Localizability Testing & Pseudolocalization

Pseudolocalization is the process for verifying that an application is ready to be translated.
It verifies that the application UI can be easily localized to any language without making source code modifications.
Since localizability bugs have to be fixed in the source code, they must be looked for at the beginning of translation process so this tool allows you to avoid having to fix bugs for every language version at a later point.

Test Your Application Localizability

Pseudolocalization Method:*

This will keep the text readable, and non-modified text will catch your attention.
Example: A -> Ã, E -> È, U -> Ũ, etc.
This will help you to test how your application deals with two-byte characters, encoding and locale.
This will make finding places where the program utilizes ANSI functions to process or display text. Having those markers, you'll easily see when text is built at run-time - potential source of localizability bugs.
Example: Some text -> $Some text$. In many cases translated text is longer then the English original the length will also increase.
English is one of the most compact languages: what is usually depicted as "OK" in English becomes "Aceptado" in Spanish, for example.

Crowdin Project: *

Modifications:
Pre-text characters:
Post-text characters:

Important Notes

If you take pseudo-localization very seriously, you'll need to test pseudolocalized input as well (say, try to submit Japanese texts instead of English).

Remember about culture specific numeric, dates and currency formatting.

Validate all dialog boxes. Verify tree structure, list boxes, other controls in various resolutions with pseudolocalized texts.

Why it's important?

Waiting for application to be complitely localized via community or LSP can bring a significant lag into the translations testing schedule. In addition, it may not be cost-effective to translate UI text early in the development cycle, as it might change and need to be retranslated. Here, pseudolocalization can be the best option, as no real translation is needed.