An international survey of the ergonomics of professional translation

Despite the fact that professional translation is characterized by human-machine interaction, the ergonomics of the professional translation workplace is relatively under-researched. In order to gain further insights into how translators worldwide have set up and organized their workplaces, an anonymous online survey was developed by a team of researchers in translation studies and occupational therapy as part of an interdisciplinary project. It was made available in six languages (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish) and distributed through multipliers such as professional organizations. The interest that this topic generated in the professional community was reflected not only in the large number of completed questionnaires (1,850) but also by the comments provided by translators both in the survey itself and in email messages to the research team. This paper reports on the findings of the survey with a focus on differences existing among commercial, institutional, and freelance translators in different countries and the degree to which language technology is involved in professional translation. Findings are compared to good practice recommendations for computer work, and conclusions are drawn with respect to health issues related to suboptimal ergonomics. Alors même que la traduction professionnelle se caractérise par une interaction entre l’humain et la machine, l’ergonomie chez les traductrices et traducteurs professionnels reste un domaine relativement peu exploré. Dans le but de recueillir des informations sur la façon dont les traductrices et traducteurs à travers le monde ont agencé et organisé leur poste de travail, des chercheuses en traductologie et en ergothérapie ont réalisé une étude en ligne anonyme dans le cadre d’un projet interdisciplinaire. Traduit en six langues (français, anglais, allemand, italien, portugais et espagnol), le questionnaire relatif à cette étude fut envoyé par des multiplicateurs, par exemple des organisat