E-learning localization looks simple on the surface: extract the text, translate it, put it back. In practice, SCORM packages are complex containers with dozens of content types, each requiring different handling.

Organizations discover this when their translated courses don’t work—quizzes broken, interactions failing, audio unchanged, images still showing source language text.

What’s actually in a SCORM package

A SCORM package (SCORM 1.2 or SCORM 2004) typically contains:

HTML content pages. The main learning content, often with embedded JavaScript for interactions.

Quiz/assessment files. Questions, answers, scoring logic, feedback text.

JavaScript interactions. Simulations, drag-and-drop activities, click-to-reveal elements.

Media files. Video, audio narration, images with text overlays.

Manifest files. XML describing package structure and navigation.

CSS and styling. Visual presentation that may include text in decorative elements.

SCORM API calls. Communication with the learning management system.

Each element has different translation requirements. Treating a SCORM package as simple document translation produces broken courses.

Common SCORM localization failures

Assessment failures. Quiz questions and answers are extracted, but scoring logic references original text. Translated answers don’t match expected values; quizzes always fail.

Interaction breaks. JavaScript-driven interactions have hardcoded strings. Translated visible text doesn’t match code expectations; interactions malfunction.

Navigation problems. Menu items and navigation labels weren’t extracted. Learners see mixed-language navigation.

Media unchanged. Audio narration stays in source language. Learners read translated text while hearing original audio.

Image text persists. Screenshots, diagrams, and instructional images contain source language text that wasn’t replaced.

Completion tracking fails. SCORM tracking depends on specific strings or sequences. Translation changes break LMS communication.

These failures appear after translation, often after deployment to learners.

The SCORM localization workflow

Proper SCORM handling requires:

Package extraction. Unpack the SCORM ZIP and analyze contents. Identify all content types present.

Content type mapping. Determine how each element should be handled:

• HTML → standard text extraction
• Quizzes → structured extraction preserving answer mappings
• JavaScript → code-aware extraction of translatable strings
• Audio → transcription and re-recording or TTS
• Images with text → identification for image editing
• Manifest → navigation label extraction

Translation with structure. Translate extracted content while maintaining relationships (question-to-answer mappings, interaction triggers, etc.).

Media localization. Audio re-recorded or synthesized. Images edited or replaced. Video subtitled or dubbed.

Reassembly. Repackage with translated content, preserving SCORM structure and compliance.

Testing. Verify the localized package functions in an LMS—navigation, interactions, assessments, completion tracking.

Quiz and assessment localization

Assessments require special care:

Question/answer relationships. Multiple-choice questions have specific correct answers. The translation must maintain which answer is correct, not just translate text.

Scoring logic. If scoring uses text matching, translated text must match what the scoring code expects. This may require modifying code, not just content.

Feedback strings. Correct/incorrect feedback needs translation without breaking the feedback trigger logic.

Branching. Adaptive assessments branch based on answers. Translation must preserve branching logic.

Testing assessments thoroughly is essential—every question path, every answer option, complete and incomplete attempts.

Audio and video handling

Most SCORM courses include narration. Options for localization:

Professional re-recording. Hire voice talent to record translated scripts. Highest quality, highest cost.

AI voice synthesis. Generate narration from translated scripts using TTS. Lower cost, quality depends on voices available for target language.

Subtitle/caption overlay. Keep original audio, add translated subtitles. Faster and cheaper, but creates cognitive load for learners.

Audio removal. Strip audio, rely on on-screen text only. May degrade learning experience.

The choice depends on content type, budget, and quality requirements. Technical courses may tolerate AI voices; soft skills training may need professional recording.

Image localization

Images with text are frequently overlooked:

Screenshots. Software screenshots show source language UI. Replacing requires taking new screenshots in target language software.

Diagrams with labels. Instructional diagrams with text labels need editing or recreation.

Process graphics. Flowcharts, infographics, and visualizations often embed text that needs translation.

Decorative text. Banners, headers, and decorative elements may contain text.

Image localization is manual work—identifying images with text, obtaining source files, editing, and replacing. It’s often the bottleneck in SCORM localization.

SCORM version considerations

SCORM 1.2 is simpler but has limitations. Many legacy courses use this format.

SCORM 2004 is more complex with sequencing and navigation rules that can be affected by localization.

xAPI (Tin Can) is newer and more flexible but less commonly deployed in enterprise LMS.

Localization tools need to handle whichever version your courses use, preserving compliance through the localization process.

LMS testing

The final localized package must work in your actual LMS:

• Does it launch correctly?
• Does navigation function?
• Do interactions work?
• Do assessments score properly?
• Does completion status report to LMS?
• Do bookmarking and resume work?

Testing in the actual deployment environment catches integration issues that standalone testing misses.

The build vs. localize decision

Sometimes localizing existing courses costs more than rebuilding:

Localize when:

• Courses are well-structured with clean content separation
• Source files are available for images and media
• The course was designed with localization in mind
• Volume justifies process setup

Rebuild when:

• Original source files are missing
• Course structure is tangled with hardcoded text throughout
• Content needs significant updates anyway
• Localization would take longer than recreation

This assessment should happen before committing to localization, not after discovering the course is a localization nightmare.

Ongoing course maintenance

Localized courses need maintenance:

Version alignment. When source courses update, localized versions need corresponding updates.

Tracking localized assets. Know which images, audio, and text have been localized and from which source version.

Incremental updates. For small changes, update only affected elements rather than re-localizing entire courses.

Building maintenance into the localization process prevents localized courses from drifting out of alignment with evolving source content.

Language Ops handles SCORM 1.2 and 2004 package localization, including quiz extraction, audio transcription, and package reassembly. Upload a SCORM package to see the complete extraction.