If you study all linked documents on this page, you will gain a basic understanding of translation quality from the Tranquality perspective. Tranquality is a division of LTAC Global.
LTAC’s position on translation quality builds on the ISO 9000 family of standards, from which five key quality management terms (planning, control, assurance, evaluation, and improvement) have been adapted to the translation community (click here to download the two-page chart of QM terms). The starting point is that quality is the “degree to which a deliverable meets stakeholder requirements”.
Two LTAC board members contributed to an oft-cited 2014 trilogy of articles about translation quality compatible with these five quality management terms. In the third part of the trilogy, you will find the following broad definition of translation quality, which has stood the test of time:
“A quality translation demonstrates accuracy and fluency required for the audience and purpose and complies with all other specifications negotiated between the requester and provider, taking into account end-user needs.”
The specifications mentioned in this definition are an expression of the stakeholder requirements in the above definition of quality. For a discussion of the connection between requirements and specifications see the Hungry Man example (click here to download one-page Hungry Man PDF).
Twenty years after the publication of the translation quality trilogy, in 2024, Ingemar Strandvik wrote a comprehensive article about translation specifications, which was published in 2025.
All the documents in this mini-course are open access.