Decision-making in the translation of end-user license agreements

EULAs (End-User License Agreements) present specific translation challenges, ones contingent on how the EULAs will be used. In a recent study, the decisions made by forty-seven translation students while translating a EULA were observed and analyzed. The aim of the study was threefold: (1) to observe the criteria used for decision-making when translating a EULA; (2) to observe how decision-making criteria changed after using specific resources designed for translating EULAs (lawcalisation.com); and (3) to evaluate the overall usefulness of the lawcalisation.com resource. Results suggest that by providing translators with a single website portal of specific resources, they were able not only to find the equivalents they needed but also to consult the relevant legal and translation information that ultimately helped them develop more solid criteria for translation decision-making. Decisions were guided by principles of law applicability, terminology, legislation, and translation studies Skopos theories.