Linguistic Quality Assurance That Shows How Good Your Translations Really Are
Independent LQA and language quality assessment for translations from any source: another agency, your in-house team, crowdsourcing or an AI system. Native reviewers check every line, score every error and tell you exactly what to fix.
What Is Linguistic Quality Assurance (LQA)?
Linguistic quality assurance is an independent review that measures translated content against agreed criteria: accuracy, terminology, fluency, consistency, style and locale-specific requirements. Every error is classified by type and severity and recorded in a structured scorecard. NexTranslate runs LQA on translations from any agency, vendor or AI system, so you get an objective quality score without changing provider.
A Translation Can Be Grammatical and Still Be Wrong
Most translation problems are invisible to the people who commissioned the work. A product term rendered three different ways, a disclaimer that softens a legal obligation, a headline that reads as stiff or a button label that no longer fits the screen. None of these show up in a spell check, but your customers notice them.
Linguistic quality assurance makes quality measurable. Instead of a general impression that a translation is good or bad, you get a documented list of errors, each tied to a category, a severity level and a recommended fix, plus an overall score or a clear pass or fail against the threshold you set.
We tailor every language quality assessment to the content type, the business risk and how the content will be used. A help article and a patient leaflet do not need the same depth of review, so sampling depth, error severity definitions and acceptance criteria are agreed with you for each project.
The result is a review that keeps your message accurate, culturally aligned and true to your brand voice in every language, and gives your team the evidence it needs to approve a launch, push back on a vendor or brief a rework.
- Framework and pass threshold agreed before review starts
- Native reviewers matched by language and subject
- Errors rated critical, major or minor
- Overall score or pass and fail status
- Annotated findings and rework recommendations
- No need to change your translation provider
Content We Review
Marketing Content
Ads, websites, landing pages and campaigns, checked for tone, persuasion and cultural fit as well as accuracy.
Legal, Medical and Compliance Material
Contracts, policies, patient-facing and regulatory content where a single mistranslation can create real risk.
Software UI and Apps
UI strings and in-app experiences, reviewed with screenshots for context so truncation and ambiguity are caught.
Documentation and Knowledge Bases
Manuals, help centers and technical guides, with a focus on terminology and step-by-step clarity.
Subtitles, Scripts and Multimedia
Subtitle files, voice-over scripts and video assets, checked for meaning, timing constraints and readability.
MTPE and Machine Output
Raw machine translation and post-edited content, measured against the quality bar you actually need.
AI-generated Translations
Output from LLMs and AI translation tools, assessed with the same criteria as human work.
Crowdsourced Translations
Community and volunteer translations, reviewed for consistency before they reach customers.
Multi-vendor Programs
Comparison scores across vendors, languages or projects, so you can see who delivers and where.
The Errors We Look For
Each issue is logged against one of these categories, so patterns are easy to spot and fix at the source.
Accuracy and Meaning
Mistranslations, omissions, additions and factual errors that change what the source says.
Terminology
Approved glossary terms, product names and industry vocabulary used correctly and the same way every time.
Grammar and Fluency
Grammar, syntax, spelling and punctuation, and whether the text reads naturally to a native speaker.
Style and Brand Tone
Formality, voice and register matched to your style guide and to the audience.
Cultural Relevance
References, idioms, images and examples that may confuse or offend in the target market.
Locale and Formatting
Dates, numbers, currencies, units, tags, layout and text length that break the reading experience.
Every Error Classified by Type and Severity
We agree the framework and pass threshold with you before the review starts: MQM, TAUS DQF or your own internal standard. Every issue is then logged with a category and one of three severity levels.
Share of errors found, by category. Illustrative example, not client data.
How Our LQA Process Works
The framework, sampling plan and pass threshold are agreed with you before a single line is reviewed, so the result is never a surprise.
Get an LQA quote- 1
Scope and Criteria
We agree the quality framework (MQM, TAUS DQF or your internal standard), error severity definitions, acceptance criteria and pass threshold for your content and risk level.
- 2
Project Setup
You share source and translated files with glossaries, style guides, screenshots and any reference material that defines what correct looks like.
- 3
Sampling Plan
We set sampling depth and review intensity by volume, risk and quality expectations. High-risk content gets a full review, lower-risk content a representative sample.
- 4
Linguistic Review
Native reviewers chosen for language proficiency and subject-matter expertise check the content line by line for accuracy, clarity, style, cultural relevance, formatting and brand tone.
- 5
Scoring and Error Categorization
Each issue is classified, rated critical, major or minor, and scored against the agreed framework to produce an overall result.
- 6
Report and Recommendations
You receive the annotated scorecard, error explanations, terminology observations and clear improvement guidelines. One revision round within 7 days of delivery is included.
What Your Linguistic Quality Assurance Report Includes
A report your localization manager, vendor and leadership can all act on, not just a list of red marks.
Error Log by Category and Severity
Every issue recorded with its category, severity rating, the original text and a suggested correction.
Overall Quality Score
A weighted score per file, language or project, or a simple pass or fail against your agreed threshold.
Terminology and Consistency Checks
Where glossary terms were missed or the same concept was translated in different ways.
Context-based Notes
Explanations for each finding, with screenshots for UI reviews so developers see exactly where the issue sits.
Revision Guidance
Rework recommendations and practical guidelines your translators can apply to future content.
Comparison Scores
Side-by-side scores across vendors, languages or projects, so you can track quality over time.
Standalone Review or Built Into Your Translation
Standalone LQA Audit
We independently assess translations produced by other agencies, vendors or AI systems. You keep your provider and get findings you can act on.
QA Included with Our Translation
On translation projects, proofreading and QA are part of the workflow. Translation, proofreading and QA come for the price of proofreading alone, subject to project scope.
Recurring Quality Checks
For SaaS and e-commerce teams with continuous localization, we run reviews on a schedule so quality is tracked release by release.
Fix What Fails
If content does not meet the bar, our linguists can correct or re-translate it, then re-check it against the same criteria.
Built for Teams That Cannot Risk Inaccuracies
LQA gives these teams an objective, documented measure of quality, whoever produced the translation.
Get an LQA quote- Global technology companies shipping products in many languages
- Healthcare, legal and compliance teams with regulated content
- Localization agencies that need external QA
- E-learning and product teams managing high-volume content
- Localization managers auditing or comparing vendors
- Teams adopting machine translation or AI and checking its output
What is linguistic quality assurance?
Linguistic quality assurance (LQA) is a structured review that checks translations for accuracy, clarity, grammar, terminology, tone and cultural relevance. Errors are classified by type and severity against agreed criteria. The output is a scorecard that tells you whether content is ready to publish and what needs fixing.
Do you offer standalone language quality assessments, including for other providers?
Yes. We run independent language quality assessments on existing translations from other agencies, vendors, in-house teams or AI systems, without asking you to change provider. Findings are written so you can share them directly with the vendor.
Who performs the quality assurance?
Native reviewers selected for language proficiency and subject-matter expertise in your industry. The reviewer is never the person who translated the content, so the assessment stays independent.
Which quality framework do you use?
The one we agree with you before the review starts. That can be MQM, TAUS DQF or your own internal standard, with severity definitions and a pass threshold set for your content.
What types of errors do you check for?
We check for mistranslations and factual accuracy, terminology issues, grammar and syntax, tone inconsistencies, cultural mismatches and locale or formatting problems. Each one is rated critical, major or minor.
How much of our content do you review?
It depends on volume, risk and your quality expectations. High-risk content such as legal or medical material gets a deeper review, while large, lower-risk volumes can be assessed through a representative sample.
Is LQA important for legal or medical content?
Yes, it is essential. Regulated industries need strict accuracy, and a single error can change a legal obligation or a dosage instruction, so we use reviewers with relevant subject experience and a deeper review.
Do you evaluate MTPE and AI output?
Yes. We assess raw machine translation, post-edited content and output from AI translation tools against the same criteria as human translation. This shows whether your MT or AI workflow is actually meeting your quality bar.
Do you support continuous localization quality checks?
Yes. For SaaS and e-commerce teams that release content continuously, we run recurring reviews on an agreed schedule so quality is tracked over time, not just at launch.
Do you create brand style guides for clients?
Yes, LQA findings often feed into a style guide that keeps tone consistent across all languages. Where you already have brand guidelines and glossaries, we review against those.
Can LQA improve conversion rates?
It can remove a common cause of lost conversions. Clear, culturally accurate content builds trust, while awkward phrasing, wrong terms or broken UI text make buyers hesitate. LQA finds those issues before customers do, though results depend on the market and the content.
Can we see a sample scorecard?
Yes. We can share an anonymized scorecard so you can see our reporting format, error categories and level of detail before you commit to a review.