more finesse to bring your best people along with you.
Final thoughts
Managing complexity is what language services providers have excelled at for decades. At Planet Languages, we’ve been proud to devise tailored solutions for complex client requirements. We are very comfortable starting upstream, working hard to understand your stakeholders’ specific challenges and pain points, and being a trusted partner to our clients.
Shifting left in localization is a mindset shift. It’s about anticipating needs rather than reacting to problems. It’s doing the right work, earlier. And it means giving localization teams a seat at the table early enough to influence strategy, not just deliverables.
If you’re tired of juggling tight timelines and firefighting, shifting left will change the game. Ready to make your multilingual content work harder? Contact Planet Languages today to find out how we can help you shift left.
More multilingual content questions? Here are the questions people often ask after reading this post:
Proofreading and optimising source text before translation eliminates ambiguity and inconsistencies. This reduces translator queries, prevents unforeseen source text amendments, and avoids costly rework across multiple languages. Clear, translation-friendly content enables smoother workflows and helps meet publication deadlines consistently.
Consider fonts, text expansion, character spacing, column width, alignment, and right-to-left languages early. Avoid manual line breaks, text-heavy screenshots, and inflexible layouts. Translation-friendly designs enable straightforward copyfitting, reducing layout work and delivering visually impactful messages faster across all languages.
Building accessibility into content from the start prevents costly remediation work across multiple languages. When accessibility is an afterthought, businesses face expensive fixes. Shifting left creates accessible templates, boosts reputation, reaches wider audiences, and ensures compliance.
Engage localisation teams when selecting CMS and design tools to ensure multilingual workflow support. Evaluate automation capabilities, content type flexibility, and metadata tagging systems. Early involvement prevents expensive custom solutions, reduces manual work, and creates robust, scalable localisation pipelines.
Secure stakeholder buy-in through early involvement in planning, not just execution. Document processes clearly, provide training, define success criteria, and share wins with the entire team. This prevents disengagement, retains top talent, and ensures human experts drive new workflows effectively.
About the author
Antonios Koutsounouris is the Operations Director at Planet Languages. He oversees all aspects of the day-to-day business. He is passionate about using technology to provide clients with smart, cost-effective localization solutions.
