Contractor‑Ready Playable Localization Kit: 5 File Packages to Localize Demos, Screenshots, and JSON‑LD

Founders and indie teams rarely have time to build full translation pipelines before a demo launch. The playable-localization-kit is intentionally small: five discrete packages that isolate risk, reduce back‑and‑forth, and make contractor handoffs unambiguous. Instead of a single pile of assets and vague instructions, you hand over named archives with clear outputs and tests.

Treat this kit like a release artifact. Each package maps to one deliverable (strings, screenshot masters, localized JSON‑LD, acceptance tests, QA checklist). This reduces integration surprises—localizers return validated assets that slot into the build, marketing page, or App Store metadata without extra engineering work.

What to include: a single canonical English source file plus target language files in two contractor-friendly formats: XLIFF (or PO) and a flattened JSON map. Provide context: short comments for ambiguous strings and screenshots IDs where UI text appears. Include a version file that lists the strings file checksum and the date—this prevents stale translations from slipping into the demo.

Why two formats: many translators prefer XLIFF or PO for context and CAT-tool support, while your build or demo runner often wants a flattened JSON or key:value file. Export both and include an automated validation script that checks keys match between source and target. That way contractors can work in their tool of choice without breaking the demo import.

What to include: PSD/Figma masters with layers clearly marked for localizable text (use named text layers), exported 1x/2x/3x PNGs for the store and a plain-text file mapping each screenshot to its store placement. Supply the translated caption text in a small CSV or JSON that maps language → screenshot ID → caption. This avoids designers guessing which text belongs where.

Practical notes: follow platform specs (size, safe margins) and flag directionality issues (RTL). Include a lightweight acceptance test: a script or checklist that verifies the exported PNGs match platform dimensions and that captions are present and under length limits. App Store/Play Store behavior differs—make sure your mapping file distinguishes them so contractors produce both localized artwork and metadata-ready captions.

Why JSON‑LD matters: demo pages and marketing landing pages often use structured data (Product, SoftwareApplication) to improve indexing and previews. Localize the relevant fields (name, description, url, potentialAction) and provide separate language-scoped JSON‑LD files (e.g., product.en.jsonld, product.es.jsonld). Make explicit which fields must remain canonical (IDs, canonical URLs) and which should be translated.

How to hand this to contractors: supply a canonical JSON‑LD template with placeholder tokens for translatable fields. Include an automated validation step that runs each language file against a JSON‑LD schema and checks for missing keys or invalid URLs. That prevents malformed structured data from breaking SEO or search preview behavior.

Acceptance tests should be deterministic scripts or small node/python tools that run basic validations: string-key parity, placeholder integrity, screenshot dimension checks, JSON‑LD schema conformance, and a smoke check that localized assets are present for each target language. Prefer simple exit codes and human-readable logs so contractors and your CI can use the same tooling.

The QA checklist is a handoff document for human review. Include items for linguistic checks (locale-appropriate terminology), layout checks (overflows, truncation, RTL), marketing checks (correct screenshot for store locale), legal checks (no real user data in screenshots), and a final publish checklist detailing where to upload (App Store Connect, Google Play, landing page path). Keep the checklist concise—two pages maximum—and link to the acceptance-test artifacts so reviewers can reproduce failures.