Scaling Globally with Automation and Localization

Take Quebec, for example. Businesses operating in that region must account for the 72% of the population that primarily speaks French — even on product packaging. Or consider the European Accessibility Act (EAA), which mandates digital accessibility conformance in all EU member states. Yet different nations might have even stricter mandates or interpretations of those rules. That includes making content accessible across a wide range of languages, formats and user needs — whether that means screen reader compatibility in German, alt-text in Dutch or mobile compliance in Polish. In this context, localization is about ensuring equitable digital access, culturally and functionally. These are legal requirements.

Meeting this level of precision manually is time-consuming and costly, especially for multinational organizations managing hundreds of app or web deployments annually. Even the most mature localization teams find it difficult to keep pace — they might have a firm grasp of the company’s present markets, but become overwhelmed or confused when it expands to a market on a new continent. That’s why automation can serve as a vital complement to traditional localization workflows.

Automation excels at eliminating repetitive, high-volume tasks that bog down internal teams. At first glance, localization might not seem like a strong fit for automation given the unique considerations of each market. But handling localization at scale means using all available resources.

I’ve seen strong automated localization results in:

• Text validation — catching untranslated strings, inconsistent terminology and formatting issues.
• Currency and unit localization — flagging price conversions or date formats that don’t match regional expectations.
• Visual regression testing — comparing screenshots across releases to detect layout shifts caused by longer or shorter translated text.
• CMS-integrated checks — validating images, logos, or branding tied to specific markets.

One client, an international entertainment brand, asked us to build automation scripts into its CI/CD pipeline. Now, every time new code is released, our script runs visual and linguistic checks, validating elements like truncation, image alignment and formatting. The automation handles the bulk of the localization lift, freeing their internal teams to focus on edge cases and content refinement.

Automation can flag a majority of common issues, while internal QA teams or in-market crowdtesters can focus on the remaining, more targeted and nuanced remainder. And, make no mistake, there will be more to find.

Automation is not equipped to understand cultural nuance or subjective intent. Automation can detect that a page layout has shifted, but it can’t tell you if a translated slogan feels natural or if a color palette might carry unintended meaning in a specific culture. It also can’t keep up with local trends and headlines to tell you whether a new marketing campaign will rub customers the wrong way and land with a thud.

Human testers still play a crucial role. Source testers embedded in local markets that understand the context that automation simply can’t parse. There are some qualitative insights that scripts will never be able to replicate.

Our clients typically come to Applause with some initial investment in localization. They know what they want to achieve, but can’t quite get there. These organizations often lack automation experience, or the internal resources to build and maintain it. Automation is only valuable when it’s consistent, scalable and aligned with your development workflows.

That’s why Applause focuses on deep collaboration and partnership with clients. We work to understand their CI/CD pipeline and tech stack, then we work to deliver scripts that plug right into what they already have. With the right access, we can deliver functional automation for localization in just four to six weeks. Just as importantly, we help our clients maintain and evolve that automation over time, so that it stays relevant as languages, layouts, regulations and technologies change.

And what bigger area of change is there than AI? Visual validation powered by AI models can allow us to check color palettes, layout consistency or branding accuracy across dozens of regional variants, without requiring manual screenshot comparisons.

Some clients use proprietary AI models trained on their brand libraries; others rely on third-party tools for more general analysis. Applause assists our clients in integrating these models directly into localization automation pipelines, extending the accuracy and scope of what can be validated automatically.

Still, just as the in-market perspective complements automation, so does it with AI. Rather than replace the need for real human perspective in localization, AI just raises the ceiling on what automation can do when intelligently applied.

Ultimately, automation should be embedded in how you build, not just how you test. Just as accessibility is now a design-time consideration, localization should be part of your development DNA. That’s the mindset shift Applause helps organizations make, from retrofitting language fixes to building internationalization into their frameworks from the start.

As an example, a U.S.-based sports organization approached Applause with a challenge. They were seeing massive user growth in an APAC region and needed to streamline how they localized their mobile app for that market. The stakes were high, not just in terms of accurate translation, but also in tone, dialect and layout. In this region, the language has formal and informal registers. Subtle shifts in phrasing can change the tone entirely.

This multi-national organization wanted to enhance its automation offering, moving away from manual testing and pushing toward increased scalability as it rolled out to new regions. Testing localization in each of these completely different markets was proving difficult; automating it seemed even more problematic given the complexity of in-house systems and lack of internal expertise in this domain.

Applause looked at the organization’s existing frameworks and designed a testing strategy that integrated directly into its existing tools and systems. This solution allowed the business to run independently of Applause, building on our code as it continued to expand into new markets.

With the right tools, scripts and people in place, localization becomes a natural extension of your release process. And with Applause as your partner in localization, accessibility and any other digital quality needs, you’ll be ready to scale globally with confidence.

Talk to us today about your top localization priority, and we’ll develop a plan to help you address it.