ISO Standards for the Language Industry

ISO standards for the language industry: the whats, the whys and the hows for language service providers in the UK.
 

This web site, set up by the Association of Translation Companies, is intended for sharing information on ISO standards relating to translation, interpreting and related technology, and for enhancing the position of the UK's language services industry as pioneers in both the development and the application of these emerging international standards.
 

As well as details on published ISO standards, these pages contain up-to-date information on standards currently under development, practical information on how to get certified to language industry ISO standards, information on the standards development process at ISO, and how to get involved in the development of these standards through ATC’s standards commenting group.
 

Alphabetical list of acronyms/initalisms used in and around ISO standardisation

 

BS -  British Standard

BSI - British Standards Institution

CB -  Certification Body

CEN - European Organisation for Standardisation

CD - Committee Draft (draft international standard for comment and ballot by National Standards Bodies’ e.g. BSI’s committee members e.g. ATC)

DIS - Draft International Standard (draft international standard for comment and ballot by public of National Standards Bodies e.g. by UK Public through BSI)

EN - European standard

FDIS - Final Draft International Standard (draft international standard for comment and ballot by committee members of National Standards Bodies – only editorial with an approval vote or with reasoning for a negative vote) (This stage of the process can now be omitted)

ISO - International Standard published by ISO and also the body that is the International Organisation for Standardisation – noting that ISO in this sense is a name no an initialism – Greek meaning - equality

NSB - National Standards Body that is a member of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)

NWIP - New Work Item Proposal – a proposal made to justify the development of a new ISO standard

PD - British Standard’s equivalent of an ISO TS - a trial standard to test the readiness for standardisation in a new subject field

SC - Sub-Committee – A sub-committee developing standards for a significant aspect of the subject field of a technical committee

TC - Technical Committee – one of currently 306 ISO technical committees developing standards for a given subject field

TS - ISO technical specification – a trial standard to test the readiness for standardisation in a new subject field (if published as a British Standard, designated PD TS)

UKAS - United Kingdom Accreditation Service – designated by UK Government to provide accreditation of certification bodies against ISO conformity assessment standards.

Note: LSPs are certified against ISO industry standards by certification bodies (CBs) and certification bodies are accredited against ISO conformity assessment standards by UKAS

WD - Working Draft International Standard – First draft international standard for comment and ballot by the ISO committee Working Group experts individually as experts

WG - Working Group of an ISO technical committee or sub-committee formed of named experts from the participating countries National Standards Bodies