How to set up segment length check for QA

Description:

There are quite a few kinds of settings for checking target segment length in memoQ. This article gives examples of how the settings work if you want to check the length of the target in relation to your source segment length.

You can find more information about the rest of the settings here: https://help.memoq.com/current/en/Places/edit-qa-settings.html?Highlight=editing%20quality%20assurance

The settings for target segment length are in the QA settings window (Project Home > Settings, click the QA settings icon), on the Segment and terms tab.

In the Segment length section, you can specify your settings:

Check length of translation in proportion to source: Check this check box to check for target segment length. You can specify whether the length check should be based on characters, words or both. The Characters option is enabled by default. The length of translated text is usually proportional to the length of source language text. If the translation of one segment is much longer or much shorter than the source language version, an alert may be useful.

 The Average target / source length ratio means how long the target segment can be in relation to the source. If the value is 1.00, then the target has to be the same length as the source (in characters, words or both), otherwise you will get a QA warning. If you set it to less, the target has to be shorter than the source. If it is larger than 1, the target needs to be longer than the source.

If you set the Allowed deviation it means that some deviation is allowed in the length ratio. This number is a percentage: with the minimum value you specify the minimum length of the target (in percentage of the allowed length), and with the maximum value you specify the maximum length of the target (also in percentage).

For example if you want your target length to be between 70%-130% of your source length (you allow 30% deviation in both directions), then set the Average target / source length ratio to 1.00, the allowed min. deviation to 70%, and the allowed max. deviation to 130%.

 More examples (for characters):

Examples for words:

If you set the check to both for words and characters, then memoQ will check both, and give a warning even if one criterion is not met, and your target segment can be both too long and too short at the same time!

 Example:

 Your settings: