<p>In order to facilitate comprehensibility and translation, the language used in software user documentation must be standardized. If the terminology and language rules are standardized and consistent, the time and cost of translation will be reduced. For this reason, controlled languages have been developed. Controlled languages are subsets of other languages, purposely limited by restricting the terminology and grammar that is allowed.</p><p>The purpose and goal of this thesis is to investigate how using a controlled language can improve comprehensibility and translatability of software user documentation written in English. In order to reach our goal, we have performed a case study at IFS AB. We specify a number of research questions that help satisfy some of the goals of IFS and, when generalized, fulfill the goal of this thesis.</p><p>A major result of our case study is a list of sixteen controlled language rules. Some examples of these rules are control of the maximum allowed number of words in a sentence, and control of when the author is allowed to use past participles. We have based our controlled language rules on existing controlled languages, style guides, research reports, and the opinions of technical writers at IFS.</p><p>When we applied these rules to different user documentation texts at IFS, we managed to increase the readability score for each of the texts. Also, during an assessment test of readability and translatability, the rewritten versions were chosen in 85 % of the cases by experienced technical writers at IFS.</p><p>Another result of our case study is a prototype application that shows that it is possible to develop and use a software checker for helping the authors when writing documentation according to our suggested controlled language rules.</p>

In order to facilitate comprehensibility and translation, the language used in software user documentation must be standardized. If the terminology and language rules are standardized and consistent, the time and cost of translation will be reduced. For this reason, controlled languages have been developed. Controlled languages are subsets of other languages, purposely limited by restricting the terminology and grammar that is allowed. The purpose and goal of this thesis is to investigate how using a controlled language can improve comprehensibility and translatability of software user documentation written in English. In order to reach our goal, we have performed a case study at IFS AB. We specify a number of research questions that help satisfy some of the goals of IFS and, when generalized, fulfill the goal of this thesis. A major result of our case study is a list of sixteen controlled language rules. Some examples of these rules are control of the maximum allowed number of words in a sentence, and control of when the author is allowed to use past participles. We have based our controlled language rules on existing controlled languages, style guides, research reports, and the opinions of technical writers at IFS. When we applied these rules to different user documentation texts at IFS, we managed to increase the readability score for each of the texts. Also, during an assessment test of readability and translatability, the rewritten versions were chosen in 85 % of the cases by experienced technical writers at IFS. Another result of our case study is a prototype application that shows that it is possible to develop and use a software checker for helping the authors when writing documentation according to our suggested controlled language rules.

The graphical user interface for a software system has several important roles to fulfill. It shall serve the end users in their interactions with the system and it shall act as a front for the system. It is an advantage if the graphical user interface gives the receiver confidence and inspiration to use the system. Consistency and usability in graphical and technical design are important qualities and aspects that influence the receiver’s opinion of a graphical user interface and additionally the whole system. Moreover when there is a suite of proprietary systems from one supplier, the different application user interfaces shall provide for a homogeneous and familiar impression. The graphical user interface gives furthermore a possibility to confirm brand recognition for the software producer. It is a great challenge for a large-scale enterprise to develop and deliver comprehensive software systems with a common expression and consistency in the different graphical user interfaces. In order for large-scale enterprises to succeed in such activities, it is necessary to coordinate and integrate the development of user interfaces. The focus of this thesis is, consequently, to investigate how technological support for graphical user interface development in large-scale enterprises can contribute to this and support user interface designers and developers in a large-scale enterprise when the product portfolio is widespread. The contributions of the thesis work are presented as a number of observations and the observations as such are summarized in a case study. Moreover, the thesis proposes a technological concept for a large-scale software enterprise, where the aim is to support a common and coordinated way of working with enterprise development of graphical user interfaces.

The aim of this master's thesis is to examine the topic of using style guides in institutional translation, especially in the context of translation in the EU institutions. The theoretical part of the thesis first defines institutional translation and then describes the topic of translation in the EU institutions and of translation manuals and style guides in institutional translation in general and specifically in the EU. The empirical part is focused on the analysis of the Interinstitutional Style Guide as a set of rules and guidelines used in institutional translation in the EU institutions; the IISG is also compared with the grammar and spelling rules of the Czech language in the Czech Internet Language Reference Book by the Czech Language Institute of Czech Academy of Sciences. The thesis examines the observance rate of those rules in the Czech language versions of legal documents published in the Official Journal of the EU from 2004 to 2020. The analysis is conducted in a corpus compiled of EU legislative texts through ApSic Xbench. The results of the analysis are then compared to the occurrence of the examined language phenomena in a corpus of original Czech legal documents. The findings shall contribute to the research of the specificities of institutional translation, especially to the...