Language access: Creating a language access plan

Everything you need to create a language access plan that works for you. 

It starts with a series of simple questions, then suggests smaller projects that all lead up to a comprehensive plan.  

First, a few questions

Do you know anyone else who has created a language plan?  You aren’t the only one who is having to do this work.  Learning from others can save time and money. 

Have you met your audience? If you have, are they recent refugees or other immigrants? Does the community prefer spoken or written language?  If you haven’t, there are probably local ethnic, cultural, or heritage organizations who support immigrants. They can introduce you.  

Do you have a budget?  Mostly, this is for translation or interpretation services and paying for ads.  If you don’t have funding, we have some ideas later on.

What’s your timeline? All of this takes time, and you may or may not have people to help you. Do you have a date to work backward from?

Do you know how you’ll distribute information once you have it? If you answered yes to the first question, this will help.

Organize your content and process 

  1. Inventory the required forms, notices, websites, and other information that must be translated and maintained in languages other than English.
  2. Create your own controlled vocabulary or term base in a format that makes it easy to maintain. This is an official list of translations for often used words. Use the Election Assistance Commission language access resources and glossaries. There are other language access resources at eac.gov, as well.
  3. Develop a translation process. We recommend that you use qualified, professional translators if possible. (See the city and university points below.) 
    • Make a project plan. 
    • Choose a translation resource to work with. 
    • Find someone in town, city, or county government who speaks the language and ask them to review. 
    • Put your translated materials out for community review. (You can do this through advisory committees, in public hearings, or through usability testing.) 
    • Incorporate changes and updates at each step. 
    • Update your controlled vocabulary / term base.
  4. Design a way to track and coordinate.  You’ll be dealing with translations and translators, interpreters, and communities you’ve partnered with.  How will you develop and manage translations of materials for outreach and voter education?
  5. Contract with Language Line. Language Line is a phone service with interpreters on demand to use in phone or video conversations.
  6. Draft your language access plan. There’s an example outline that you can use as a template below.

 Create a plan 

Here’s an example outline for a basic language access plan. It’s just enough to help you think about what you need to do and how you might do it, what resources you need, and where you might get help.  

What’s in this document

This language access plan outlines plans and approaches for making information, education, and ballots available in languages other than English for this jurisdiction.  

The election department will assess the process against our goals for outreach after each election and revise the plan based on what we learned. 

Who should use this document 

This language access plan is for the election department to use as a guide to developing, revising, reviewing, distributing, and getting feedback on services, information, and education that we provide in language. 

Leaders of community based organizations that support people with low English proficiency should also use this document to know when and how to partner with the election department and how to contribute resources and feedback. 

About this election department  

Our mission is to ensure that every person who is eligible to vote in this jurisdiction gets registered to vote, has enough information about elections to make informed decisions, and participates in every election. 

We conduct local elections and statewide primaries in the spring of odd numbered years and state and federal elections in the spring and fall of even numbered years. 

Why we have a language access plan 

We want to ensure that people who are eligible to vote but who need access to information about voting, elections, and civics in languages other than English get access to a ballot. This includes people with low English proficiency. 

Someone with low English proficiency can’t speak, read, or write well enough in English to be effective in getting a ballot, understanding the choices available, marking it, and casting it. 

Approach 

How you intend to implement your language access plan. 

  • Coordinator
  • Assessing needs 
  • Programs and activities with priorities and steps 
  • Languages and sizes of communities to be served 
  • Points of contact between the election department and the population 

Language resources 

What resources you have available or that need to be contracted to carry out the language access plan. Include resources that may come from community-based organizations. 

  • Staff availability 
  • Community-based resources
  • Contractors 

Language service protocols 

Identify the specific services you’re supporting through language access, and how those will be delivered. 

  • Required services 
  • Interpretation services 
  • How voters will access services 

Translation plan for vital documents and websites 

Set priorities on what must be translated, and how people in need of in-language information will have access to it.  

Process for developing, reviewing, and updating translated information 

Define the steps for creating in-language information, the governance process, and how you will train staff to support language access. 

Monitoring 

Create success and failure criteria and evaluate the approach, process, and materials after every election. 

Handling complaints 

Set up a way for people to file complaints during an election that your department will respond to immediately, in addition to a way for people to give you feedback, ongoing. You can get ahead of many complaints by doing usability testing. 

Contact information 

Publish the email address and phone number for the point person on your staff working on language access. Set up and publish social media accounts where people can also contact the language access coordinator. 

Develop partnerships and connect to communities  

Develop partnerships with ethnic, cultural, and heritage groups where people speak the languages you need to support. Invite them to community reviews. They are usually excited about voter education and information, and they want to help you. However, it can take weeks or months to develop partnerships with community based organizations. Start reaching out far ahead of the time you think you might need their help. 

Community-based organizations know best what is going on with their members. Look for ethnic, cultural, and heritage organizations (rather than organizations that emphasize applying for naturalization). 

They can be a good resource for translators, interpreters, and bilingual poll workers. 

You already have some contacts through your voter registration drives and voter education events. Start there, and look for 

  • Individuals with language skills 
  • People who can connect you with ethnic and cultural organizations
  • People who can introduce you to people with language skills 

Most of these organizations are nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations. You can find organizations near you at the 501c3 Lookup (http://501c3lookup.org/) or GuideStar (https://www.guidestar.org/) 

Reach out to ethnic media. Develop ads in-language. If you do put ads in single-language ethnic media, you’re also setting the expectation that you’ll have other materials and interpretation available in that language. Be ready. If you’re placing ads in bilingual publications, you might be successful doing outreach to second generation immigrant communities just in English. 

Remember that ads can be expensive.  If you have funding, plan to negotiate on prices.  Set aside funding for ads in ethnic media. (Often, they will translate and design your ad at no cost.)  

If you don’t have funding, pitch stories to local editors or reporters. If you partner with ethnic, cultural, and heritage organizations, they may have communications or public relations people who might be willing to help you get the word out to their communities and connect to their ethnic media contacts. 

Include ethnic media in community reviews. Specifically invite them to review your plan, your materials, and your text. They can give you input on messages that will resonate culturally (and what won’t). 

Expand your network and offerings 

Use the internet. Many cities have language access plans that you can learn from and use as templates for your own plans. We learned from Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Greensboro and the state of California. 

Expand your partner network: 

  • The nearest city that is large enough to have its own language access plan can help you learn about their approaches, resources, and connections. You can typically find language access programs in city offices of neighborhood services, immigrant services, or emergency preparedness. They probably also know about community-based organizations that would be interested in helping with outreach to their members. Larger cities commonly have adult literacy programs, as well, often run through community partners.
  • Colleges and universities have language teaching programs and fluent speakers of languages other than English. You may be able to contract with a university to provide translations and interpretation. They may also have clubs or other organizations where you can find partners to help you learn about the needs of their communities.
  • Churches and unions also do outreach. Churches that hold services in multiple languages could be good help for your outreach as well as a source of skilled language speakers and writers. Note that though they might be excited about voter information and education, they  may not have a lot of resources to help you with. Invite them, anyway.
  • Local ESL and ESOL classes and programs. (English as a Second Language or English for Speakers of Other Languages, respectively.) Instructors may be helpful in connecting you to translators, and the classes are full of potential future voters.
  • Court systems in your state often have robust language access programs that you can learn from, too. Here’s a great checklist from Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. 

Develop a “language bank” of helpers 

Others have gone before you, and you can borrow ideas from them. 

In Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, it is estimated that over 170 languages are spoken there, and over half of the population is non-white.  The county developed the Language Bank — a group of volunteers who offer translation and language services within the county government.  

Since Language Bank started in 1997, they’ve built a base of 80 active volunteers that speak 20 languages. Some of the key features:

  • Clear standards and benchmarks, for good translation and interpretation, and management by administrators for the Language Bank program. 
  • Volunteers go through orientation and periodic training events. References are required for new applicants.
  • Strong partnerships with local immigrant-focused nonprofits help provide a steady stream of volunteers.