Use the exact source version the merchant has approved for this assignment, together with a record of what its claims mean and what the evidence does not establish. A live URL alone is insufficient if the wording can change while translation is underway. Identify the source text, target language and locale, approved terminology, unresolved wording and correction owner. If there is no genuine source approval, resolve that gap before commissioning a final translation. Approval to translate is a project decision; it does not establish that the source claim is legally sufficient.
For: A research-only merchant handing storefront or checkout copy to a translator before publication.
Give the translator an exact page or file reference and a stable copy of the approved wording. Record the revision identifier or dated export, who approved it, and which visible text it includes. A title such as final copy is weak evidence if several files carry that title. The handoff should let a later reviewer retrieve the same words the translator received.
Define the surfaces in the assignment: product description, policy, checkout label, error message or another named area. Include the adjacent wording needed to understand a sentence. If the assignment covers only the body text, identify headings, buttons or image text that remain outside it so nobody mistakes a partial translation for a complete page.
When the live page and approved copy differ, record the difference and ask the source owner which version governs. Do not quietly combine the newest paragraph from one file with older policy wording from another. That produces a source nobody actually approved.
Describe the meaning that terminology must preserve
For each material phrase, supply its intended meaning and the evidence limitation beside it. On a research-only storefront, audience and use boundaries must survive translation. A term chosen for fluency must not broaden the audience, add a human-use benefit, strengthen a certainty claim or imply an approval absent from the source.
Build a short terminology reference from the actual pages. Record a source term, its context, the merchant-approved meaning and any approved target-language wording. If target wording has not been approved, label it proposed in the working handoff. A glossary entry is a decision record, not proof that a translation is accurate or acceptable in every market.
Keep limitations attached to the claims they qualify. Where a statement depends on a particular report, product, period or service scope, the translator needs that boundary as well as the positive statement. Do not ask the translator to fill an evidence gap with smoother or stronger wording. Flag the phrase for the source owner instead.
Separate source approval from claim support
The FTC’s US truth-in-advertising guidance says advertising must be truthful, nonmisleading and appropriately substantiated, including on websites. This is a reason to preserve a claim’s evidential limits across languages. It is not a translation certification, a glossary standard or a ruling that the merchant’s chosen phrase is lawful.
If the original statement lacks support, a faithful translation carries that unresolved problem forward. Return the specific claim to the person responsible for the source and its supporting records before treating the translation as ready. Keep target-market legal questions separate from the editorial decision about which source version to use.
This handoff establishes what work was authorized and what meaning must be preserved. A later audit of published translated pages answers a different question: whether the final visible wording actually kept that meaning. Do not use a signed handoff as evidence that the published page has already passed that comparison.
Assign corrections before the translator starts
Name who can approve source corrections, who answers terminology questions, who revises the translation and who authorizes publication. One person may hold several roles, but each role still needs an explicit owner. The translator should have a route for an ambiguous phrase without being expected to decide the merchant’s claim or policy.
When approved source text changes during the assignment, identify the changed passages and issue a new revision. Record which translations are affected and whether work on those passages is paused, revised or ready for review. Preserve the earlier source reference so that the reason for rework can be reconstructed. A later correction needs the same ownership even after the original assignment is delivered.
For a Prism checkout-review consultation, identify the affected storefront or checkout pages, languages and unresolved meaning or version question. The consultation can define the pages, questions and follow-up; confirm any translation or implementation responsibilities, fees and terms before work. The merchant decides which changes to make. Send the website, products and question without private customer records; email follow-up does not itself book an appointment or purchase a service.
Translation handoff reference
Complete a separate reference for each approved source revision and target language. Use genuine approval and evidence records. If a material meaning, source approval or correction owner is unresolved, mark that item open before releasing the affected wording for translation or publication.
Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.
Translation handoff reference. The last column is for temporary notes.
Handoff item
Evidence to attach or identify
Decision the record must settle
Your reference
Source version
Evidence to attach or identifyExact source file or page reference, stable copy, revision date and approval record.
Decision the record must settleWhich words the assignment uses, even if the live page changes.
Target language and locale
Evidence to attach or identifyThe actual language and intended locale in the assignment.
Decision the record must settleWhich audience the translator is writing for; this does not establish local legal clearance.
Included surfaces
Evidence to attach or identifyNamed paragraphs, headings, buttons, notices and any image text within the agreed work.
Decision the record must settleWhich text is covered and which text remains outside this assignment.
Approved meaning
Evidence to attach or identifySource phrases, surrounding context and merchant-approved meaning.
Decision the record must settleWhich audience, product or operating promise must remain the same.
Terminology decisions
Evidence to attach or identifyApproved target terms where they exist, plus separately marked proposals and questions.
Decision the record must settleWhich word choices are settled and which still require a named owner’s answer.
Evidence limitation
Evidence to attach or identifyThe actual supporting record and the limitation attached to each material claim.
Decision the record must settleWhat must not become a stronger claim through translation; unsupported wording returns to the source owner.
Correction owner
Evidence to attach or identifyNames or roles responsible for source edits, translation revisions and publication approval.
Decision the record must settleWho receives a change and who can close it.
Later revision handling
Evidence to attach or identifyChanged source passages, new revision reference and affected translations.
Decision the record must settleWhether each affected passage needs revision before its next publication.
These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.
Limits
This worksheet is a proposed project-control method, not an FTC-prescribed translation process or evidence that a particular phrase complies with law.
Source approval, translation accuracy, provider eligibility and target-market legal applicability are separate decisions.
Keep customer records, identity documents, payment details and account secrets out of translation handoffs and public consultation messages.
FTC truth in advertising — checked 2026-09-28. US advertising guidance requires truthful, nonmisleading and substantiated claims across media including websites; it does not approve a particular phrase or prescribe this handoff worksheet.
Prism: How it works — checked 2026-09-21. A consultation defines pages, processing questions and follow-up before work. The merchant chooses updates, and the provider makes underwriting decisions.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. Public help covers storefront review, processing preparation and provider website questions. Scope, fees and terms are discussed before work; provider eligibility is not decided by Prism.
Prism contact — checked 2026-09-21. The form asks for the website, products and question without payment details, passwords or customer records. Email follow-up is not an appointment, purchase or processing application.