posttranslatorisk

Posttranslatorisk is a term used, particularly in Scandinavian translation and localization contexts, to describe the set of risks that emerge after a translation has been produced and released. It encompasses issues that affect the understood meaning, compliance, or perception of content once it exists in the target language.

Scope includes written documents, marketing materials, software localizations, subtitles, and legal texts. Risks are quality-related (inaccuracies, terminology drift), regulatory/compliance (non-conformance with local laws), branding and tone drift, cultural or ethical insensitivity, and operational risks caused by updates or version changes.

Causes include insufficient context during translation, changes in source material after translation, lack of post-release QA, reliance on machine translation without adequate post-editing, poor terminology management, and breakdowns in localization pipelines that fail to sync glossaries and style guides.

Mitigation involves post-translation quality assurance, context provision, glossary and style guidelines, continued terminology management, human-in-the-loop reviews, regulatory validation, and ongoing monitoring after deployment or publication. Integrating posttranslatorisk assessment into project governance reduces risk exposure.

The concept is related to broader localization risk management and differs from pre-translation risks such as cost and supplier selection. It highlights the need for post-publication checks, updates, and governance to preserve accuracy, compliance, and brand integrity.