A Tale of Two States Adventures in Translation

A Tale of Two States Adventures in Translation

Project Launch • Maryland: 2012 • Colorado: 2016

Identification of Needs Maryland § Identified five most frequently requested languages Spanish Russian French Chinese Korean § Identified critical District and Circuit court forms to be translated first: domestic violence, criminal, small claims, etc. § Approximately 30 forms were to be translated into all five languages. More forms were to be translated into Spanish.

Identification of Needs Colorado § Spanish: Approximately 1200 forms and 35 signs have been translated for statewide use. § Identified seven most frequently requested languages Spanish Korean Vietnamese Russian Chinese Somali Arabic § LOTS: Identified critical court forms to be translated first: general program documents protection orders divorce & family matters criminal evictions & foreclosures money cases

Vendor or In-House? Maryland § Released an RFP in 2012; 10 bidders § Bidders were asked to submit translation samples of court forms § Pricing was not an object § The bidder who submitted the best quality translation was selected

Vendor or In-House? Colorado § OLA has 2 staff Spanish translators who complete all Spanish translations § Individual LOTS certified translators were contacted. § Rates and timelines were established. § Cost was estimated based on word count and rate agreements. § Future translation projects may be put out for bid.

Statement of Work Maryland § Turnaround times; acceptance of deliverables § Formatting requirements (interlineated; PDF fillable) § Quality assurance requirements (ATA certified; proofreading by a second translator) § Languages outside of the Core languages § Content management (Trados; CM database)

Statement of Work Colorado § 1 st Phase: 12 forms were translated into 7 languages § 2 nd Phase: 7 forms will be translated into 7 languages § Turnaround times; acceptance of deliverables § Formatting requirements (interlineated; PDF fillable) § Quality assurance requirements (ATA certified; proofreading by a second translator) § Languages outside of the Core languages

Challenges Maryland § Ongoing revisions of court forms and brochures § Desktop publishing (Omni. Form 5. 0 and In-Design; some languages are not recognized in Omniform) § Emergency requests interfered with the normal turnaround times § Court Signs

Challenges Colorado § Ongoing revisions of court forms and brochures § Online posting of translated documents – the name of the language in non-latin alphabet is not supported by the website software § Court Signs § Funding for ongoing work § Statewide forms in plain English that can be translated for extensive use

Translation Policy Maryland http: //mdcourts. gov/interpreter/translationservices. html § Court forms and other official court documents § Parties are responsible for the translation of case-specific documents in advance § ATA translators recommended § Translator’s disclaimer

Translation Policy Colorado. OLA. org > Need and Interpreter? > Do you need an Interpreter or a Translator? § Court forms and other official court documents § Parties are responsible for the translation of case-specific documents in advance § ATA translators recommended § Translator’s disclaimer

LEP Community Outreach Maryland www. courts. state. md. us Colorado www. courts. state. co. us

Future Projects & Goals Maryland § Any court form created by the Judiciary for public use will be translated into core languages § Brochures, posters, video scripts, PPT presentations (parenting classes/problem-solving courts/ADR § Court-specific signs and posters § Hiring an in-house translation manager § New RFP 2017

Future Projects & Goals Colorado § Standard court forms used statewide and created by the Judiciary for public use will be translated into core languages § Brochures, posters, video scripts, PPT presentations (parenting classes/problem-solving courts/ADR § Court-specific signs and posters § Phase 2 translation - RFP for future work

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