CEPD · Module 3 — Content-layout mastery
Write copy that learners understand on first read and that translates cleanly: the ISO plain-language principles, sentence rules, register choices in Arabic, and how to prepare source text for localisation.
About 22 min
Practice in the lesson player
Sorting, matching, quizzes, and the module gate stay behind a free account so scored answers are not public. The teaching notes below are the same cited curriculum.
01
"In the event that non-compliance with the aforementioned provisions is identified, escalation should be undertaken as appropriate." Three translators produced three different Arabic versions, and none of them could say who escalates, to whom, or when. The problem was not the translation. The English never said it.
02
ISO 24495-1:2023 defines plain language by outcome: readers can find what they need, understand it and use it. It is not "simplified" content. For courses this means: write for the specific learner, put the action first, use the words they use at work, and test whether they understood rather than whether the text was correct.
03
Rule | Before | After
Name the actor | Escalation should be undertaken. | You escalate to the duty manager.
One instruction per sentence | Check the ID and the amount and log it unless the system already did. | Check the ID. Check the amount. Log it if the system has not.
Concrete numbers | Within a reasonable time. | Within 15 minutes.
Consistent terms | Customer, client, account holder (same person). | Customer, every time.
No idioms | Touch base, ballpark, low-hanging fruit. | Contact, estimate, easy first step.
04
Arabic courses usually use Modern Standard Arabic for on-screen text, because it is shared across countries and expected in formal training. The choice is harder for dialogue and narration. Scenario dialogue in very formal MSA can sound unnatural for a Gulf call centre; dialect narrows the audience and complicates review. A common approach: MSA for instruction and feedback, a lighter, conversational MSA for dialogue, and dialect only when the course serves one country and the client approves. Whatever you choose, write it into the style sheet so every writer and reviewer applies the same rule.
05
Strings, not screenshots: keep all copy as editable text in the storyboard or a string file.
Space for change: design layouts that tolerate text that is shorter, longer or taller in Arabic; never fit text to the last pixel.
Context notes: tell translators who is speaking, to whom, and how formal it is.
No text in images: put labels in live text over the graphic so they can be translated and read by screen readers.
06
Take ten sentences from your storyboard. Apply the rules on slide 3. Add the register decision and the localisation checklist to your style sheet.