COMMUNICATING WITH A MULTILINGUAL PUBLIC: SNAPSHOT OF FEDERAL AGENCY WEBSITES AND HOTLINES Phillip Rowland-Seymour The Annie E. Casey Foundation September.

COMMUNICATING WITH A MULTILINGUAL PUBLIC: SNAPSHOT OF FEDERAL AGENCY WEBSITES AND HOTLINES

Phillip Rowland-SeymourThe Annie E. Casey FoundationSeptember 2011

Why?

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

Background

AG February 17, 2011 Memo: Renewed commitment to Language Access obligations under Executive Order 13166.

8 action itemsLanguage Access Working GroupEvaluate/update current response to LEP needsEstablish schedule to periodically evaluate update LEP needsEnsure that staff can identify LEP points of contact and provide

meaningful assistance at those pointsNotify 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 criteriaCollaborate with other agencies on shared translated written

resourcesDraft recipient guidance for agencies that provide federal financial

assistance

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.”

Websites

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

Languages

SpanishChineseVietnameseFrench/Haitian CreoleHindi (and related)Korean

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.

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.

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

Hotline findings

50% automated lines had another language as an option

4 live hotlines were accessible in Spanish

Top 10 Best Practices for Multilingual Websites

http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/multilingual/best-practices.shtml

Language

Online communications must address the language preferences

of users.

The use of machine or automatic translations is strongly discouraged.

Culture

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

the audience.

Access

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

URL Strategy

Use a stand-alone, dedicated URL.

Comparability and Maintenance

Comparable user experience to your English site.

Manage Users' expectations…

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

Toggle

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

Online Features and Functionality

Provide interactive features and functionality on multilingual websites.

Integrated Operations and Marketing

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

Online Marketing

Develop and execute a targeted multilingual online marketing program.

Conclusions

There is still work to be done.

There are many resources available.