TRANSLATION OF UNIVERSITY WEB SITES AS A STAGE OF WEB SITE LOCALIZATION

The term Localization is becoming very popular nowadays. In this article, the term is considered from the point of view of translating a University web site as the main component of web site localization. Localization of a website is not only an adaptation of the navigation structure, design, and multimedia, but also a translation of the text content to improve its functionality and cultural suitability for a new target audience. The research is based on a comparative analysis of Russian and foreign university websites (semantic aspect). Since the website is mostly text information distributed in different sections, it is quite obvious that translation is one of the most important and laborious stages of localization. The findings revealed that a University website performs two functions: academic and educational, informing users, and advertising, attracting new applicants, partners and employees. The research has shown that a translator should be very accurate while translating academic terms: the meaning of the international words can be quite different in the Russian and English languages. In translation process, some academic terms should be supplemented with information that is relevant to the target audience, since its absence may cause misunderstanding for a foreign site user. On the other hand, when translating a site, one should omit sections that are not relevant to the target audience, as this will facilitate navigation on the site and bring important sections to the main menu. (C) 2021 Published by European Publisher.