Giving a Voice to e-Learning

Our client is the Asia-Pacific operation of a leading e-learning solutions provider. Asian Absolute was requested to localize a variety of e-learning modules which they had produced for one of the world’s largest banks.The project involved translation of text in xml, localisation of Flash animations, voiceovers, subtitles and linguistic testing. Each project required work in three Asian languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese for Taiwan, and Korean.

While we have plenty of experience localizing e-learning modules, the special challenge of these projects was the scope of the voiceover work. We were required to record nearly 800 mp3 files for each language. No small matter… especially since different voices were needed for over 20 separate characters.

Conscientious selection of the right voice talents was essential. Professional voice talents were of course required, and each voice had to be approved by the bank’s HR team. Voice samples were sent to the client for reviewing and approval before choosing primary voice talents and backup voice talents who were available for all the scheduled recording dates.

As well as having each audio file checked by a linguist for accuracy and completeness, postrecording QA was performed by one of our on-site engineers to ensure all files were errorfree before being incorporated into the builds.

The completed builds were released on a rolling basis so that the bank’s employees could begin their training as early as possible. The voice recording was spread across several sessions for each language, with additional time scheduled into each session for re-recording of problematic audio files from the previous session. This saved both time and money for the client, ensuring that all the audio files for each module were completed on time, and additional bookings were not needed for the voice talents and studio to re-record problem files.

As well as a sizeable pool of voice talents, the success of these projects required a high degree of planning and scheduling to avoid unnecessary communications and keep costs to a minimum.

The recording studio and the talents were booked well in advance, however the English modules were not always released to us for translation on time. We kept things on track by assigning additional translators to the team to ensure the audio scripts were translated in line with the original schedule. This meant that the voice talents could receive a copy of each script a week before the recording date and rehearse their parts properly.

The meticulous approach on optimizing the workflow and schedule was instrumental in meeting and exceeding the client’s expectations, as was the flexibility to absorb the scheduling changes which originated on the client side. The selected voice talents correctly fitted the brief, content consistency was ensured throughout, projects were delivered within agreed timelines, and overall costs kept to a minimum. In short, the localization of our client’s e-learning materials was carried out without a hitch.