DeepL Blog

What you need to know about how DB, Weglot, and Alza used DeepL: 

• Deutsche Bahn used DeepL to connect its global, multilingual workforce and ensure consistent, industry-specific communication 

• Weglot's customers benefitted from DeepL API’s incredible accuracy and efficient translations, saving them time and money when localizing their content 

• Alza integrated DeepL API to efficiently localize its website content into five different European languages, saving thousands of euros a month in operating costs 

Why AI translation is the best choice to streamline localization 

Localization isn't an easy process; it requires time, effort, and a great deal of expertise. However, there are ways to make localization easier and less time-consuming—namely, with AI translation. 

Great for localizing everything from your website content to customer support to marketing materials, an AI translation tool like DeepL allows companies to work more efficiently. With higher quality and more accurate machine translations that improve project alignment and lower costs, your company can get a leg up on the competition. 

But don’t just take our word for it—ask our customers. In this post, we’ll cover three case studies to see how real DeepL customers used AI translation to enhance their localization processes and take their businesses global. 

Deutsche Bahn x DeepL: connecting a multilingual workforce with consistent global communication  

As the largest railway operator and infrastructure owner in Europe, Deutsche Bahn (DB) has employees all over the continent. Of its 320,000 full-time employees, only 64% are based in Germany—meaning communication across multiple languages is key to DB’s international success.  

Thankfully, DB has DeepL to enable seamless communication for its massive, multilingual workforce.  

To communicate at scale, DB knew that machine translation technology provided the best solution. However, the company had to overcome its main challenge: highly technical terminology.  

In order for employees with different native languages and professions to communicate clearly, the translation would have to account for industry-specific jargon, dialects, and idioms. That’s where DeepL’s glossary really came in handy. 

Since integrating DeepL, DB has added more than 30,000 entries to its glossary, allowing DB employees to communicate consistently across the organization. With the power to specify their own translations for words and even entire phrases, DB ensured the use of industry and company-specific vocabulary in all communications. 

Additionally, DeepL’s glossaries rely on morphosyntactic terminology integration—meaning that DeepL adapts the formulation of translations based on glossary entries and accounts for factors such as grammatical genders and plurals.  

This feature was especially important to Deutsche Bahn, with Tom Winter, Data Scientist & Computational Linguist at DB, saying: 

“The ability to adapt the engine to DB’s corporate language via glossaries is a main advantage of DeepL compared to other machine translation systems. The correct use of our corporate language is very important for consistent communication throughout the whole Group. And with DeepL, it can be done very easily as long as you have a well-organized terminology database.” 

DB has been a satisfied DeepL customer since early 2022 thanks to its best-in-class translation quality, excellent data security, and customizability via its glossary feature.  

Going forward, DB is exploring even more instances where machine translation may be able to assist with its railway operations—such as communications with border traffic. 

To learn more about how DB uses DeepL, you can check out the case study. 

Weglot x DeepL: enhancing localization offerings with the highest-quality AI translation  

Weglot is a Paris-based SaaS company that provides localization and translation services to clients around the world. With demand for its localization services high, Weglot needed translation APIs of exceptional quality—which made a partnership with DeepL the ideal choice. 

As an early adopter of DeepL API, Weglot and its customers have benefited from our accurate, high-quality AI translations since 2018—having already helped over 50,000 companies build multilingual websites. 

So, why DeepL? Weglot’s founder and CTO, Rémy Berda, was on the lookout for top-quality language translation APIs to enhance his company’s offerings and services. When customers started asking, “Have you added DeepL?” shortly after our DeepL API release, Berda’s interest was sparked. 

Chosen for its ease of use for developers and high-quality translations, over the last six years, DeepL API has helped Weglot translate billions of characters a month for companies all over the world. 

Thanks to the accuracy of DeepL’s AI translations, Weglot’s customers save time during their localization processes, which led them to work more efficiently.  

Since integrating the API, Weglot received plenty of positive customer feedback thanks to DeepL’s speed and accuracy. In fact, Berda himself recommended DeepL to developers who are looking for a high-performing product that’s true to its word, stating: 

“The documentation is clear, and the API does what it says it does. If you’re a developer, you only need to read the documentation, and the API will do exactly what you want.” 

As the e-commerce industry becomes more international, it’s crucial that companies of all sizes have access to high-quality localization and translation services. Thanks to translation tools offered by DeepL and Weglot, quick, accurate multilingual communication with customers and markets around the globe is not only possible–it’s easy. 

Want to find out more about how Weglot uses DeepL? Read the case study.

Alza x DeepL: saving on localization operating costs with AI translation at scale 

Known as the “Czech Amazon”, Alza is an e-commerce giant with key markets all over Europe—from Czechia to Germany to Hungary. Since its founding in 1994, Alza has grown from an online electronics shop to a complete marketplace, now offering laptops, video games, pet supplies, cosmetics, and more. 

In mid-2021, Alza noticed that DeepL added 13 new supported languages, with Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian being the most applicable. After some quality testing, Alza discovered DeepL to be a superior product to their current translation API and quickly made the switch.  

Since then, Alza has been using DeepL to localize its website into five different European languages: 

• English 

• Slovak 

• Hungarian 

• German 

• French 

With over 3,000 employees, Alza is growing rapidly—at 20% annually—and recently expanded to Central Europe and the UK. To thrive in these new markets, Alza needed access to high quality translations that wouldn’t overburden its localization team with manual corrections.  

Thanks to DeepL’s superior translation quality, Alza saved thousands of euros per month in operating costs, as the brand’s human proofreaders spent significantly less time correcting DeepL translations—and could focus on higher-impact projects. 

Additionally, the migration from Alza’s previous translation API to DeepL took less than one week, and the effect was immediate. 

In the words of Jakub Kalina, head of Alza’s localization team: 

“When DeepL began supporting Czech and other key languages, we were quite surprised with the difference in quality. It sounded much more natural, so we decided it was worth making the switch.” 

Specifically, Alza used DeepL to translate large volumes of reviews, which provided quality assurance for potential customers. Having translated thousands of reviews from Czech into German and Hungarian, Alza saw a significant increase in its conversion rate. 

As for what’s next, Jakub also foresees a high-volume future for his team: 

“Thanks to a significant cost reduction and freeing up our translators’ time, we can now take on new translation projects, so it looks like our translation volume will continue to grow—it could even double or triple in the coming months.”  

Check out our Alza case study to learn more about how the Czech e-commerce giant uses DeepL to grow.

Improve your localization process with DeepL’s AI translation 

Clearly, DeepL’s high-quality, accurate AI translations are a contributing factor to these three companies’ successful localization processes.   

Reducing time spent on manual work, improving alignment, and driving down costs, DeepL continues to help streamline DB, Weglot, and Alza’s localization projects to reach global audiences—and we could do the same for your business. 

To learn more about how your company can benefit from DeepL’s AI translations, visit DeepL Pro for Business. 

What you need to know about DeepL Pro: 

• DeepL Pro is now available in South Korea and provides access to unlimited text translation, more advanced document translation options, maximum data security, and team administration  

• DeepL Pro’s AI translation can help your company expand to new markets and grow your business with confidence 

• You can also use DeepL API Pro if you’d like to integrate our service directly into your website, apps, and more, for accurate and instant translation, multilingual communications, and localization 

We’re excited to announce that DeepL Pro is now officially available in South Korea. As a forward-thinking and tech-savvy country, South Korea has shown a strong demand for DeepL’s AI communication services—and we’re thrilled to soon become a part of many companies' global growth plans. 

It wasn’t too long ago that we welcomed Korean to DeepL’s supported languages. Since last January, we’ve seen impressive adoption and received positive feedback from the South Korean community.  

We’re pleased to see DeepL's seamless integration into users’ daily lives, and our free version will remain a great option for everyday use. However, DeepL Pro, our subscription service which provides access to additional features, is the ideal AI translation solution for businesses. 

So, how can DeepL Pro help your company grow? Let’s discuss. 

Connect with international clients and colleagues 

The AI-powered translation tool you know and trust isn’t just for everyday use. It will change the way you do business—for good—thanks to features like: 

• Unlimited text translation: translate as much as you like without volume restrictions 

• Advanced document translation options: translate whole PDF, Word, PowerPoint, text, or HTML files while preserving the original formatting. Your selected subscription gives you a designated number of editable file translations. (Starter: 5 per user/month, Advanced: 20 per user/month, and Ultimate: 100 per user/month) 

• Maximum security: benefit from world-class data protection standards that protect your and your clients’ data 

• Team administration: manage all your users in one place for easier, more regulated usage and team management 

• Localization support: integrate DeepL Pro directly into your computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool and allow your localization team to benefit from DeepL’s accurate, nuanced translations 

These types of features not only save you time but also enable your organization to operate more efficiently and securely. From better collaboration to improved alignment to enhanced security, DeepL Pro is the ideal solution to foster meaningful relationships with international customers and colleagues.  

With our ongoing commitment to AI innovation, stay tuned for exciting new Korean language Pro features in the future, such as glossaries and other capabilities. 

Explore new global business opportunities 

Taking your business global isn’t easy—especially when your teams need to communicate in multiple languages. Thankfully, this is one of the places where DeepL API Pro excels. 

When you need instant, high-quality translation at scale, DeepL API Pro is the answer. Integrating DeepL API Pro directly into your website, apps, and more, means it's much easier to connect with and grow your global customer base.  

DeepL API Pro is great for: 

• Website translation: translate your entire website quickly and accurately to expand to new global markets 

• Company communications: integrate DeepL API Pro into your company’s internal and external communication, such as Confluence and SharePoint, for high-quality communication 

DeepL API Pro provides your company with consistent, appropriate, and respectful communication—allowing you to explore new global business opportunities with confidence. 

What makes DeepL Pro the best translation solution for your business? 

As an AI translation tool, DeepL is powered by artificial neural networks and the very latest innovations in AI.  

Thanks to the quality of our network architecture and size, as well as our training data and methodology, our machine translation technology is able to produce incredibly accurate, linguistically nuanced translations that sound human. This means you can communicate with confidence, knowing that you sound natural and professional in DeepL’s 30+ languages. 

But it’s not just our unmatched accuracy that sets us apart—trust is extremely important at DeepL. Thus, businesses that use DeepL Pro can rest assured that their sensitive information is in good hands.  

To ensure the highest level of data security, we use state-of-the-art transport layer security (TLS) encrypted data transmission and house our servers in ISO 27001-certified data centers. Plus, all Pro texts are deleted after successful translation and are never used to train our AI.  

With DeepL Pro, your company benefits from accurate, secure, and efficient translations that will take your business to new heights. 

Grow confidently with DeepL Pro 

There’s always room for growth. But companies small, medium, and large looking to expand don’t necessarily have the right tools to get there. That’s where DeepL Pro comes in. 

As the go-to AI translation solution for businesses searching for a path to growth, DeepL Pro allows your company to extend its reach and global presence with high-quality translations and AI-powered accuracy.   

To find the plan that’s best for you or your team, visit the DeepL Pro page and get started today. 

What you need to know about AI-powered document translation: 

• Machine translation plays a pivotal role in global business expansion, improving efficiency and streamlining multilingual communication 

• High-quality document translation should be fast, easy, accurate, and secure 

• AI-powered document and content translation can improve ROI in terms of cost and time 

• Industry leaders such as Nikkei use DeepL to find success internationally  

• Businesses should embrace AI translation technology to navigate the complexities of multilingual communication and get ahead 

In a rapidly expanding global economy, effective cross-cultural communication has become more important than ever. For many organizations, a document that used to exist in a singular language now has multilingual requirements. Not fulfilling these requirements has consequences—namely, slower global growth, lower customer satisfaction, and decreased reach. 

However, thanks to the increasing use of AI-powered translation software, companies are meeting these challenges head on and experiencing a new era of productivity, speed, and efficiency for document translation. 

In this post, we’ll discuss the integral role of machine translation in global business expansion. Then, we’ll explain why AI translation tools like DeepL are the go-to solution for global companies looking to boost efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction, and improve return on investment (ROI). 

How important is machine translation to global expansion? 

For businesses, the benefits of machine translation are far-reaching. Organizations across countless industries are recognizing the important role machine translation plays in everything from internal communications to localization strategies to document translation.  

With automotive, healthcare, IT, and legal industries leading the way, AI-powered translation tools are spearheading international growth. According to a recent market forecast from Acumen Research and Consulting, machine translation will see a steady increase in use over the next eight years, with a key driver being new demand for multilingual communication.  

From technical information to customer communications, AI is reshaping the translation landscape. In fact, the European Language Industry Survey 2022 found that more than 70% of independent language professionals in Europe report using machine translation to some extent, demonstrating the technology's expanding footprint.  

Clearly, machine translation plays a vital role in organizations’ global expansion plans. But what are companies looking for when choosing an AI translation solution? Let’s discuss. 

What matters most for AI translation tools? 

When searching for a solution to their document translation needs, quality remains a critical factor for companies. In this regard, highly-trained AI shines.  

According to a recent survey from Unbabel, 83% of marketers using machine translation in their localization strategies expressed confidence in the quality of the translations. Furthermore, the highest quality translations were found in content with heavy documentation and technical terms—especially in sectors such as computer software, legal services, and telecommunications.  

This indicates that AI-powered solutions like DeepL possess real potential to improve translation accuracy and speed in these, and other, industries. This, in turn, will allow international companies to grow and expand more efficiently. 

Which document translation capabilities are the most important? 

When it comes to document translation, there are a few features and capabilities you should be on the lookout for. First, there’s speed and ease. 

Here, DeepL excels by providing an easy-to-use, real-time online document translator. With DeepL Pro, you can transform your PDFs, Word Docs, PPTs, and more into 30+ languages with a single click—all while preserving their original format. 

Next, there’s accuracy and security. Be it internal reports, legal contracts, user manuals, or any other business document, DeepL’s AI-powered translation is an accurate, high-quality solution that prioritizes data security. 

With state-of-the-art transport layer security (TLS) encrypted data transmissions and a completely in-house PDF translation process, you and your team can rest assured that your translated documents are both accurate and secure.  

DeepL’s document translation feature helps foster meaningful communication between colleagues, teams, and offices, regardless of their language skills. And with the ability to translate documents at scale with DeepL Pro, you can ensure everyone is on the same page. 

How can AI document translation improve ROI? 

Return on investment can be a tricky metric to track with 100% accuracy. However, it’s still an important calculation to take into account when evaluating the relative efficacy and success of different projects.  

Here, AI translation solutions can improve companies’ ROI—not only in terms of cost, but also in terms of time.  

Whether you need to translate a document from German to English or French to Japanese, an AI translation tool’s ability to perform real-time translations is a game changer. Often, it eliminates the need for multiple revisions and ensures that companies can communicate effectively cross-culturally. 

In the race to expand globally, companies can and should rely on AI tools to translate large volumes of text and complex documents—making the process efficient and less daunting. So, which companies are already using DeepL to go global? We’ll cover that next.

How Nikkei uses DeepL’s AI translation to get ahead

At DeepL, we’re honored to support global leaders in important industries such as media with our AI-powered translations.  

Let’s take a look at how Nikkei uses DeepL Pro to get a leg up on the competition. 

Nikkei: Translating media and news reports in Japan and around the world

For Japan’s premier news media company, Nikkei, AI translation is more than just a tool—it's a critical part of the organization’s workflow. As the world’s largest provider of business news, Nikkei reaches a readership that spans the globe.  

With publications such as Nikkei Asia and the Financial Times, Nikkei’s content is consumed by thousands of global leaders in economics and finance. 

Given the nature of its work in the media sector, Nikkei deals with a high volume of content that needs to be made available to a global audience. In order to share news and reports quickly and accurately, Nikkei needed an AI document and content translation solution like DeepL. 

Using DeepL’s AI-powered translation, Nikkei is able to distribute information faster, keeping its audience informed in real time. Whether it's news reports or research papers, AI translation has significantly increased the speed at which Nikkei can serve its global readership. 

Additionally, DeepL is one-fifth of the cost to Nikkei’s previous translation system and is more accurate—which has allowed Nikkei to work more efficiently and save on operating costs. 

Read the full case study for even more insights into how Nikkei uses DeepL.

Ready to power your company with AI document translations? 

For companies looking to grow on a global scale, seamless multilingual communication is a requirement. Thankfully, AI translation tools like DeepL provide the accuracy, speed, and security international organizations need to expand quickly and intelligently. 

AI translation solutions like DeepL are a valuable tool in our increasingly globalized world, and businesses should embrace this technology to navigate the complexities of multilingual communication and stay ahead in the competitive global marketplace. 

To learn more about how DeepL’s AI document translations can support your company’s growth plans, visit DeepL Pro for Business. 

What you need to know about translation and localization:  

• Translation and localization are different processes—while translation is the transformation of one language to another that preserves meaning, localization goes further by adapting it to different markets’ cultural and linguistic variations 

• High-quality localization applies to everything from time and date formats to puns and wordplay 

• Proper localization efforts can improve global customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as increase revenue 

• AI translation is a fantastic tool for companies that want to streamline and improve their localization process 

• The benefits of DeepL’s AI translation include: increased efficiency, better time-saving capabilities, enhanced quality and accuracy, and improved team alignment 

Although they may seem similar at first glance, translation and localization are distinct processes that serve different purposes. While the former transforms a text from one language into another, the latter takes the process a step further by focusing on a target market, thereby adapting the translated text to cultural, linguistic, and structural differences. 

In essence, translation is an integral part of the longer and more intricate localization process. Ultimately, translation and localization work very well together—especially when utilizing AI translation. 

Unlike manual human translation, AI translation is an automated machine learning process that provides highly accurate, instant translations. Thanks to their speed and accuracy, AI translation tools fit very well into the localization process and can even be used to streamline workflows and increase efficiency. 

So whether you’re interested in reaching new global markets or improving customer satisfaction, localization allows your company to meet customers where they’re most comfortable: in their native language. 

In this post, we’ll discuss what differentiates translation and localization, as well as explore how AI translation can enhance, simplify, and accelerate the localization process to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. 

Translation vs. localization: Are they really different? 

Short answer: yes. Longer answer: read on. 

In its simplest form, translation is the transformation of text from one language to another that preserves the meaning and purpose of the original text. By contrast, our own localization specialists define localization as a more complex process that aims at adapting a product or a service to the needs of a specific market.  

When successfully localizing a product or text for a specific market, we should consider more than just cultural or linguistic characteristics. Rather, we should also consider changes at the structural level. Great localization happens when a product or service feels like it's been designed specifically for its target market—not as though it's simply been modified.  

Keep in mind, content can’t be localized properly if it hasn’t first been translated well. This is where AI translation provides an ideal solution. 

Usually, AI translation tools use deep neural networks to provide accurate and human-sounding translations. Overall, AI translation is a far more advanced, efficient option for companies that require high-quality translations at scale as a part of their localization processes.   

In fact, according to a recent survey run by Regina Corso Consulting for DeepL’s own research*, we found that “87% of marketers agree that machine translation is an indispensable tool for localization/translation projects.” 

So, if you’re looking to extend your company’s reach to a global audience, you might be wondering: how can localization help my company succeed internationally? Good question, that’s what we’ll cover next. 

What makes localization so important to global businesses? 

Described by localization tool Phrase as "a bold undertaking that goes beyond the mere translation of text,” language localization “includes modifying a range of aspects to local preferences, expectations, and conventions.” 

An involved process that requires attention to detail and a thorough understanding of the culture and preferences of the target language, localization is essential for companies looking to succeed in new markets.   

According to a recent survey from CSA Research, “76% of online shoppers prefer to buy products with information in their native language,” while another 75% report that they’re "more likely to purchase [from] the same brand again if customer care is in their language.”  

In the words of Dr. Donald A. DePalma of CSA Research, “Localization improves customer experience and increases engagement in the brand dialogue. It should be a rigorously planned and executed business strategy for any company looking to grow internationally.” 

Clearly, localization plays a significant role in modern companies’ global success, from attracting new customers to retaining existing ones—and the benefits of quality localization are far-reaching. In fact, a recent article from Weglot highlighted marketing firm Net Media Planet’s success thanks to localization, with the company experiencing “a 20% increase in conversions after localizing its content and paid ads.”   

From gaining a competitive edge to increasing customer satisfaction and revenue, providing localized content to potential customers increases a company's chances of success in new markets. 

What circumstances require localization? 

By now, the differences between translation and localization should be clear—which means we’re ready to dive into what localization can look like in practice. Let’s consider the following examples of situations that require more than just translation: 

• Times, numbers, currency, measurements, and date formats: There are no universal rules for how we tell time, write dates, or measure distances. Translation sometimes doesn’t take these cultural differences into account, which is why it’s important to use a robust process for each localization project. 

• Slang and idioms: Translating slang or idioms as-is can be confusing and counterproductive. Here, localization is needed to transform slang phrases or idioms into something that makes linguistic sense and fits the cultural context and nuance. 

• Puns and wordplay: Humor often has a cultural and contextual basis, and it’s not always easy to simply translate it from one language to another. Localization plays a critical role in ensuring that puns and other forms of wordplay are appropriate—and never get lost in translation. 

• Symbols, images, and emojis: What's considered humorous or logical in one language and culture may mean the exact opposite in another. It’s the job of a skilled localization specialist to understand how different symbols, images, and emojis are interpreted in other languages and adjust accordingly. 

• User interfaces: High-quality localization also considers the way different audiences expect to interact with and navigate a website. What works well for a French-speaking audience may not be as successful for a Japanese-speaking audience. Here, localization professionals need to understand cultural expectations of different markets to produce the best results.  

Let’s talk examples: The localization edition 

Consider the following situation: A U.S.-based e-commerce company has recently expanded into the European market, and, as a result, its content and communication needs have evolved. 

Its website then needs to be adapted to multiple languages to fit new market requirements. Thus, the following sentence about a global sale must be translated from American English to German:  

“The Spring Fever Sale ends on May 15th at 12:00 AM.” 

AI translation might provide the following output:  

„Der Spring Sale endet am 15. Mai um 12:00 Uhr.”  

While this is an acceptable straight-through translation, a localized version would consider the fact that the German language uses a 24-hour time format. The localized version of this translation would read:  

„Der Spring Sale endet am 15. Mai um 00:00 Uhr.“ 

Small changes like this may seem nit-picky, but they add up to make a real difference. For example, without proper localization in the above example, German customers could have misunderstood the timeline and missed out on the sale—which means lost revenue for the company and frustration for potential customers looking to save.  

These types of changes create more accurate content and a better overall user experience. As Phrase explains, proper localization also allows companies to “overcome cultural obstacles and . . . avoid potential cultural faux pas that could be detrimental to your brand image.”  

What content needs to be localized? 

When it comes to localizing content, companies' needs are varied and situational. The to-do list may include: 

• Websites 

• User manuals 

• Customer support  

• Help centers 

• Software and applications  

• Marketing materials (e.g., case studies, blog posts, brochures, etc.) 

• Social media content 

• . . . and more 

The materials and content a company chooses to localize are up to its discretion, reach, and capacity, but developing a detailed localization strategy is always a smart approach. A truly high-quality localization strategy prioritizes efficiency—which is where AI translation really shines. 

Four ways AI translation streamlines localization processes 

There are many ways in which AI translation positively impacts localization efforts, with some tools providing more advantages than others. When using DeepL, the top four benefits are: 

1. Increased efficiency

Your company can enjoy more efficient workflows if your localization team isn’t translating from scratch but, instead, using DeepL’s AI translation as a jumping-off point. This approach allows for speedier, more streamlined project delivery. 

2. Better time-saving capabilities 

When you save time in the translation process, your localization team can produce more work. This allows them to get more done in less time, which can also increase profitability and ROI.  

3. Enhanced quality and accuracy 

Ensuring localized texts are accurate is a lot of work. When you harness the power of a high-quality AI translation tool such as DeepL, your localization team benefits from more accurate, nuanced translations—meaning there’s less for them to edit, leading to better overall quality.  

4. Improved alignment 

Manual translation provides high-quality results, but often requires a lot of coordination and time. Ensuring company-wide alignment of translation and localization processes is always difficult—especially when companies work with external translation providers or rely on the in-house, unofficial language skills of colleagues.

However, it’s much easier when all localization teams rely on the same method of translation and can specify industry- or company-specific terms via handy glossary features. Such features can reduce coordination time and help maintain a consistent voice and tone in all locales, which define “the language and region preferences that the user wants to see in their user interface”.  

Even with all these benefits in mind, it's important to note that AI translation is only one step in the localization process. While it’s designed to improve alignment and speed up the process, it doesn’t replace true localization efforts.  

Instead, AI translation tools like DeepL should be used in combination with localization for the best results. 

Integrate AI translation technology directly into your products and go global faster 

For companies both big and small, DeepL’s AI translation is the go-to solution for streamlining localization efforts and strengthening customer loyalty across language barriers. 

Remember, the best AI translation tools are flexible and easily integrated into existing platforms and tooling—meaning they improve localization processes without adding more hassle to the workday. From easy-to-use API integrations to convenient SSO login capabilities, high-quality AI translation tools make all the difference for companies working to bring their business to the world. 

To learn more about how DeepL’s AI translations can enhance and streamline your company’s localization process, visit DeepL Pro for Business. 

*This research was conducted by Regina Corso Consulting between March 23–April 5, 2023, with a sample size of 415 marketers from France, Germany, Japan, and the United States. 

The advances made in AI technology over the past few years have been astonishing, and there’s no doubt that AI will continue to evolve. However, to do so responsibly, proper data security and data privacy management must remain a top priority.  

A recent article from World Economic Forum underscores this issue, stating: “As AI models depend on data quality to deliver salient results, their continued existence hinges on privacy protection being integral to their design.” 

With AI’s diverse and growing application in the business world, companies that adopt AI need to be more informed than ever about proper data protection measures. 

In this post, we’ll discuss why DeepL Pro is the best option for both first-rate translation quality as well as the highest standards of data security and compliance for your company. 

Why is data security essential for your business in the age of AI? 

As a leading AI communication tool, DeepL provides high-quality AI translations for thousands of companies around the world to help them get ahead of the competition—but it's not just first-rate translations that set DeepL apart.  

Dr. Benedikt Kohn, an associate at the global law firm Taylor Wessing, explains—modern businesses must understand that “AI relies on the processing of huge amounts of data. And sometimes . . . even the most personal data.” To protect this sensitive information, data protection must be considered “first and foremost” when evaluating AI software. 

By providing customers with optimal data protection without sacrificing quality, DeepL has become the AI communication tool of choice for companies that want to streamline processes and gain a competitive edge in their industry. 

How does DeepL keep your data secure? 

To ensure top-notch data security, DeepL servers are controlled exclusively by DeepL SE and operated in ISO 27001-certified data centers with excellent security measures. DeepL does its utmost to protect its servers and ensure that no one can gain unauthorized access.   

Unlike in cloud-based environments, this setup guarantees that DeepL retains full control over all your data from start to finish. With this approach, your sensitive data can be securely processed via DeepL’s software. 

Additionally, all texts from Pro subscribers are deleted after translation—meaning they aren’t stored permanently but only for the duration of translation, then deleted. Plus, Pro subscribers’ texts are never used to train DeepL's AI models.  

As an EU-based company, DeepL complies with all GDPR regulations concerning: 

• Data protection 

• Data privacy 

• The transfer of personal data  

Alongside GDPR compliance, DeepL Pro users also enjoy enterprise-level data security and state-of-the-art transport layer security (TLS) encrypted data transmissions. Moreover, DeepL's cipher suites—which are a set of algorithms that secure a network connection—are regularly reviewed and updated.  

To further assess the security of its infrastructure and applications, DeepL’s internal security team conducts regular penetration testing with the help of external specialists. All findings are followed up by DeepL’s compliance team to constantly increase the security of DeepL. This ensures only authorized users can access sensitive data and all personally identifiable information remains secure.  

Thanks to DeepL’s excellent data security, full GDPR compliance, and high-quality translations, companies can maximize productivity and reduce costs—all while maintaining the highest level of protection for their sensitive data. 

How reliable is DeepL, and who has access to your data? 

DeepL not only provides high-quality translations, but it also delivers extremely reliable service. All DeepL Pro services are redundant—meaning availability is ensured thanks to additional or alternate uplinks. They’re also protected by automatic failover mechanisms—a process which moves applications to standby servers in the case of a failure to preserve data availability. 

In plain terms, these safety features ensure trouble-free, consistent data availability from DeepL—which helps companies streamline their workflows and operate more efficiently. 

Whenever possible, DeepL avoids involving subcontractors—since it can be more difficult to maintain full visibility and control when third parties are involved in data processing. For example, DeepL recently moved the processing of PDF translation completely in-house, removing any third-party involvement. 

If deemed necessary, qualified subcontractors are carefully selected and audited according to ISO 27001 policies. This approach allows DeepL to retain tight control over who is accessing information—keeping your sensitive data out of the wrong hands. 

In a recent sit-down conversation for the DeepL AI Talks series, Dr. Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche, a partner at Taylor Wessing, touched on how DeepL's security measures protect data and benefit its customers, stating:  

“It’s really an advantage [that DeepL is] based out of Europe in that respect for us as lawyers. That makes many things more feasible. No data transfer out of the EU/EEA, [DeepL controlled] servers, no subcontractors—these are the typical hurdles we’re facing.” 

Why is proper data protection important to your company’s success? 

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the predicted global annual cost of cybercrime in 2023 alone will amount to $8 trillion USD (€7.29 trillion). This means that protecting data with proper data security measures, like those used by DeepL, is more important than ever before—and could play a vital role in your company's overall success. 

That’s also why, on the user’s side, DeepL adheres to the “principle of least privilege.” This means that Pro account admins can easily control all team members’ access levels. This approach allows admins to: 

• Add/remove team members 

• Set usage limits (e.g., document translation) 

• Retain full control over critical subscription changes 

Knowing that the data protection measures in place will keep their sensitive information secure and encourage efficient usage, Pro users can integrate DeepL into their workflows with total confidence. 

Which top global companies rely on DeepL’s service? 

Industries that prioritize data protection, proper data management, and GDPR compliance routinely adopt DeepL Pro as their AI communication tool of choice.  

For this reason, many of DeepL’s customers are industry leaders who demand the highest levels of data protection alongside world-class quality, such as: 

• Global law firm Taylor Wessing  

• Japanese media company Nikkei, Inc. 

In the words of Dr. Freiherr von dem Bussche from Taylor Wessing, with DeepL, companies benefit "from the German/EU gold standards" of data protection, which allow them to “roll out products globally more easily.” 

Additionally, since DeepL’s translation AI has been trained using official, public EU documents, it’s able to provide the highest quality outputs. This is especially important for certain industries—such as legal, manufacturing, and governmental organizations—where technical terminology can prove difficult to translate.  

What’s the bottom line? 

As AI continues to transform the way the world works, data protection must remain at the forefront of all decisions on how to responsibly adopt and integrate AI. DeepL strives to not only meet but exceed its users’ expectations with its data protection strategies and translation quality—and is committed to doing so as AI technology changes and develops in the years to come. 

Uniquely positioned to keep users’ sensitive information secure, DeepL is the best choice for privacy-conscious companies.  

If your business wants to benefit from DeepL’s first-rate translations and unparalleled data protection, you can learn more at DeepL Pro for Business.  

DeepL’s commitment to accessibility 

Accessibility is an integral part of how we develop and test products at DeepL. This year, we are celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 18 by looking back at our ongoing accessibility improvements and achievements at DeepL since our update last year, starting with our Accessibility Statement. While improving accessibility is a long-term process, we’ve made some significant strides, and our improvements will continue as our product offerings grow and mature. 

A holistic look at accessibility 

Accessibility is not only limited to how users interact with the final product or feature e.g. DeepL Translator for desktop, or our Android mobile app, but also in how and with whom we conduct testing. 

This past year, we continued to diversify our testing pool, working closely with visually impaired testers who use screen magnification technologies, alternative color schemes (this allows us to comply with certain operating systems, like Windows, where users can select between multiple themes with higher contrasts), and various screen readers. Furthermore, we made sure to include testers who were dependent on alternative navigation methods, like voice control software. We used the feedback from these tests to help improve readability and control when using DeepL products. 

Consistent testing  

In addition to adding to our diverse tester pool, we’ve maintained a regular frequency of our tests. Since April 2022, we’ve conducted five tests per month, and we continue to use Fable Engage as our user testing platform. We highlighted this platform in our 2022 accessibility blog post, but we feel it’s worth reiterating what it does as well as the impact that it has on our users:  

Fable Engage enables teams to connect with people with disabilities remotely and on-demand to accelerate user research, design, and development. Feedback from accessibility testers provides invaluable information for companies looking to identify problems and to improve accessibility. 

Fable rates digital products using the Accessible Usability Scale (AUS). The score is calculated through a series of questions answered by accessibility testers, who assess sites on compatibility with accessibility technologies, complexity of site navigation, and ease of use without outside assistance. The AUS uses a 1–100 scale, with 100 as the top rating. 

Last year, our scores trended at 90 or higher. While the overall score fluctuates depending on our test results, we are proud to say that our score typically hovers around the same number. That said, when our score drops, it is a clear indicator that we still have room for improvement when it comes to both accessibility and usability. 

Getting it done: how we resolve accessibility issues at DeepL  

What happens when accessibility issues are flagged to us? Our team treats them as bugs, and a ticket is created for each issue. It’s our goal to resolve these as quickly as possible, and we are proud to say that in the last 300 days, our engineering team solved 63 tickets related to accessibility.  

Working closely with several teams at DeepL, particularly with those who help develop and improve customer-facing products, we make accessibility a top priority, ensuring that we keep it top-of-mind for all teams at our organization. 

Praise for DeepL from our testers 

Although we are always aiming to improve our products, we also want to recognize the efforts of our team and highlight positive feedback from our testers. Here are a few quotes from a few people who enjoyed using our language selection tool when translating:  

"The DeepL Translator website is excellent to use and navigate around to locate different languages." 

"Truly wonderful! I absolutely enjoyed this request! I had no accessibility problems or issues." 

"I also found it to be enjoyable that you can also hear the translation if you so desire. This is so cool." 

"Since this is very accessible, this definitely gives blind people more independence. Once again, wonderful!" 

The full picture on testing  

At the time of the last blog post (April 2022), we were only testing the desktop web translator. Now, we’ve extended our testing to all other products to include: 

• Mobile web page 

• Windows and MacOS desktop apps 

• iOS and Android mobile apps 

• Browser extensions 

• DeepL Help Center 

• DeepL Write 

Not all are as accessible as the web app, but we continue to improve every year. 

It’s a marathon, not a sprint 

Accessibility is an integral part of our product development process and a quality criteria throughout all our teams. We are proud of how far we’ve come but promise to prioritize accessibility for all users as we move forward.  

If you ever have any feedback on our products, we’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much for continuing to use and help us improve our products and features each year.  

We’re happy to announce an important upgrade to our translation services. From now on, DeepL will handle all PDF translations in-house, without the help of third parties, using our privately operated servers based in Europe.  

This change comes in response to product feedback and our goal of providing you with the best possible translations while maintaining the highest security standards. By bringing the PDF translation process in-house, we’re able to do just that.  

When it comes to translating whole PDF files, you have two options: 

1. Translation of whole PDF files, keeping the formatting in place  

2. Translation of text extracted from PDF files without retaining the formatting  

Going forward, we’ll translate your PDFs—regardless of your account type or location—with the highest security standards on our European servers. And as always, you can expect DeepL’s translations to be consistently accurate and reliable.

Note: Whole PDF translation is possible using the web translator, DeepL API, and the DeepL desktop apps. 

To learn more about real-time PDF translation at DeepL, please visit our Help Center. 

Law firms working with international clients and colleagues must navigate language barriers, foreign laws, and cultural nuances. To address these challenges, legal teams are increasingly incorporating AI translation technology into their workflows to streamline legal translations, improve multilingual communication, and increase productivity. Thanks to major progress in natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms, AI translation technology is more sophisticated than ever. DeepL Translator exemplifies this. With its precise, contextually relevant, and natural-sounding translations, DeepL Translator is a top choice among businesses worldwide—including those in the legal sector. The adoption of AI translation in the legal industry is part of a larger digital transformation trend. According to Gartner research, in-house legal departments will handle 50% of major corporate transaction work using NLP and ML technologies by 2024. By 2025, they’re expected to triple their spending on legal technology, which makes sense as AI can reduce workloads for lawyers by up to 90%. In this post, we’ll explore how legal teams can leverage DeepL Pro—an industry-leading suite of AI translation tools—to overcome language barriers, deliver better legal services, and drive business success. Translate legal documents quickly, accurately, and at scale DeepL Pro provides a fast, cost-effective, and highly accurate solution for teams in need of convenience translations that are non-binding. Trained on millions of translated texts, including public European Union (EU) legal documents, DeepL Translator’s neural network technology can understand complex, nuanced texts and translate them with precision.

Additionally, DeepL Pro offers a scalable solution for translating entire documents, including PDFs, Word files, and PowerPoint presentations, while preserving the original formatting, images, and fonts. This feature makes DeepL an ideal choice for law firms and lawyers that need to get legal translations done quickly and efficiently. Stay compliant with data privacy laws DeepL recognizes the necessity of client confidentiality and data privacy in the legal industry and takes great care to ensure both through state-of-the-art security measures. Data encryption safeguards against unauthorized access, and translations are deleted immediately after completion. Compliant with strict standards like the EU's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), DeepL also offers business customers a DPA (Data Processing Agreement) upon request. According to Dr. Anna Zeiter, LL.M., CIPM, CIPP/E, Associate General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at eBay, this is a level of protection law firms and lawyers should expect from their technology providers:

“Data protection is a critical issue regarding AI communication technologies and their adoption by global business players, employing thousands of people and serving millions of users. As AI-powered systems are increasingly used to collect and process vast amounts of personal data, we need to ensure that AI providers take appropriate measures to protect the privacy of their customers.”

Overcome language differences with multilingual clients As global mobility increases and countries become more diverse, lawyers can expect to serve more multilingual clients and meet more language barriers. In the US, the American Bar Association (ABA) guides lawyers when encountering language access issues, suggesting either an interpreter or technological assistance to fulfill professional obligations and enable informed client decisions. The ABA states that once clients face a language access issue, lawyers must decide whether an interpreter or technological assistance is necessary to fulfill their professional obligations and ensure that clients can make informed decisions. They also note that “the availability of assistive and translation technologies is another example of the ever-increasing impact of technology on the practice of law and underscores the duty of lawyers to develop an understanding of relevant technology.” DeepL Pro effectively bridges language gaps for lawyers and clients by offering fast, accurate translations across platforms, including web translators, apps, browser extensions, and an API. Integrations with applications like Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Google Docs facilitate seamless communication, enabling lawyers to provide top-tier services to multilingual clients. Maintain consistency when translating legal terminology DeepL's glossary feature is a game-changer for legal teams because it lets them create and manage their own legal terminology database. This makes sure translations stay consistent by customizing and standardizing how specific words and phrases are translated.

Plus, these glossaries can be shared with coworkers, teams, or even the whole company. Whether it's for a small project or something bigger, shared glossaries help keep legal translations top-notch and prevent problems that can arise from mistakes and oversights. Simplify international legal research International law is complex. It deals with diverse legal systems and cultures and is constantly evolving to address new global issues. To practice it effectively, it’s important to stay informed through ongoing research. AI translation is the perfect aid according to Dr. Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche, LL.M. (L.S.E.), CIPP/E, Partner at Taylor Wessing:

“Using AI and technology-enabled tools in the legal sector is becoming increasingly important to remain competitive and improve efficiency. These tools can assist lawyers with legal research, document review, and contract analysis and translation, freeing up time for more complex and strategic work.”

With features like whole document translation and glossaries, DeepL Pro streamlines international law research, enabling lawyers to translate foreign legal texts accurately and quickly. This reduces the need for manual translations, which can be time-consuming and tedious, and allows for more strategic work. The bottom line AI translation technology is transforming the legal sector. Law firms that collaborate with colleagues and clients from across the world are more empowered than ever to overcome language differences and work across cultures. Those that embrace AI translation technology now will be able to provide their clients with the best possible legal representation, surpass competitors that were resistant to digital transformation, and become industry leaders. Learn how your law organization can leverage DeepL Pro for global expansion, and about the opportunities and risks of AI in global communications. Download our recent webinar, Data Privacy and AI: Scaling Your Business Safely in the Global Market.

Back in May 2022, we explored how to create glossary entries to ensure that words and phrases are always translated your preferred way. So far in 2023, we’ve leveled up this feature with shared glossaries and the implementation of 55 glossary language combinations between English, Spanish, German, Japanese, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian. Here we’ll explore how the glossary feature's latest improvements can specifically help businesses grow their enterprise, consolidate internal and external communication, and increase team productivity.

Why should businesses use translation glossaries?

Glossaries ensure consistency in messaging across multiple languages. For multinational companies, standardizing things such as technical terminology, product names, or product documentation keeps everyone—clients, customers, and team members—on the same page. This also helps to reduce cost and time lost with manual editing. 

We’ve recently introduced shared glossaries for users with a DeepL Pro for Business subscription. This means team members can create their own glossaries and then share those with other colleagues or their entire team—increasing collaboration and translation efficiency all at once.

How can you create effective glossaries?

Glossaries help ensure translation consistency by tailoring and standardizing the output of specific words and phrases. To create an effective DeepL glossary for your team, it is essential to consistently update it with the latest company terminologies. This involves adding entries for new products and services or removing or amending entries when they are discontinued. By doing so, you can ensure that your translations are always up to date and minimize having to manually edit internal and external communications. When team members use the shared glossaries feature, they can all access the same pre-defined entries. This guarantees that everyone translates specific words and phrases uniformly, regardless of who is doing the translation.

How can you use glossary with DeepL products?

The glossary feature can be used as a part of a subscription plan (Starter, Advanced, or Ultimate) as well as with the DeepL API.  

With a subscription plan you can:

• Use glossaries for text translation on the web translator and desktop apps 

• Apply glossary specifications to document translations in the desktop app—which preserves the original formatting 

With the API you can:

• Standardize translations across your website  

• Integrate glossary specifications into your company’s internal tools and platforms 

How global companies leverage glossaries

Global companies use DeepL glossary to ensure consistency throughout their communication. For example, Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company—and the largest railway operator in Europe—uses the DeepL glossary feature to maintain translation consistency for its 320,000 employees worldwide. This is especially important for train conductors and station employees who must communicate across languages for safety and scheduling purposes. 

Glossary is also highly used by organizations in the legal industry, where translation errors and inconsistencies can have immense consequences. DeepL's AI is consistently trained using official EU documents, allowing it to accurately translate intricate linguistic nuances in complex legal texts.

Glossary and your organization

Maintaining consistent messaging helps keep growing teams on the same page. It also ensures that prospective customers develop a clear understanding of your business and how you can alleviate their pain points. If you'd like to refine your company's messaging using DeepL Pro, get in touch with our Sales team. You can also learn more about the glossary feature in our Help Center.

We’re pleased to announce that the DeepL for Windows app is officially available for download in the Microsoft Store—allowing even more people to benefit from our powerful desktop apps.

Once downloaded, our DeepL for Windows app is integrated directly into your computer's operating system—making it the easiest and fastest way to use DeepL. A seamless experience from start to finish, it provides access to DeepL translations anywhere and everywhere you need them on your desktop.

How can our DeepL for Windows app help streamline your workflow?

• Enjoy more flexibility – translate directly while you write—in any app or tool that supports editing—with our Ctrl+Win+C shortcut

• Avoid extra work – with a Pro subscription, you can save your favorite translations for easy access, or pause translations and return to them later

• Spend less time translating – with shortcuts like Ctrl+C+C, you can paste text directly into the Desktop App, eliminating unnecessary back-and-forth

Packed with time-saving features and unparalleled flexibility, our DeepL for Windows app makes translation simple and efficient—increasing productivity and reducing effort. 

From high-quality document translation to our much-loved customization capabilities—such as alternative translations and glossary entries—our Windows app allows you to integrate DeepL into your daily workflow with ease.

Additionally, you can use your DeepL Pro subscription in the DeepL for Windows app—meaning you’ll retain full access to all the Pro benefits you know and love. Check out our DeepL for Windows app page for more details or download directly from the Microsoft Store.