Note: This article details the AI-enabled Articulate 360 AI experience. Options and features may vary for users with AI disabled.

Articulate’s localization workflow enables you to deliver multi-lingual training to your global workforce at record speed. See these FAQs for answers to common questions about Articulate Localization.

General

• What is Articulate Localization?
• How can I try Articulate’s localization solution?
• What languages are supported?
• Are there limits to how many languages we can translate a course into?
• What gets translated?
• What is language formality?
• Do you support a glossary of terms? Is there a size limit for the glossary?
• Do you have a translation memory? Can we use or integrate our translation memory?
• What translation engines are you using? How will you decide which to use for a given project?
• How accurate are the AI translations?
• I see four variants for Chinese. How do they differ?
• Does Articulate Localization work with Reach 360?
• How do my Reach 360 learners select a language?
• In a learning management system (LMS), can a learner switch between languages while taking the training?

Authoring and Support

• Where can I find information on how to use the Localization features?
• Do language validators need an Articulate 360 creator license? 
• If we embed a Storyline block into Rise 360, will that get translated?
• Will validators be able to edit the source files?
• Can Rise 360 collaborators access multi-language courses?
• Can Storyline 360 collaborators access multi-language project files?
• How does Storyline manage multiple languages in one project file, and what are my options if I need language-specific customization?
• Can I use my translation management system (TMS) or translation provider with Articulate Localization?
• Can export and import XLIFF or Word files with Articulate Localization?
• Can I revert a localized course back to a single-language version?
• What happens to my content if I run out of credits or they expire?

Account Management

• How do I track the credits I’ve used?
• Can I limit who can run translations?
• Can I allocate credits?

Sales

• How much does it cost to localize a course? How do I purchase credits?
• Can I use the localization workflow if I’m on a personal Articulate 360 subscription?
• What counts as a billable action?

Security and Privacy

• How are you ensuring data security with Articulate Localization?
• What data will Articulate Localization have access to, and how will it use my data? 

General

What is Articulate Localization?

Articulate Localization is a localization solution built specifically for L&D, with native integration to the leading  AI-powered platform for workplace learning. It allows course creators to deliver multi-language training to a global workforce, streamlined with integrated AI translation, in-context translation validation, and end-to-end workflow—all from within Articulate 360 AI.

How can I try Articulate’s localization solution?

All active Articulate 360 AI subscriptions and trials can use credits to translate any training format created in Rise 360 and Storyline 360, provided AI is enabled. Translating with credits also gives you access to in-context language validation, multi-language workflow management, and multilingual training publishing.

If AI is disabled for you or your subscription, translation is limited to Rise 360 courses and microlearning, and Storyline 360 courses. You’ll need a paid, course-based localization plan to publish translated content.

Refer to these user guides as you explore localization features in Rise 360:

1. Creating Multi-Language Rise 360 Courses
2. Streamlining Language Validation With Review 360
3. Importing Suggestions from Language Validators
4. Publish Multi-Language Rise 360 Courses

For Storyline 360, refer to these user guides for detailed instructions:

1. Creating Multi-Language Storyline 360 Projects
2. Streamlining Language Validation With Review 360
3. Importing Suggestions from Language Validators
4. Publishing Multi-Language Storyline Projects

Note: Translating Storyline 360 projects with credits requires Storyline 360 build 3.125.37980.0 or later.

What languages are supported?

Find a complete list of 80+ supported languages here.

Are there limits to how many languages we can translate a course into?

You can translate a course into as many languages as we support. Find the complete list here. 

What gets translated?

Course texts, customized alternative text,  and closed captions in Rise 360 and Storyline 360 are translated. Text-to-speech narration created in Storyline 360 and AI text-to-speech in Rise 360 are also translated. See more details about what gets translated here.

Text within images or videos, embedded media originating from outside Articulate 360, or linked/attached resources (like PDFs) are not translated at this time.

What is language formality?

Language formality refers to grammatical forms that express different levels of politeness or respect in a language. Depending on the context—such as the audience, relationship, purpose, or setting—some languages use different pronouns, verb forms, possessives, commands, reflexives, or honorifics to sound more formal or informal. Learn more about language formality.

The Language formality setting in Localization lets you choose from Formal, Informal, or Automatic if the target language supports grammatical formality. The default Automatic setting chooses a formality level based on your content and applies it.

Use our language lookup tool to see if your target languages support language formality.

Note: Formality adjustments do not apply to English, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Maltese, Somali, or Swahili.

Do you support a glossary of terms? Is there a size limit for the glossary?

Glossaries are currently supported for course-based Localization plans. Glossary support when translating with credits is coming soon.

Any 360 admin for a subscription with a course-based plan can upload glossaries under the localization settings of the Subscription tab in the account management console. Learn how to use the translation glossary.

Up to 15 glossaries per subscription can be uploaded. Each glossary file can be up to 10MB, but each individual glossary entry must be less than 200 bytes.

Do you have a translation memory? Can we use or integrate our translation memory?

We are actively evaluating and prototyping translation memory models to determine the best fit for our workflow. Although integrating an external translation memory is not currently on our roadmap, we are exploring its potential benefits and may consider it in future developments.

What translation engines are you using? How will you decide which to use for a given project? 

We use a combination of DeepL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud, which have been vetted for translation quality, language coverage, and privacy and security standards. 

Our built-in translation defaults to DeepL (the industry-leading provider) for most languages and to AWS or Google Cloud for languages that DeepL doesn’t cover. 

We’re also working to add more translation engines to expand our language coverage.

How accurate are the AI translations? 

Accuracy can vary depending on the language pairs involved in the translations. We chose industry-leading translation engines based on quantitative evidence presented in academic research. Customers across global markets report that the quality compares well to other machine translation tools, especially for business and workplace learning content. However, translation quality is subjective and depends on factors such as language pairs used, subject matter, and each organization’s preferences. That’s why we also included a glossary and developed an in-context human validation workflow in Review 360, to make the content just right for your audience.

I see four variants for Chinese. How do they differ?

Articulate Localization offers both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. In addition, each variation has a regional version, “Chinese, Simplified (China)” and “Chinese, Traditional (Taiwan)”. This table shows the different variations and their language codes.

Localizing content is complex, so you should explore which written variation works best for your target audience. Here are some very basic geographic guidelines: 

• Simplified Chinese is most often used in China, Singapore, and Malaysia.
• Traditional Chinese is more commonly used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
• Overseas Chinese communities may use either form.

A key difference to consider when using Articulate Localization is the number of languages a variation supports for translation: 

• The regional variations—“Chinese, Simplified (China)” and “Chinese, Traditional (Taiwan)”—can only be paired with English, Khmer, Lao, Luxembourgish, Maori, Nepali, Nyanja, Samoan, Tetum, and Tigrinya. 
• “Chinese, Simplified” and “Chinese, Traditional” can be paired for translation with more languages. Use our language lookup tool for a full list.

Does Articulate Localization work with Reach 360?

Yes! Simply publish your multi-language training to Reach 360, then enroll learners. Learners see the course in their preferred language (if available) and can select other languages without disrupting their training progress. 

Question-level reporting also supports multiple languages. Even if a learner switches between languages for each question, all responses are included in the report. Learn more about distributing multi-language training with Reach 360.

How do my Reach 360 learners select a language?

Reach 360 learners automatically see content in the language they selected in their user profile, if it’s available. They can also switch to other languages without disrupting their training progress.

In a learning management system (LMS), can a learner switch between languages while taking the training?

When a multi-language Storyline 360 or Rise 360 training is hosted on an LMS, a learner’s progress must be reset before they can choose another language. Most LMSs save a learner’s progress when they exit a course so they can resume where they left off later. That saved progress includes the language they chose, so they don’t need to select it every time they launch the training.

Storyline 360 course creators publishing to an LMS can set the player resume behavior to Prompt to resume to allow learners to choose Restart and select a different language when they exit and relaunch the course. This means they’ll start the training from the beginning again.

Rise 360 currently doesn’t support allowing learners to reset their progress in courses hosted on an LMS. As a result, the learner’s progress must be reset in the LMS if they need to switch languages. That may require help from your LMS administrator.

If you need this capability, you can use Reach 360 to distribute your Storyline and Rise training. Reach 360 lets learners switch between available languages without disrupting their progress.

Authoring and Support

Where can I find information on how to use the Localization features?

Check out our Articulate Localization user guide series to get started.

Do language validators need an Articulate 360 license? 

No, language validators don’t need an Articulate 360 license. Similar to reviewers for Review 360 items, they only need an email address. 

If we embed a Storyline block into Rise 360, will that get translated?

Embedded Storyline blocks are not translated in Rise 360, but you can use Storyline 360 to translate and validate them before adding the translated versions to your Rise course. Once translated, publish the final copies to Review 360, and then embed each Storyline language version to the corresponding language in the Rise 360 course. Find detailed steps in the user guide.

Will validators be able to edit the source files?

In our workflow, validators use Review 360 to review the translation. That means the edits they make are saved as suggestions, which the author can accept or reject from Rise 360 or Storyline 360. If you want a validator to edit the source file directly, they'll need an Articulate 360 creator license to use the authoring apps and proper permissions to access the source files. 

Can Rise 360 collaborators access multi-language courses?

Yes. Course managers and editors can view and edit multi-language courses. However, only course managers can manage languages. Course managers can also initiate course translations or add new languages within the same subscription. If the subscription has an active Localization plan, make sure translation access is enabled.

Can Storyline 360 collaborators access multi-language project files?

Yes, collaborators can access multi-language project files.

How does Storyline manage multiple languages in one project file, and what are my options if I need language-specific customization?

To keep all language versions aligned and maintain consistent retranslations, multi-language files initially share everything except the text itself. That means if you edit a slide in one language, your edit will apply to all the other languages in your course. However, you can still create language-specific content. Here are your options:

• Change images, videos, and audio assets in target languages without affecting other language versions after translation.
• Add language-specific resources in the player. 
• Use language trigger conditions to display different content by language, such as slide layers. 
• Save the translation as a separate file if you need full independence for a specific language. Keep in mind that this breaks the link to the source project and requires separate publishing and ongoing maintenance per language file.

We’re also working on improvements that would offer more per-language flexibility while still keeping a clean connection to the source language.

Can I use my translation management system (TMS) or translation provider with Articulate Localization?

Not at this time. However, we are working on an HTML import/export workflow for Localization that would allow customers to use their own translation provider to translate an HTML document containing the course content. It would then be possible to import the translated versions of the source HTML file into the course, turning it into a multi-language course.

Can I export and import XLIFF or Word files after translation?

You can’t export and import XLIFF or Word files in multi-language courses created after translation. However, you can save languages as separate courses or project files and export/import the XLIFF or Word file for each language as you would in a regular single-language course. Note that localization features like language validation and multi-language workflow management won't be available for these single-language course copies. Here’s how to save translated courses for Rise 360 and save translated projects for Storyline 360.

Can I revert a localized course back to a single-language version?

You can’t revert a multi-language Rise 360 course back to a single-language version after translation. Consider duplicating your project first to preserve the original, then translating the copy.

For Storyline 360, deleting all target languages from a multi-language project resets the localization workflow and turns it into a regular Storyline file. Note that retranslating the source language generates a fresh multi-language project file, which creates a new item when publishing to Review 360.

Another option is to save the source language as a new course or project. Follow the instructions here:

• Saving a copy of a language in Rise 360
• Saving a copy of a language in Storyline 360

What happens to my content if I run out of credits or they expire?

If you’re using multi-format translation with credits, you retain access to all the content you translated and can continue to validate translations and publish existing translations. However, you won’t be able to translate new content or updates.

If you’re on a course-based localization plan that’s billed per publish and run out of publish credits, or if your plan expires, you’ll retain access to all created content. You can also localize new courses and validate translations in Rise 360 and Storyline 360, but you won’t be able to publish localized content. That includes target language versions you’ve saved as a separate course, microlearning or project file.

Any multi-language training you published while your plan was active remains available, including content shared through Reach 360 or Quick Share. However, if you publish updates after your plan ends, only the source language version will be included.

If you uploaded glossaries while your paid plan was active, you can use them even after the plan ends. When you reactivate a paid plan, you can continue where you left off.

Note: Translating new formats, such as training decks, interactive videos, and guides, uses credits and falls under multi-format translation.

Account Management

How do I track the credits I’ve used?

See this article to learn how admins can view their organization’s credit balance and usage. 

If you’re on a course-based localization plan, primary admins and 360 admins can view the team's published translation usage and total credits for the current billing period in the Localization section of the Subscription page. They can also download a usage report to track published translation activity.

Can I limit who can run translations?

Everyone with creator permission can use credits to run a translation.

If you’re on a course-based localization plan, admins can grant or remove translation access from the Team page.

Can I allocate credits?

For now, localization credit allocation is available only for course-based localization plans.

We’re actively working on group-level credit-spending limits so admins can better manage credit usage for Nova. If you need credit allocation now, contact our sales team about activating a course-based localization plan.

If you’re already on a course-based localization plan, learn how to set localization credit allocations per creator group.

Sales

How much does it cost to localize a course? How do I purchase credits?

For multi-format translation with credits, translation consumes 2 credits per character in your source content, multiplied by the number of target languages. On average, we estimate this comes to about $0.05 per word, per language (based on the average length of an English word at ~5 characters). See this article to learn how to purchase credits.

If you need features available only in course-based pricing plans, contact our sales team to find the right fit for your needs.

Can I use the localization workflow if I’m on a personal Articulate 360 AI subscription?

Yes. Multi-format translation via credits and course-based pricing plans is available for both personal and Teams subscriptions, as long as AI permissions are enabled.

What counts as a billable action?

Billable actions depend on whether you are using credits for multi-format translation or have activated a course-based localization plan. See the details for each below:

• For multi-format translation, credits are consumed each time you translate content, including when you translate updates. For text updates, the cost is based on the number of text segments that need to be translated.
  
  Text updates are measured in translation units called text segments. A text segment breaks source text into smaller units while preserving its meaning and context. Segment length can vary—from a single word to a complex sentence or short paragraph, depending on the content. Any text change in a segment will retranslate the whole segment.
  
  
• For course-based localization plans, each time you publish a translated course in a target language or dialect to any destination other than Review 360, it counts as a billable published translation. For example, if you publish two courses in five target languages, that counts as 10 billable published translations. In Rise 360, any tile in your dashboard—whether it’s a course or microlearning—is a course. In Storyline 360, a course is a project (*.story) file.
  
  Publishing a single-language version of a target language exported from a multi-language course also counts as a billable published translation.
  
  You can republish the same course in the same language(s) to as many destinations as needed within the same billing period without using additional published translation credits. When a new billing period starts, republishing your multi-language courses uses one published translation credit per target language, even if you haven’t made any content updates.
  
  A key difference to consider between Rise 360 and Storyline 360: 
  • In Rise 360, duplicating a multi-language course or sending a copy to someone else counts as a new course. Publishing any of the target languages from those copies will count as additional published translations (one per target language or dialect).
  • In Storyline 360, copies of the project file—such as those created using File > Save As or shared with other authors—are treated as the same multi-language project.

Security and Privacy

How do you ensure data privacy security for Articulate Localization? 

Security and privacy have always been our top priorities. We will continue to ensure safety and confidentiality for Articulate Localization through: 

• Data privacy and integrity
  • Other than the glossary, AI features do not retain or log customer data.
  • Customer data is not used for training AI translations.
  • Our AI translation partners (DeepL, AWS, and Google Cloud) have been thoroughly vetted for data privacy and security.
• Data protection and encryption policies
  • We employ robust encryption protocols.
  • All data is encrypted in transit with a minimum of TLS 1.2 for all third-party localization services. 
  • We comply with data protection protocols including GDPR and CCPA.
• Ethical AI implementation
  • Our features were designed to adhere to our stringent security and ethics guidelines.

What data can Articulate Localization access, and how does it use my data? 

Articulate Localization treats your data in the same way that Articulate 360 does. Here are some specifics:

• Data is processed in the DeepL data center, the AWS data center, or the Google Cloud data center in the United States or the European Union, depending on your Articulate 360 data center. No data is retained or stored.
• Glossary data will be stored in the United States or European Union depending on your Articulate 360 data center. We retain glossary data for the duration of the subscription to provide the services under your agreement. Similarly, glossary data is processed in the DeepL data center, the AWS data center, or in the Google Cloud data center in the United States or the European Union, depending on your Articulate 360 data center, but no data is retained or stored in those external data centers.

As with Articulate 360, you can be confident that none of your Localization content or data will be retained after the translation process, used to train translation engines, or shared with others.