Translation Policy

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Revised in June 2023

The authoritative language for documents written at FIRST is English. In case of disagreement between the English language and a translation, the English version is to be considered authoritative. A translation can be contributed by any stakeholder, not necessarily being a FIRST member. We recommend to only undertake translation when one is a native speaker or has excellent skills in the language in question. These translations must be reviewed and confirmed by at least two FIRST member teams (in addition to the translating team) which use the language as their working language. It is recommended to indicate the name of the teams and/or individuals who contributed to the translation and review at the end of the document as follows:

Translations should never attempt to improve on the English version of the document, but should be written to as accurately as possible reflect the English version. Each translation will be published by FIRST with a link to the English language version.

The process for FIRST to accept a translation is:

• The translator, who does not need to be a FIRST member, submits the translation, their contact information as well as the points of contact for two FIRST member teams who have reviewed and approved the translation, to first-sec@first.org
• The FIRST secretariat will contact the approving members to confirm they have reviewed the translation, and support its publication
• The FIRST secretariat informs the owners of the standard (in most cases, the SIG chairs)
• The FIRST Board will approve the translation. In case of disapproval, the case will be returned to the translator and the reviewing teams, for further study
• The FIRST secretariat will publish the translation

FIRST may in some cases publish translated versions of documents. Official FIRST translations will be approved by the Board of Directors, and may be done by professional translators where no additional review is required.

The board may permit exceptions to this policy on case-by-case basis.