4.9.6. What is Pertinent for Terminology?

The terminology interchange formats are important as they will likely improve the sharing of terminological data. Up until now, many suppliers had a proprietary format. By creating software that could not import file formats used by other programs, these suppliers forced users to choose just one program.

The importance of terminology for localization and internationalization is obvious if you imagine not being able to sell a product in a foreign market because you inadvertently used a non-local term in a user manual or an advertisement that caused confusion or even offence. For internationalization, imagine how much it would cost to correct a term and the text around it in 15 different language versions of one piece of software because testers just realized two different terms were being used to refer to the same function or concept. To avoid costly corrections, these terms need to be agreed on in the initial stages of development.