French - Task force

[remibetin]

Context

At W3C, there are Task Forces operating under specific Working Groups.

Examples :

• Mobile Accessibility Task Force ;
• Pronunciation Task Force ;
• SVG Accessibility Task Force
• etc.

Learn more : https://www.w3.org/WAI/about/groups/taskforces/

Issue

With @Alex-akel, we have found it tricky to properly convey the nuance between "working group" and "task force" in French. Both would usually be translated to "groupe de travail" (see for example Le grand dictionnaire terminologique du Québec)

For "Mobile Accessibility Task Force", @Alex-akel suggested "force d’intervention sur l’accessibilité mobile" in a PR. During the review, I added the following comment (https://github.com/w3c/wai-mobile/pull/25#discussion_r606697208) :

"Mobile Accessibility Task Force" : wouldn't "groupe de travail sur l'accessibilité mobile" be more appropriate ? "force d'intervention" is essentially used when referring to military or police forces.

And @Alex-akel answered :

I would normally agree. Here, I recall content referring to "working group" as well as "Task force". I thought I would keep the distinction here.

I agree : because W3C has working groups and task forces, we should find a way to distinguish them in our translation.

Suggestions

Here are some options :

• "force opérationnelle" (suggested by Wikipédia)
• "groupe d'intervention" (suggested by France Terme)
• "comité de réflexion" (suggested by France Terme)
• exceptionally using an Anglicism : "la task force" (to be honest, it is probably the most used in organizations...)

What do you think or do you have any other suggestions ?

[shawna-slh]

Thank you for your thoughtful considerations!

Our Task Forces are always sub-groups of a parent Working Group. That's fairly important in the Process, because the parent Working Group approves all publications developed by/with the Task Force. It would be good to convey the sub-group aspect in the translation, even if it is less close to "task force".

[remibetin]

Thanks so much @shawna-slh for the precision : it's important to keep that in mind.

Here are some suggestions, maybe better than the first ones :

• "sous-groupe de travail" to emphasize that it's a sub-group.
• Or "équipe de travail" (working team) which is used in some UN and EU documents (even if the EU uses "task force" extensively in French). We would have "groupes de travail" working broadly on a subject, and some "équipes de travail" dedicated to more specific issues.

@vmmiller @bentocube @FloraLinoraTech What do you think ?

[FloraLinoraTech]

The statement "At W3C, there are Task Forces operating under specific Working Groups." already convey the nuance that task forces are sub-group in specific working group. The French translation brings that too. I don't see the need to add "sub-group" in there. Simplicity will allow a better understanding.

Regading the translation I like: "Au W3C, il existe des comités de réflexion opérant sous des groupes de travail spécifiques."

The word "comité de réflexion" translated in English may be confusing, but I think that it is the most appropriate in this case for the French translation. I agree that "Force d'intervention" is more military-ish.

[shawna-slh]

The statement "At W3C, there are Task Forces operating under specific Working Groups." already convey the nuance that task forces are sub-group in specific working group.

For more context: We need a translation of "task force" without the context of that statement.

For example, in the Mobile Accessibility page that brought this issue up, it only says: "Mobile Accessibility Task Force" and no where does it mention parent Working Group.

(While the sub-group relationship is an important point, it's not necessarily well known or understood. While it is explained in some places, it is not explained everywhere the a Task Force named is used.)

[vmmiller]

In the UN system of organizations, a translation I have seen for "task force" is "équipe d'experts".

[Alex-akel]

Hi @remibetin ,

To summarize some of the comments above. Please advise what option (1, 2 or 3) is preferable for the child item (Task Force).

Thank you. Alex

---

RELATIONSHIP

• Working group (parent)
• Task force (child)

TRANSLATION

• groupe de travail (parent)
• équipe d'experts (child) OPTION 1 (UN)
• comité de réflexion (child) OPTION 2 (Flora's suggestion)
• task force (child) OPTION 3 (EU)

[shawna-slh]

+1 to "task force"

Not "équipe d'experts" -- that doesn't fit in the context of W3C.