“Whether in an emergency or in the course of routine business matters, the success of government efforts to effectively communicate with members of the public depends on the widespread and nondiscriminatory availability of accurate, timely and vital information.”
—Attorney General Eric Holder, 2011
Communication is extremely important—and not just for family or work. Being able to understand publicly available information and have the opportunity to get one’s needs and points of view across make all the difference between being nominally present in a community and being a member of that community.
The United States was founded with the idea of public participation in mind, though admittedly with a more limited view of who should participate. Now more than two centuries later, all US residents should have that chance to participate in civic life, such as exercising the right to vote if a citizen, and to access basic services like health, education, housing and transportation. No matter what Language you speak.
In 2010, 25.2 million American residents over the age of 5, representing 9 percent of the US population, had limited English proficiency (LEP). This figure includes those who speak English but who aren’t quite fluent in the language. After all, it’s one thing to be able to ask how much an item costs, but it’s another altogether to adequately describe one’s symptoms to a doctor.
The majority of LEP individuals in the United States speak Spanish as a first language; however, there are also hundreds of thousands of LEP individuals who speak other languages, such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Russian, French Creole, Arabic and Portuguese.
The purpose of language access is to remove barriers and allow US residents to meaningfully interact with publicly available information and services in the language they speak best. While some see it as a moral duty, language access is also often a legal mandate based on anti-discrimination laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive Order 13166 (2000).
All organizations that receive federal funds, either directly or indirectly, are required to take reasonable steps to provide language access to the public they serve. This typically includes both written and oral communication in the most commonly used languages within a particular area.
For written information, it isn’t compulsory to translate every piece of paper an Organization produces. Instead, they are asked to, at a minimum, translate vital documents. This may include: brochures, application forms, intake forms, consent forms, eligibility forms, complaint forms and websites.
For oral information and services, on-site interpreters, telephone interpreters and/or multilingual employees may be made available when the need arises.
While organizations aren’t necessarily required to have an official language access plan, having one allows them to more easily fulfill their language access duties both now and in the future.
Does your organization have an effective language access plan in place?
If your organization works with the public, Responsive Translation can help you to start providing language access or expand your existing program. We offer written translation in more than 80 languages and dialects, as well as oral interpreting services in more than 200 languages and dialects, for a range of organizations dedicated to essential areas such as health, education, finance, law and others.
For more information, please contact 646-847-3309 or [email protected].
This post first appeared on Responsive Translation: ISO 9001 And QA Certified, please read the originial post: here
