Communicating With A Multilingual Public: Snapshot of Federal Agency Websites and Hotlines

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Communicating With A Multilingual Public
Snapshot of Federal Agency Websites and Hotlines

• Phillip Rowland-Seymour
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation
• September 2011

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Why?

• The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private
  charitable organization dedicated to helping
  build better futures for disadvantaged children
  in the United States.

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Background

• AG February 17, 2011 Memo Renewed commitment to
  Language Access obligations under Executive Order
  13166.
• 8 action items
• Language Access Working Group
• Evaluate/update current response to LEP needs
• Establish schedule to periodically evaluate
  update LEP needs
• Ensure that staff can identify LEP points of
  contact and provide meaningful assistance at
  those points
• Notify the public of your LEP policies, plans,
  and procedures (in ways that will reach LEP
  communities they serve)
• Determining extent to which non-English
  proficiency is a useful hiring criteria
• Collaborate with other agencies on shared
  translated written resources
• Draft recipient guidance for agencies that
  provide federal financial assistance

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Notify the public

• Notify the public, through mechanisms that will
  reach the LEP communities you serve, of your LEP
  policies, plans, and procedures, and LEP
  access-related developments. Provide a link to
  materials posted on your website to Federal
  Coordination and Compliance Section so that it
  can be posted on LEP.gov.

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Websites

• Survey of 90 agencies websites, looking for
• Plain language statement
• Social media buttons
• Mirror site
• GobiernoUSA.gov
• Translate the page

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Languages

• Spanish
• Chinese
• Vietnamese
• French/Haitian Creole
• Hindi (and related)
• Korean

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Website findings

• Almost 15 have a mirror site available in
  Spanish.
• Approximately 11 link to GobiernoUSA.gov
• Almost 6 use Google Translate on their homepage.
• 1/3 of the agencies provide links to
  agency-specific translated documents on their
  webpage.

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Website findings

• Links to Spanish resources were usually labeled
  Spanish.
• Only 1 agency has mirror sites in more than just
  Spanish.
• 8 agencies provided translated text/documents in
  more than just Spanish.
• 29 agencies had easily identifiable Plain
  Language statements and 54 have social media
  buttons.

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Hotlines

• Survey of 90 agencies hotlines, looking for
• Automated or live?
• Languages available?
• Prompts for non-English languages at the
  beginning or end of announcement

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Hotline findings

• 50 automated lines had another language as an
  option
• 4 live hotlines were accessible in Spanish

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• Top 10 Best Practices for Multilingual Websites
• http//www.usa.gov/webcontent/multilingual/best-pr
  actices.shtml

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Language

• Online communications must address the language
  preferences of users.
• The use of machine or automatic translations is
  strongly discouraged.

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Culture

• Regardless of language used, the online
  experience must be culturally relevant to the
  audience.

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Access

• Enable users to find your multilingual website
  via prominent access on the English site.

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URL Strategy

• Use a stand-alone, dedicated URL.

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Comparability and Maintenance

• Comparable user experience to your English site.

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Manage Users' expectations

• by letting your users know when they are going
  to navigate to an area of a different language.

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Toggle

• Enable users to toggle between comparable
  content or features on the English and
  multilingual websites if available.

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Online Features and Functionality

• Provide interactive features and functionality
  on multilingual websites.

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Integrated Operations and Marketing

• Integrate your multilingual website initiatives
  into your overall online-offline strategy.

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Online Marketing

• Develop and execute a targeted multilingual
  online marketing program.

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Conclusions

• There is still work to be done.
• There are many resources available.