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Under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals and healthcare providers are legally required to provide language access services to patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). When it comes to widely spoken languages like Spanish or Mandarin, language access is relatively straightforward, but when a patient speaks a rare language like Inuktitut or Nahuatl, a whole slough of operational challenges and compliance risks come up. For rare languages, it can be hard enough to identify the language a patient speaks, let alone where to find an available, qualified interpreter who works in that language. But Section 1557 makes it clear that the onus is on the healthcare provider to offer meaningful access to interpreters and other linguistic aids, no matter how uncommon the language is. At Avantpage, we work with medical interpreters and translators in more than 150 different languages, ensuring that LEP patients can access information about their healthcare regardless of how rare their target language is. In this blog post, we’ll take a close look at strategies that healthcare providers can take to establish strong language access practices for rare languages, mitigating audit risk and guaranteeing compliance with regulations like Section 1557. Table of Content: Understanding Section 1557 & Language Access Requirements The Challenge of Rare Languages in Healthcare Strategies to Mitigate Risk Rare Language Audit & Documentation Best Practices Mitigating Rare Language Risk with Avantpage Frequently Asked Questions Conclusion Section 1557 requires any health program that receives funding from the Department of Health and Human Services—i.e., hospitals that accept Medicare payments, health insurance marketplaces, etc.—to provide meaningful access to individuals with LEP.  This means that these programs must take reasonable steps to ensure that people with LEP can effectively understand and use their services. Such steps include, but are not limited to, things like medical interpreting services during medical appointments and written translations of important paperwork like consent forms and discharge papers.  Failure to provide linguistic assistance services to patients with LEP can result in noncompliance with Section 1557, triggering audits, complaints from patients and their families, and costly civil rights violations. It’s important to note that Section 1557 does not make any exception for rare languages—no matter how hard it is to find a qualified medical interpreter or translator for a given language, health programs covered under Section 1557 must be prepared to provide adequate language access services to all patients with LEP. Fines for noncompliance can be costly—if a patient complains to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the subsequent investigation determines that the practice indeed neglected to provide language access services, fines can go up to $55,000 for the first violation and up to $110,000 for additional violations, according to the Vermont Medical Society. Rare languages are languages that are not widely spoken and as such, have limited resources available. It’s not surprising that language services for rare languages tend to lag behind more common languages—one study found that nearly a third of hospitals in the United States only have online patient portals in English. Of the ones that offer multiple languages, the vast majority only have portals in English, Spanish, and a third language, meaning most portals do not support even moderately uncommon languages. Due to the lower number of speakers, it can be harder to find translators and interpreters who work in these languages. Oftentimes, providing interpretation to speakers of rare languages entails the use of relay interpreting—for example, if a Nahuatl-English interpreter is not available, a Nahuatl-Spanish interpreter and Spanish-English interpreter might work together to “relay” the messages between the patient and doctor. Additionally, rare languages may have less standardization, resulting in high dialectal variation that can also present unique challenges. In such cases, two speakers of what is labeled the same “language” may struggle to fully understand one another—for example, a Mixtec-speaking patient from Oaxaca may use vocabulary and grammatical forms that differ from those of a Mixtec interpreter from Puebla, requiring additional clarification to ensure accurate and culturally appropriate communication. These factors make it much harder to provide thorough language access services to speakers of rare languages. As a result, compliance risks arise: If it’s harder to find interpreters and translators, it can result in delays in care and informed consent or complaints from patients and their families to the OCR. OCR and HHS investigations can lead to costly fines and legal battles, while patient complaints can harm your organization's reputation. Even worse, miscommunication can lead to misdiagnosis or other negative health outcomes. Rare languages present unique challenges and risks for language access in the healthcare industry—but there are steps that you can take to mitigate these risks and provide language access services that are on par with those of more common languages. Here are a few different strategies we recommend to hospitals and health insurance providers to mitigate the compliance risks associated with rare languages:

Rare language identification and inventory: Develop and maintain a detailed language inventory based on patient intake data, encounter history, and community demographics so you know exactly which rare languages your population speaks. This allows you to anticipate demand, identify gaps in interpreter or translator availability, and proactively build resources rather than reacting in crisis mode.
Tiered language access approach: Adopt a risk-based, tiered model in which machine translation (MT) with machine translation post-editing (MTPE) is used for low-risk or informational content, while qualified human translators handle high-risk materials such as consent forms, discharge instructions, and legal notices. This approach aligns the level of linguistic review with the clinical and legal stakes of the communication.
Secure, compliant translation platforms: Use HIPAA-compliant technology platforms that provide encrypted file transfer, role-based access controls, and documented workflows to protect protected health information (PHI). Built-in audit trails and reporting features ensure you can demonstrate compliance during investigations or regulatory reviews.
Vendor partnership and training: Partner with a language services provider like Avantpage that offers end-to-end support, including rare-language staffing, secure technology solutions, workflow design, and documentation protocols. Ongoing training and process consultation help ensure your internal teams understand when to escalate content for higher levels of linguistic review and how to maintain audit-ready records. Clear documentation is key for all language access services, but it’s particularly important for rare languages, as these languages present higher risk of auditing and investigation by the OCR. 
Hospitals and health insurance providers must be able to demonstrate that language assistance was provided consistently, appropriately, and in accordance with established workflows—here are some best practices that we recommend for organizations to be prepared for an audit:
Maintain records of language requests: Keep track of all of the language services requests and projects that your organization has to process—note the languages used, the kind of content being translated or interpreted (i.e., did discharge papers need to be translated into a rare language, or did someone use interpreting services during a medical appointment?) and the scope and workflow involved (i.e., MTPE, human translators, in-person interpreting services, etc.).
Track frequency of rare language communications: By keeping track of all the language requests your organization fulfills, you can take note of the frequency of requests for rare languages and the scope of the typical rare language request.
Document grievances and corrective action: Be sure to keep a record of any grievances you receive, particularly for rare languages. Investigate all grievances thoroughly and take action to correct errors whenever possible—in your records, take note of any corrective action that was taken.
Train staff who manage rare language interactions: Any staff who interact with patients or are involved in contacting language service vendors should be thoroughly trained in managing interactions with LEP patients who speak rare languages. This ensures that they know the standard procedures for identifying the language that the patient speaks and receiving the interpretation services necessary. At Avantpage, we provide medical interpreting and translation services to patients in more than 150 different languages. When you work with us, you can tap into a wide network of native speakers of rare languages who can help you connect with LEP patients in languages from Azerbaijani to Zulu. We help hospitals and health insurance providers achieve compliance with regulations like Section 1557 by implementing highly efficient translation and interpretation workflows—for example, our on-demand interpretation platform, AvantInterpret, allows you to get connected to a medical interpreter in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, MTPE workflows speed up the translation process without sacrificing the overall quality of the final product.  Our goal is to make sure that your patients feel free to express and advocate for themselves in their native language. When your patients can communicate freely with their doctors, that reduces risk and increases your operational efficiency—it’s a win-win for both the patient and your organization. Failing to provide access for rare languages exposes hospitals to:
OCR audits or HHS investigations for Section 1557 violations.
Civil rights complaints and grievances from patients denied meaningful access.
Operational risks like miscommunication, delayed care, or clinical errors.
Financial and reputational risks including penalties and remediation costs. Avantpage partners with hospitals to proactively mitigate these risks through robust MTPE and human translation solutions. Not all rare languages carry the same operational or audit risk. Hospitals should combine patient demographics, historical translation requests, and regional language prevalence to create a rare language risk inventory. Avantpage offers consulting services to help organizations map their patient population, prioritize languages for MTPE workflows, and ensure resources are allocated where audit risk is highest. While critical compliance steps are consistent—like secure platforms, qualified linguists, and audit documentation—Avantpage builds scalable MTPE frameworks that adapt to multiple rare languages without sacrificing quality. This ensures hospitals can manage dozens of low-prevalence languages efficiently while maintaining Section 1557 compliance. Hospitals often underestimate the time, staffing, and risk exposure of on-the-fly translations. Misinterpretation can lead to care delays, grievance complaints, and even legal exposure. Avantpage reduces these hidden costs by implementing ready-to-deploy rare language solutions, combining MT, MTPE, and human translation, all documented for audit readiness.

If you’re not prepared, rare languages can represent real compliance, operational, and patient safety risks. Under Section 1557, hospitals need structured, defensible language access processes that reduce liability while ensuring equitable, high-quality care for every patient.
Avantpage can help you rise above that challenge—our language services empower care teams and patients alike to communicate freely and efficiently no matter the language. Whether you need to interpret a Kurdish-speaking patient’s medical appointment or translate consent forms into Burmese, we have an expert linguist who can help. You can trust Avantpage to help you find a tried and true solution for all your rare language needs—contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040 to learn more today.

We’re excited to share an important milestone: we’ve successfully achieved SOC 2® Type II compliance. This independent attestation represents months of rigorous auditing and validates our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of data security and privacy.  What is SOC 2® Type II Compliance?  SOC 2® (Service Organization Control 2) is a framework developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) that evaluates how organizations manage and protect customer data. While many companies achieve SOC 2® Type I compliance, which examines security controls at a single point in time, Type II compliance goes significantly further.  SOC 2® Type II compliance means that an independent auditor has verified our security controls operate effectively over an extended period, typically six to twelve months. This isn't just a snapshot; it's proof of sustained, consistent security practices.  What Does This Mean For You?  Enterprise Grade Security Protection: your data is protected by security controls that meet the same rigorous standards used by Fortune 500 companies. Our systems, processes, and policies have been independently verified to safeguard your information against unauthorized access, breaches, and other security threats.  Independently Verified Controls: We don't just claim to prioritize security; we've had our controls examined and tested by independent auditors. This third-party validation gives you confidence that our security measures are both comprehensive and effective.  Continuous Monitoring and Improvement: SOC 2® Type II compliance isn't a one-time achievement. It requires ongoing monitoring, regular testing, and continuous improvement of our security practices. This attestation demonstrates that we maintain these high standards, day in and day out.  Privacy and Confidentiality: Beyond security, our compliance covers confidentiality practices, ensuring that your sensitive information is accessed only by authorized personnel and used only for intended purposes.  Business Continuity and Availability: Our audited controls include measures for system availability and business continuity, meaning we have verified processes in place to keep your data accessible and our services running, even in the face of unexpected events.  Reduce Risk for Your Organization: If you're subject to regulatory requirements or need to demonstrate due diligence in vendor selection, our SOC 2® Type II compliance simplifies your vendor risk assessment process. You can have confidence that we meet industry-standard security requirements.  Our Commitment Goes Beyond Compliance  While achieving SOC 2® Type II compliance is a significant milestone, we view it as a foundation, not a finish line. Security and privacy are embedded in our company culture and reflected in everything we do, from how we develop new features to how we train our team members.   We are committed to maintaining transparency about our security practices and continuously raising the bar on data protection. This attestation is one way to demonstrate that commitment in a tangible, verifiable way.  Questions About Our Security Practices?  We're always happy to discuss our security measures. If you have questions about what our compliance means for your specific use case, please don't hesitate to reach out to our team. 

While there’s no one-size-fits-all website localization strategy for reaching a global audience, it’s hard to overestimate the importance of speaking your target audience’s language. Although English is — for better or worse — the internet’s lingua franca, it’s also true that most people throughout the world prefer to buy products and services that are marketed in their native language. If you’re trying to reach people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in your community and improve your organization’s language access, it’s absolutely critical to have a thorough website localization strategy. Website localization plays a pivotal role in making your services accessible to all and ensuring that folks with limited English proficiency are able to meaningfully find and use your services. But all too often, website localization is done all wrong — whether it’s using Google Translate as a shortcut or ignoring important design features, we’ve seen a lot of localization mistakes. In this blog post, we’ll go over some of the most frequent mistakes seen in website localization strategy according to our resident localization expert, Fernanda Aguilera — and why you should avoid them. Table of Contents What Is Website Localization? Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Website Localization Strategy Real-World Proof That Effective Website Localization Drives Better Outcomes Frequently Asked Questions About Website Localization Strategy Mistakes Website Localization: Uniting WWWords with Culture Outside of the language services industry, localization is often conflated with the mere translation of text. While that’s certainly one important aspect of localization, it’s far from the only consideration to make when localizing a website. Localization services aim to ensure that your content adheres to the linguistic and cultural conventions of your target audience. Ultimately, website localization is a holistic approach that aims to bridge language access, cultural competency, and user journey to ensure that users who speak different languages are able to access your content as if it were created specifically for their locale and offers equal access to your organization’s offerings. By adapting your web content to the local language and culture, you create a more meaningful and engaging experience for diverse audiences. Website localization increases user satisfaction and improves access to services, therefore improving equity overall in areas of social determinants of health. But that’s only when it’s done well — poor localization practices like culturally inaccurate references and bad translation have been shown to damage a brand’s reputation. In a survey conducted last year, researchers found that 24% of prospective customers would trust a brand less if their website featured poor localization practices.
If you’re just beginning to localize your website into your threshold languages — or if you want to improve upon past efforts to do so — here are 14 common mistakes seen by our resident localization expert, Fernanda Aguilera you’ll want to avoid in the process. The California Department of Technology needed to rapidly localize its newly overhauled COVID19.CA.gov website during the height of the pandemic—an urgent, high-visibility project serving more than ten million visitors, including Californians with limited English proficiency. Avantpage was brought in to translate the entire site into seven languages and keep pace with daily updates covering public health guidance, state and county policies, financial relief, and essential FAQs. What began as a straightforward text translation request quickly evolved into a complex localization initiative requiring quality repair, technical integration, and a system for near real-time multilingual publishing. Key Results & Highlights: - Full localization of COVID19.CA.gov into 7 languages (Spanish, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese)
- 250,000+ words delivered on accelerated timelines
- Quality repair of machine-translated content for 3 languages + translation memory alignment for 4 others. (Learn about the differences between machine translation and translation memory.)
- Custom-built connector enabling secure, high-volume file transfer between CMS and TMS
- Daily multilingual updates, with tagging conventions to fast-track urgent or priority pages
- Near real-time publication of translated content to match English updates
- High client satisfaction for speed, technical adaptability, and budget stewardship By pairing rigorous linguistic quality with compliant workflows, this effort helped California deliver critical information to residents in their preferred languages—safely, accurately, and on time. The result was a fully accessible, multilingual resource that met the highest government expectations during a rapidly evolving crisis.  Case Study: How Avantpage Completed Website Localization for Covid19.ca.gov in 7 languages with +10 million views Avantpage combines expert human linguists with advanced translation memory tools to ensure accurate, culturally appropriate translations that meet your users’ needs and regulatory requirements. Updating translated content in real time can be challenging, especially for fast-changing information like public health alerts. Avantpage creates streamlined workflows and custom connectors to sync your content management system with their translation management platform, enabling rapid, reliable updates across all languages. Prioritizing languages is key to reaching your audience effectively. Avantpage helps analyze user demographics, community language needs, and legal requirements to determine which languages should be translated first, ensuring you reach the right people at the right time. Improper localization can cause confusion, reduce engagement, and risk noncompliance with accessibility or language access regulations. Avantpage mitigates these risks by delivering high-quality, human-verified translations and implementing processes for consistent, regulatory-compliant updates. Avantpage provides a phased, managed approach to localization. From reviewing and repairing existing translations to setting up automated workflows and prioritizing urgent content, we handle the technical and linguistic complexities so your team can focus on mission-critical work. Website localization incorporates elements of translation, design, and user experience that are critical to keep in mind when reaching diverse audiences. Whether you translate your text into the wrong dialect of a language or simply forgot to update your hyperlinks, the localization mistakes above can have a profound impact on your multilingual audiences’ ability to navigate your website. If you’re starting from scratch or need help correcting some of the above mistakes on a past project Avantpage is happy to jump in and help. Contact us online, email us at [email protected], or call us at (530) 750-2040 for more information about how our localization services can support your healthcare system, government organization, or election process and campaign.

Based on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, everyone is permitted the right to receive Federal financial assistance and not be discriminated against race, color or national origin. Laws have been passed at the Federal, state, and local levels to ensure equal access to services by people with limited English proficiency (LEP). In the case of legal settings, language access is critical and should not be a reason for legal outcomes. Part of the language access that needs to be provided is via document translations. A “vital document” is a document that must be translated to ensure LEP individuals have equitable access to services, benefits, or legal rights. A “vital document” is one that needs to be translated for use to maintain equity for all people. And a document doesn’t mean just a document – it can also be in the form of videos, online content, etc. The US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) defines vital documents as “documents that affect access to, retention in, or termination or exclusion from a recipient’s program services or benefits.” Examples include applications, service benefits, written tests, and many more. In some situations, such as when recipients receive Federal financial assistance from the US HHS, those recipients must take reasonable steps to support the LEP population. Recipients include organizations such as hospitals, managed care, universities, and many others. In some situations, guidance may not be available as to what’s considered a vital document, so it’s up to the individual organization to determine what’s vital and should be translated. The goal is to ensure that language access does not affect someone’s understanding, decision-making, response times, or participation in legal or healthcare processes. And what languages should you translate into? If you’re in a regulated industry, each organization has its own requirements for threshold languages, which are languages that you must translate documents into based on the local communities. If you’re working with a client who doesn’t fall into threshold languages, you’ll still need to provide language access to accommodate the individual. In this blog, we’ll cover how to identify vital documents, provide concrete examples of documents to translate for hospitals and government agencies, and share how you can partner with a language service provider (LSP) to meet your translation needs. Organizations receiving federal funding are required to translate certain documents to ensure individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) can access services equitably. These required documents—often referred to as vital documents—are documents that affect a person’s ability to understand their rights, benefits, services, or obligations. According to the California DOJ, a document is vital “if it contains information that is critical for obtaining services or providing awareness of rights, or is required by law.” For translation purposes, the DOJ has specifically defined the following documents as vital in legal settings: These guidelines should help you determine if something is considered vital. In healthcare environments, documents to translate for LEP patients often include: Translating these documents ensures that patients understand critical information and can make informed decisions about their care. These examples give government administrators a practical framework for identifying documents to translate for LEP populations. It might be clear whether you should consider some documents to be vital, while others might be more challenging. In the case of vital documents for legal purposes, here in California, the Judicial Council of California (JCC) suggests considering three areas: criticality, frequency, and usability. If you’re trying to determine whether a document is vital, ask yourself the following questions based on JCC’s factors: These questions should provide some guidance on whether you should consider a document to be vital. Based on the results of your analysis, you may also want to create a translation priority list to make sure that the most critical documents get translated. Once you’ve decided what’s vital, the next step is to get the document(s) translated. Translating legal content is a specific skill that requires experienced, professional translators, so there’s no doubt that it can become costly. That’s why it’s best to prioritize your translations projects and strategize your approach with your LSP so that they can meet your translation requirements in the most cost-efficient and organized manner possible. We’ve been working with legal content for 20+ years. During this time, we’ve helped our clients reduce their costs over time by using these tools and following best practices. AvantMemory is a workflow to track progress, track files, and assign translators, all in real time. All linguists can access the same translation memory and terminology online in real time and share comments with each other. It also leverages the repetition of words, which means more consistency and reduced costs since you’re not translating the same words and phrases over and over. Using a style guide can increase consistency across your content, thus ensuring high-quality translations. Having a clearly defined translation memory, terminology, and style guide as part of the translation workflow can help your LSP easily understand your translation preferences, which in turn can reduce turnaround time and improve quality. There are about 6,500 languages in the world, and 66% of the world’s population speak one of these 12 native languages. But that doesn’t mean that your target audience speaks these languages. Plus, translating into all of these languages would be costly. So instead, work with your LSP to understand your needed threshold languages and other cost-saving tactics that will help you direct financial resources to where it matters the most. There’s no need for separate business systems. We can integrate our multilingual tools and technologies into your existing IT framework. We match your current processes and needs through our integrated solutions, and we put systems in place that will be more sustainable and autonomous, thereby saving you time and headaches. Emergency translation needs do come up. By acknowledging in advance that these situations do occur, we’ll get you set you up so we’re prepared for your projects. Then when there’s a last-minute need, we’ll take care of your project so there’s no slowing down in getting your rapid-fire translations (rush translation) when you have a tight deadline. Vital documents that affect access to services, rights, benefits, or legal obligations are legally required to be translated. No. Focus on vital documents that impact patient care, rights, or compliance. Yes, digital content such as online forms, portals, and multimedia that provide access to services should also be translated. Prioritize based on criticality, frequency of use, and risk of misunderstanding. Use a threshold-language approach to focus on the most impactful translations first. No. Professional translators or interpreters should handle all vital documents to ensure accuracy, compliance, and equity. It may not always be easy to determine what’s a vital document. The goal is to make sure that language access doesn’t affect someone’s understanding of any part of legal proceedings. We’re here to help strategize and translate your vital documents, as well as advise on your threshold languages. With our tools and best practices, we can help you save time and money in the long run. For more information, contact us at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040.

Imagine this: you’re preparing for a major conference with multilingual participants, a high-stakes legal deposition, or a critical medical consultation. You know that language cannot become a barrier, but when you reach out for interpretation support, you’re faced with two unfamiliar terms: simultaneous interpretation and consecutive interpretation. They sound similar, but they work very differently. Choosing the wrong one can affect audience engagement, timing, confidentiality, and even compliance with regulations. Choosing the right one can make your event seamless, inclusive, and impactful. This article cuts through the jargon and helps you decide. We’ll explore how each method works, its pros and cons, when to use them, and practical tips to make the best decision for your needs. Table of Contents What Is Simultaneous Interpretation? How It Works Real-World Use Cases Pros and Cons What Is Consecutive Interpretation? How It Works Real-World Use Cases Pros and Cons Simultaneous vs. Consecutive Interpretation: Key Differences How to Decide Which Interpretation Method You Need Practical Tips for Success Frequently Asked Questions Why This Matters Now Conclusion Simultaneous interpretation is the process of translating spoken language into another language in real time. The interpreter listens to the source language and delivers the target language almost instantly, typically with a delay of only a few seconds. It’s often described as “real-time interpreting” and requires a high degree of concentration and skill. Unlike casual bilingual conversations, this isn’t about “waiting your turn.” Interpreters must actively listen, process meaning, and reproduce speech while the speaker is still talking. Simultaneous interpreting usually involves: This creates a seamless experience where speakers don’t need to pause, and audiences can follow along in real time. Simultaneous interpretation is most commonly used when time and flow matter, or when the audience is large and multilingual: For example, during a global healthcare summit, a keynote speaker may address thousands of participants in English. Attendees from Latin America, Europe, and Asia each listen to their own language version through headsets, without the flow of the speech being interrupted. This is one of the reasons simultaneous interpreting is essential for high-stakes communication. Consecutive interpretation is a sequential process: the speaker talks, pauses, and then the interpreter delivers the message in the target language. The cycle repeats until the conversation is complete. It’s not real-time, but it is precise and effective for smaller-scale interactions. This method emphasizes accuracy and clarity over speed. Consecutive interpretation shines in more personalized, detail-oriented settings: In fact, healthcare organizations increasingly rely on professional interpreters to improve outcomes for diverse populations. As our blog on Spanish medical interpreters in healthcare highlights, accurate communication is directly tied to patient safety and compliance. Here’s a side-by-side comparison to make the choice clearer: Still unsure? Ask yourself these questions: 1. What is the size of your audience?
- Hundreds of attendees: Simultaneous.
- Small team or one-on-one: Consecutive. 2. What is the purpose of the meeting?
- Live event, broadcast, training: Simultaneous.
- Detailed discussions (healthcare, legal, HR): Consecutive. 3. What are the stakes?
- Engagement and efficiency in business conferences: Simultaneous.
- Compliance and accuracy in medical/legal: Consecutive.


4. What resources are available?
- Budget, equipment, and technical support available: Simultaneous.
- Limited budget or informal setting: Consecutive. Consecutive interpretation is generally more affordable because it requires fewer interpreters and no equipment. Simultaneous interpretation is more expensive, but essential for larger or high-stakes events. Yes. For example, a global company might use simultaneous interpretation during its annual keynote, then use consecutive interpretation for smaller breakout sessions or contract negotiations. We’ll ask about your event type, audience size, languages, goals, technical setup, and budget to guide you toward the right fit. Avantpage works only with high-profile professionals who meet certification standards. All interpreters are bound by strict confidentiality agreements, which is critical in healthcare, government, and legal contexts. Simultaneous interpreters train extensively in multitasking, split-second processing, and working in pairs. Consecutive interpreters focus on memory techniques, note-taking, and precise delivery of meaning. Yes. Consecutive interpretation can nearly double the time required since each message is repeated. Simultaneous interpretation doesn’t add time to the agenda, which makes it a better choice for tight schedules. The global language services industry is expected to reach 65.5 billion U.S. dollars by 2026 - with the U.S. playing a central role (Statista). As business, healthcare, and legal systems become increasingly globalized, professional interpretation is no longer optional; it’s a requirement for accessibility, compliance, and trust. Whether it’s delivering multilingual medical correspondence through platforms like AvantSend or ensuring your next global meeting is understood by every participant, interpretation plays a strategic role in achieving your goals. Both methods play essential roles. The key is knowing which one matches your goals. Whether you’re planning a global conference, hosting a webinar, or ensuring patient and client care, Avantpage can help. Contact us today for professional interpretation services and ensure your message is heard, understood, and trusted.

When your translation project is complete, what becomes of it? The purpose of a document informs not only the deliverable of your translation project but also whether additional language services are appropriate for the project. Many translation projects benefit from undergoing Desktop Publishing (DTP) services in addition to basic language translation. Capturing your audience’s attention is just as important as delivering the right message. Desktop publishing (DTP) allows marketers and small businesses to create professional, visually compelling materials that resonate with their audience, whether in print or digital formats. By leveraging desktop publishing software, design expertise, and strategic page layouts, DTP ensures your content looks polished and communicates effectively. This makes DTP especially useful when translating content to other languages, as it helps maintain consistent format, typography, and visual appeal across all versions of your materials. Table of Contents What Is Desktop Publishing (DTP)? Why Is DTP Important to Pair with Translation Services? How Desktop Publishing Helps You Reach Your Target Audience Examples of Desktop Publishing Deliverables Benefits of DTP for Marketers Frequently Asked Questions About DTP Choose Avantpage for DTP Desktop publishing refers to the creation of documents with professional page layouts using software programs designed for graphic design and typography. DTP software applications often feature drag-and-drop functions, style sheets, and master pages, enabling you to format digital pages, set headers, adjust kerning between typefaces, and design materials in a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) environment. Modern DTP tools also integrate clip art, stock imagery, and predesigned templates to help beginners and experienced marketers alike create visually eye-catching documents quickly. The process of translating your documents can create significant changes to the original design. For example, the Spanish language takes up considerably more space than English, making Spanish documents span more pages than their English counterparts. In other examples, graphics included in the original document design can be repositioned or resized due to where they fall in the translated text. Desktop publishing keeps design consistent, no matter what language your target audience speaks. Creating professional materials is only half the battle. To truly reach your audience, content must be strategically designed. DTP helps marketers: DTP services can support nearly every aspect of marketing for small businesses, from print to digital content. Common examples include: Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned marketer, DTP software streamlines your workflow, allowing for consistent format, typesetting, and professional-quality designs across all materials. Implementing desktop publishing in your marketing strategy provides several advantages: By leveraging desktop publishing software, marketers can combine graphic design, typography, and layout into one streamlined workflow, creating visually compelling content that resonates with their audience. Avantpage’s desktop publishing (DTP) services help marketers and small businesses produce a wide range of professional materials, including brochures, flyers, business cards, newsletters, social media graphics, product catalogs, presentations, and digital pages for web campaigns. Using desktop publishing software, templates, and drag-and-drop functions, Avantpage ensures your materials are polished, brand-consistent, and ready for print or digital distribution. No design experience is necessary. Avantpage’s team of experts handles graphic design, typography, typesetting, and layout, using software programs like Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, and QuarkXPress. They ensure your marketing materials, from headers and fonts to full page layouts, are visually eye-catching and professional. Even beginners can rely on Avantpage to deliver high-quality, on-brand documents efficiently. Avantpage streamlines your marketing workflow by combining DTP functions, master pages, style sheets, and prepress preparation into one seamless process. Their team ensures that all your marketing assets—from business cards to full digital page campaigns—are formatted correctly and consistent across print and web formats. By handling layout, typesetting, and design, Avantpage saves small businesses time and reduces errors, allowing you to focus on strategy and engagement. For marketers and small businesses, desktop publishing is more than just a design tool—it’s a way to streamline your content creation process, maintain brand consistency, and produce eye-catching materials efficiently. By understanding DTP functions, typography, typesetting, and layout best practices, you can turn simple marketing ideas into professional-quality documents, from business cards to comprehensive digital campaigns. With the right desktop publishing software and workflow, even beginner marketers can produce polished materials that rival commercial printing results, all from a personal computer. Let our team help you get started on your next desktop publishing project. Give us a call at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today.

Recognition reflects Avantpage’s commitment to innovation, industry leadership, and building communication bridges that bring people closer together  DAVIS, CALIFORNIA — August 14th, 2025 — Avantpage, a trusted leader in language access services, has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Fastest-Growing Companies in the Sacramento area by the Sacramento Business Journal. The honor will be celebrated at a special ceremony on August 14, 2025, bringing together the region’s most dynamic and forward-thinking companies.  This achievement is more than a measure of growth; it is a reflection of Avantpage’s unwavering commitment to transforming the language services industry. In a world that changes quickly, Avantpage has not only kept pace with trends and technology but has actively redefined how language access is delivered. By combining advanced tools, human expertise, and a deep respect for the communities it serves, the company has built  solutions that go far beyond simple translation.  For Avantpage, growth comes from listening to its clients, understanding complex challenges, and creating new ways to meet them. This approach has led to new services, stronger partnerships, and a team that is empowered to solve problems for some of the largest and most demanding organizations in government, healthcare, and life sciences.  “This recognition means so much to us because it shows that doing the right thing and aiming high can go hand in hand,” said Luis Miguel, CEO of Avantpage. “We work every day to make communication easier, fairer, and more human for everyone, and we are proud to be leading the way forward.”  Over the past year, Avantpage has made significant investments in innovation, from adopting cutting-edge translation and localization technology, created a brand new Innovation department, to developing more efficient workflows that keep quality and accuracy at the highest level. These advances are paired with a strong human touch, ensuring that every project supports understanding, empathy, and inclusion.  The Sacramento Business Journal’s Fastest-Growing Companies list honors local businesses that have achieved exceptional revenue growth while showing resilience and vision. Avantpage’s inclusion on this list reinforces its reputation as both an industry innovator and a mission-driven organization.  About Avantpage 
Avantpage is a language access solutions provider dedicated to helping organizations communicate with diverse communities. Serving government, healthcare, and life science organizations, Avantpage delivers translation, interpretation, and localization services in over 150 languages. Guided by the belief that understanding is everything, Avantpage builds bridges of communication that create equity, connection, and opportunity for all. 

When you’re looking for a language service provider to translate content for your business, you want your translators to be familiar with the ins and outs of your industry. If you work in healthcare or life sciences, that means finding a language service provider that specializes in medical translations.
 
Medical translation encompasses a wide range of content relating to healthcare, such as training materials for medical devices, health insurance claims, clinical trials, and patient care instructions, just to name a few. Due to the sensitive nature of medical documents, most countries have strict regulations on the way these documents are handled during the translation process, so it’s critical that you work with specialized language service providers who are compliant with said regulations.
 
Medical translations tend to follow a more rigorous process than general translations — i.e., less specialized, non-sensitive texts like administrative documents, letters, and webpage content. Because medical documents often need to be delivered within a short timeframe, translators have to work with extremely short turnaround times, sometimes in as little as 4 hours. At the same time, medical translations cannot skimp on quality — these texts are often quite high-stakes and a decline in a translation’s quality can lead to a decline in the patient’s care.
 
Additionally, regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandate a degree of privacy for patients, requiring language service providers to take special security measures, like masking patient health information (PHI) and storing all data on US-based servers.
 
In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the key ways in which the medical translation process differs from general translations. We’ll also explain how these differences ensure timely and high-quality care for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). There are three main ways in which translating medical documents differs from general translation: These aren’t just a matter of access — timely, high-quality medical translations enable improved care of LEP patients. By adopting a more rigorous translation process for these documents, we can create a more equitable and inclusive healthcare system for patients with LEP. Let’s take a closer look at each of these aspects: A delay in care can have a negative impact on a patient’s health outcome — as such, the translation process must take place as quickly as possible. At Avantpage, for example, we often work with health plan providers to translate and mail member letters to patients within seven to eight hours. This fast process allows us to help our clients meet strict regulations that such letters be delivered to the patient within a 72-hour timeframe. Such timeliness is critical because it minimizes any delays in patient care. In turn, this means patients experience improved health outcomes, and also protects healthcare providers from legal troubles. For example, a 2013 report from the National Health Law Program describes a medical malpractice suit in which a seven-year-old boy was misdiagnosed with strep due to his LEP father not receiving language access services in a timely fashion. By the time he was correctly diagnosed with Kawasaki’s disease, the child had experienced damage to his organs; when the case was settled, the provider had to pay more than $100,000 in damages and legal fees. In this case, timely translation services would have saved the boy’s organs and would have cost significantly less than the legal fees associated with the malpractice suit. Although translators typically work on an expedited timeline for medical translations, they can’t sacrifice quality. Due to the vital nature of their content, medical translations have very little room for error — it’s absolutely crucial that they be of the highest quality possible, as even minor errors can have a significant negative impact on the quality of patient care. Medical translations must be culturally and linguistically appropriate so as to ensure that patients can easily comprehend all medical communications — as if they were originally developed in their preferred language. Medical texts often feature complex, highly specific terminology, requiring translators who specialize in and are familiar with such terminology. Errors in medical translation can have a life-or-death effect, potentially worsening a patient’s condition, so it’s important to work with translators who have a proven track record in the medical translation field. The medical translation process also involves a series of in-depth quality assurance (QA) measures, to make sure that the final product meets industry standards. Proofreaders ensure that there are no typographical errors, while QA specialists run various tests to make sure that terminology is translated accurately and clearly. The QA process is particularly rigorous for medical translations, though it’s not uncommon for general translations to undergo a similar QA process. There are various regulations in place that language service providers must comply with when producing medical translations. The most notable is HIPAA, which requires healthcare providers to protect the privacy of their patients. When contracting medical translation services, you should make sure that your provider is equipped to fully comply with these regulations. One way language service providers might do this is by masking any patient health information (PHI) before it gets to the translators. Individual translators should not be able to access any data that could compromise the patient’s privacy, meaning details like name, social security number, address, etc. should all be removed before translation. Once the final translation is complete, these details can be added back in at the very last step. Technology like Avantpage’s AvantShield enables seamless PHI masking and ensures HIPAA-compliant medical translations. Another consideration to keep in mind is your language service provider’s geographic location. In some cases, patient data must be stored on US grounds. Additionally, there may be situations that require projects to be handled only by US-based linguists and project managers. Because of all the special considerations that need to be made during the medical translation process, it’s important that healthcare providers work with language service providers who are deeply familiar with medical translation. To recap, here’s how medical translations differ from the standard translation process: At Avantpage, we work closely with healthcare providers to ensure that medical translations meet their requirements for timeliness, quality and compliance. If you’re looking for a language service provider that can help you provide LEP patients with culturally and linguistically appropriate services, contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040.

When you’re looking for a language service provider to translate your content into a language you’re not familiar with, it can be hard to gauge translation vendor quality.  After all, if you’re not a trained linguist who’s literate in the target language, you won’t be able to analyze the final product for linguistic or style errors. And you’ll probably have an even harder time comparing the final translation of one vendor with that of another vendor. Clients seek out language service providers to do what they can’t: translate content from the language they speak into a language they don’t speak. But even if you can’t speak the target language, there are still ways to check the quality of your final product—you don’t have to blindly assume that one vendor is the best one for your project simply because they’re more familiar with the target language than you are. Though it may be difficult—especially if you’re new to purchasing language services—you can indeed evaluate translation vendor quality using means other than language knowledge. Here, we’ve identified seven ways that clients can evaluate the quality of translations you’ve commissioned from a language service provider. If you’ve identified a handful of different translation vendors that you could potentially work with, one way to sort out high quality vendors is to ask about the steps of their translation process. Each provider has their own way of doing things. Typically, they’ll start with a basic translation—either conducted by a human translator, a machine translation tool or both. Many providers will follow this with an editing step, and even a proofreading step (this process is typically referred to as TEP, short for “translation, editing, and proofreading”). To make sure that you’re avoiding any misspellings and stylistic or cultural errors, these last two steps are especially important ways to assure a high-quality translation. Be sure to ask what steps are included in the agency’s standard pricing and what are add-ons. There may be additional steps offered at a slightly higher price point, so keep these things in mind as you compare vendors. Did you know: At Avantpage, we use the traditional TEP process, but have added two additional quality check steps at no added cost. Like many other industries, the language services industry has several certifying bodies that evaluate a company’s overall quality. When researching language service providers, check if they advertise their certifications on their website. The American Translators’ Association is well-recognized for their certifications of individual translators and linguists, while the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has several certifications relevant to the language industry, such as ISO 17100 Translation Services and ISO 9001 Quality Systems Management. Did you know: Avantpage is certified in both the ISO 17100 Translation Services and ISO 9001 Quality Systems Management.  You’ll also want to ask your vendor about their internal quality assurance processes. By doing so, you’ll be able to ensure they have some set of systems in place to maintain translation quality. To start this conversation, you can ask the provider if they have an internally dedicated QA team. If they do, ask them how big the team is and what each person does.  A well-structured QA department indicates that the vendor has a robust system of checks and balances, reducing the likelihood of errors in your translations. Additionally, vendors with internal QA teams, especially those with in-house language experts, may offer cost savings compared to those relying on external freelancers. This level of detail reflects the vendor’s commitment to consistent, high-quality work. Did you know: Avantpage has a dedicated QA department, with on-staff linguistic reviewers to manage quality control and pass savings on to you. Reviews from other clients can provide valuable insights into a vendor’s quality and reliability. Look for feedback on key factors like translation accuracy, adherence to deadlines, communication, and overall satisfaction. Pay extra close attention to reviews or quotes from clients in similar industries to yours, especially if they have similar project types, as their experiences will be more relevant to your needs. If possible, reach out to past clients directly for more detailed feedback. Consistent positive reviews and high client retention rates are strong indicators that a vendor delivers dependable, high-quality work across projects. Did you know: Avantpage shares regular client quotes on our LinkedIn page and on our client website page to help you see what our clients say about us. Language service providers that work in highly regulated industries such as government, life sciences, and healthcare, often have to complete audits for their clients. In doing this work, language service providers are able to document the quality of their work for clients that must comply with the strict regulations of their industry. By asking about their history of audit compliance, you can get a better feel for the provider’s commitment to quality—strong compliance with audits may be indicative of a higher-than-average level of quality. Did you know: Avantpage works annually with many clients to conduct compliance audits so they can adequately meet and report to overseeing organizations. Look into how long your potential providers have been working in the language service industry. The longer a company’s been around, the more likely they are to have established themselves as a high-quality provider. Additionally, look at the different lineup of clients they’ve worked with—if they’ve worked with high-profile clients in your industry (and maintained a long working relationship with them), they’re likely to be a good fit for your needs. Many agencies will provide case studies on their website or on request—these can provide you with valuable information about their clients and their professional relationships. If one case study strikes you as particularly interesting, you can also ask the vendor for more information about it to learn a bit more. You may also like: our Avantpage Case Studies page showcases the work our partners do to meet language access. Lastly, you’ll want to ask what additional checks and balances the vendor uses to maintain their translation quality. Ask them if they conduct regular quality tests on translations, as well as design and formatting if they’re relevant to your project. If they do, be sure to ask how often they conduct these checks, as well as how thorough these tests are. These tests can come in many different forms: internal assessments, surveys of project-level satisfaction, annual customer surveys, and more. Language service providers with structured processes for internal quality review and testing are more likely to demonstrate a commitment to accountability and continuous improvement. When you work with a vendor that employs a thorough set of checks and balances, you can rest easy knowing that quality is a top priority for them, as these measures help ensure that translations meet a consistent standard of quality, regardless of the project size or complexity. Did you know: Avantpage conducts regular surveys to get feedback from clients, and we have rigorous quality testing thresholds to hold ourselves accountable.  When you’re looking for language service providers to help you out with your next translation project, be sure to ask questions and do your research to make sure you’re getting the best quality possible. Though it can be a daunting task to evaluate a provider’s quality—especially if you’re not familiar with the target language—there are several steps a layperson can follow to assess a translation agency’s quality.  Here are seven that we’ve identified to help you out on your search: If you’re looking for a high-quality language service provider to help you out with your next translation project, Avantpage has you covered. We’ve got more than two decades of experience providing translations to clients across a wide range of regulated industries—contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040 to learn more.

When you’re looking for information or services from the federal government, it’s likely that you’ll try to access them online. After all, the government notes that federally run websites attract two billion hits monthly and that digital experiences are “now the default way the public wants to interact with the government.” Not only is it more convenient to access these services online—it also makes things far more accessible to individuals from diverse backgrounds, such as those with limited English proficiency (LEP) or disabilities. Historically though, internet users haven’t been all too impressed with the experience that U.S. government websites provide—from awkward design to outdated information, government websites have often left a lot to be desired for users seeking out federal services. The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experiences Act (IDEA), signed into law in 2018, aims to solve that problem. The 21st Century IDEA outlines several requirements for websites run by federal government agencies, including: In September 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued “M-23-22, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience,” a memo that outlines further guidelines to help agencies meet the requirements of the 21st Century IDEA. The memo requires agencies to complete a series of reporting actions Now that we are nearly a year out from the memo’s publication, most federal agencies should have had plenty of time to implement these guidelines in their websites. However, we know that these kinds of things can be easier said than done, and your agency may find itself struggling to meet all of the requirements of the 21st Century IDEA and M-23-22. In this blog post, we’ve put together some key pointers to help you bring your agency’s website into the 21st Century and meet all of the requirements of the act, with a particular emphasis on the role of language and accessibility.
Below, we’ll break things down by eight of the requirements outlined in M-23-22, and how you can utilize language services and alternative formats to make sure people from all backgrounds can access your website and make use of the services available through your agency’s digital presence. The first requirement outlined in M-23-22 is that federal agencies’ websites must be “accessible to people of diverse abilities.” This means that agencies must make sure that their websites fully conform to the standards outlined in the most recent version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The WCAG sets several standards to make sure that websites are accessible to people with various disabilities, including, but not limited to blindness and hearing difficulties. It’s a good idea to seek out services such as document remediation and alternative formatting to make sure that your website is screen-reader friendly and easy for people from all backgrounds to access. Federal websites also need to have a cohesive design across all platforms. As described in the memo, “this includes consistent and standardized use of everything that comprises the look and feel of an agency’s product or service (such as a logo or seal, color palette, typeface, imagery, voice and tone, or product or service name).” This helps build trust with users and ensures that users are able to easily identify the website as being associated with your agency. When localizing your website for different languages and cultures, it’s important to ensure that the design standards you’ve set for your agency’s English site also come through in a way that’s culturally appropriate. Working with a language service provider that specializes in multicultural and multilingual design is crucial to make sure the localized versions of your website meet this requirement. 14 Common Website Localization Mistakes Federal agencies should prioritize clarity and simplicity in their content, ensuring that the information is accessible to everyone, regardless of their language or literacy level. This involves using plain language to convey complex information, which can then be easily translated into multiple languages. Additionally, content should be structured to allow for straightforward navigation, so users can find what they need quickly. By ensuring that all content is easily translatable will help reach diverse audiences, you can make federal digital services more inclusive and effective for everyone. Our plain language guidelines can help you begin to assess your content’s understandability. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to follow best practices for search engine optimization (SEO) in all your web content. This helps your site rank better on search engines like Google or Yahoo, allowing users of these tools to easily find your website. The same goes when localizing your website into another language to target people with LEP—you’ll want to work with a language service provider that conducts multilingual keyword research and follows SEO best practices so that your website comes up when people are searching for your services in different languages. It’s absolutely critical that federal agencies integrate robust security measures into every aspect of their digital platforms from the outset. This means you must ensure that all user data, including multilingual information, is protected through encryption and secure access protocols.   By prioritizing security in the design phase, agencies can safeguard against data breaches and unauthorized access, creating a trustworthy digital environment. Moreover, maintaining security standards across all language versions of the website ensures that all users, regardless of language, experience the same level of protection and reliability. Federal agencies’ websites should be designed in a way that makes it easy for users to identify and access their services. To do this, it’s a good idea to seek out and incorporate user feedback to make sure that you’re meeting their needs. This also goes for localized versions of your website—services that are easy to access in the English-language version of your agency’s site should also be easy to find for users who access your site in other languages. As you digitize your agency’s services, be sure to give users the ability to control their experience to a certain extent. This includes providing options to customize features like layout and content display through customizable text size, view configuration (i.e., allow users to view lists, tiles, etc.), and more. This customization enhances user satisfaction by enabling individuals to tailor their interactions to their specific needs, reducing the burden of completing tasks. Language preference is also an important aspect of customization—users should be able to easily identify and select their preferred language so that individuals with LEP have equal access to your services and don’t have to try obtaining them in a language that can’t easily understand. While you may be accustomed to viewing your agency’s website on a desktop computer or a laptop, most people will inevitably end up accessing your website through their mobile phone. As such, agencies should be careful to make sure that their website and any of its localized variants are easily accessible on a mobile device, as it can be confusing for users to navigate a website that has not been optimized for mobile use. It’s important that your multilingual content is available on multiple different platforms so that people from different linguistic backgrounds can make use of your services just as easily as native English speakers. As federal agencies continue to implement the requirements of the 21st Century IDEA, there are many considerations to make about language and the accessibility of your content. Not only do these requirements help bring your agency into the modern, digital era—they also enable people to access your services and programs with ease. If you’re still looking for ways to meet these requirements, Avantpage is here to help. We offer website localization services that can help your agency modernize its web presence for people from all sorts of linguistic backgrounds. Contact us today at (530) 750-2040 or [email protected] to learn more about our services.

An inclusive community is one that welcomes and embraces people from all sorts of diverse backgrounds—race, religion, age, and even language. Here in the United States, individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) often face significant struggles to access even the most fundamental services such as government aid and medical services. This has unfortunately led many immigrants and other individuals with LEP to feel frustrated and excluded. But how can we create more inclusive communities?   At Avantpage, we’re dedicated to bridging these gaps and fostering environments in which everyone feels welcome and understood. With nearly three decades of experience providing language services to organizations looking to improve inclusivity in their community, we’ve identified eight simple steps that organizations can take to help LEP individuals feel welcome and comfortable seeking out their services. Inclusive communities prioritize language access plans, detailing local languages for translating vital documents. If all of your documents are written in English, individuals with LEP are bound to have trouble deciphering their meaning. Whether you’re having them fill out routine paperwork, sending out informational brochures, or mailing out health letters, it’s important to take their linguistic background into consideration when providing them with important documents, so that they’re able to easily understand your message. Working with a translation agency to develop accurate and culturally appropriate translations of your most important documents ensures that individuals with LEP are able to access your content and fully understand your message and services. By making your written documents accessible to speakers of languages other than English, you not only enable LEP individuals to access your services and programs—you also create an environment in which they feel more welcome and included. [You may also be interested in: How to identify vital documents for translation] Written document translation is important, but it’s also important that LEP individuals are able to understand conversations with you in order to facilitate an inclusive community. Interpreters enable seamless communication between two or more parties that speak different languages. We recommend working closely with a language service provider that offers remote and in-person interpreting services so that you can contract an interpreter to provide linguistic support during meetings, focus groups, phone calls, and other instances where individuals from different linguistic backgrounds will have to communicate.  Being able to embrace and support individuals from diverse backgrounds is a critical component of creating inclusive communities for individuals with LEP. Cultural competency training is a good way to ensure that members of your organization are able to communicate and interact effectively with individuals from different backgrounds. By requiring your staff to attend regular cultural competence training, you ensure that they are able to work effectively with individuals from multiple different backgrounds and provide them with services in a respectful manner. Creating more inclusive communities requires thoughtful marketing strategies. When you’re marketing your services to English speakers, you probably wouldn’t put out a commercial on TV and call it a day. Instead, you’d create Google Ads, social media campaigns, press releases, and more as part of a larger multimedia marketing campaign. Promoting your services and programs to LEP communities shouldn’t be any different. You should utilize as many different communication channels as possible to ensure that you’re communicating your message as effectively as possible. Different communities may use different platforms—for example, WhatsApp tends to be more common among LEP individuals than it is with their English-speaking counterparts in the US—so be sure to do in-depth research into what channels work most effectively with your local LEP communities. CBOs—as defined by the Carleton University’s Community First initiative are “non-profit, non-governmental, or charitable organizations that represent community needs and work to help them. CBOs may be associated with a particular area of concern or segment of the community.” Partnering with CBOs can be a particularly good idea for those looking to improve their relationship with LEP individuals and help them be more included. CBOs that focus on the needs and interests of immigrants and other linguistically diverse communities can help you learn about and better understand the needs of the communities you’re looking to serve. Another way to better understand the needs of LEP communities is to form focus groups and conduct multilingual surveys. This will allow you to get feedback directly from the people you’re trying to serve. CBOs can help you do this work, but you can also do it with the support of trained interpreters and translators who can make your discussions and surveys accessible to speakers of several different languages. This will give you a better sense of how LEP community members perceive your services and programs and how you can make them better and more inclusive.  Consider employing or partnering with a community liaison to help grow a more inclusive community. This individual can play a crucial role in bridging the gap between your organization and LEP communities, by ensuring that there is a direct and trusted line of communication between your organization and the community members you are trying to reach. Community liaisons can assist in various activities, from helping to spread important information to gathering feedback and concerns from LEP individuals. They can also provide insights into cultural nuances and preferences, making your outreach efforts more effective and respectful. By utilizing community liaisons, you create a more personal and relatable connection with LEP populations, fostering a sense of trust and inclusion. Creating inclusive communities is ongoing work—it doesn’t just end once you’ve translated all your important documents and put your employees through cultural competency training. It’s important to create an ongoing relationship with the LEP communities in your area, so that you can continue to cater your services to their needs and build trust with them. CBOs and community liaisons are excellent resources to help you maintain open communication with LEP individuals in your area.
Having LEP can make it difficult for people to access services and programs that English speakers take for granted every day. That’s why it’s important for government organizations, healthcare providers, and other agencies that provide critical services to create more inclusive, accessible spaces for LEP individuals. Here are just eight things your organization can do today to create more inclusive communities: At Avantpage, we’re proud to use our language and consulting services to build more inclusive communities. If you’re interested in learning how your organization can contribute to more inclusive and equitable spaces for individuals with LEP, contact us today at (530) 750-2040 or [email protected] to learn more about how we can help you.

These days, access to technology and understanding how to use it aren’t luxuries — they’re necessities. Since its inception, the internet has become a central part of our daily lives, providing access to critical information, services and opportunities. This has made digital inclusion an important consideration for the many organizations that conduct business online. For many people — especially those with limited English proficiency (LEP) and those with disabilities — the services and information we take for granted on the World Wide Web are simply inaccessible. If you’re a native English speaker, you probably won’t have much trouble searching Google for information on how to access critical government services in your city. But the experience of a Bengali immigrant with limited English proficiency is likely to be very different. By emphasizing digital inclusion through language access and accessibility services, we can ensure that these individuals are able to fully participate in our increasingly digital society. Digital inclusion isn’t just about access to the internet and devices; it’s about ensuring that digital content is understandable and usable by all. An essential part of this is digital literacy, which empowers individuals to use technology effectively and confidently. By focusing on digital inclusion, we can help bridge the gaps that leave many at a disadvantage. In this blog, we’ll provide an overview of how your organization can prioritize inclusivity in its digital presence, allowing individuals with LEP and people with disabilities to easily access your services and information online. While there are many ways to support an inclusive and equitable online ecosystem, these three strategies can be especially impactful for individuals with LEP or disabilities that affect their hearing or vision:
One of the most basic, fundamental aspects of digital inclusion is ensuring that language barriers don’t prevent individuals from accessing digital services and content. A truly inclusive digital environment allows individuals to access the services and information they need, regardless of their linguistic background. Digital language support can take many different forms, from translating your website into multiple high-demand languages to offering remote interpreting services for online calls with your support staff. Language access measures like these make information about your services (and even your services themselves) easy to understand and digest for individuals with LEP. Translating your customer portals and other user interfaces not only improves user experience, but also promotes greater participation in your programs and services. To determine which languages you should translate your digital presence into, we recommend doing research into the linguistic background of your key audience. Look into the languages other than English that are spoken most commonly in your community and among the people who use your services most. This can help you determine where there is the most demand and act accordingly.
While many of us take our smartphones and laptops as a given, such tools aren’t so accessible to everyone in our society. The technology we use daily can be extremely costly and inaccessible to underserved populations like those with LEP. Additionally, access to technology tends to be lacking in rural areas, and individuals with LEP or disabilities living in the countryside may have even more trouble accessing technology. Programs that provide low-cost computers, tablets, and smartphones can significantly improve digital inclusivity. Additionally, offering discounts on broadband internet services makes it more affordable for low-income households to stay connected. Community tech hubs are one innovative solution, providing free or low-cost access to computers, internet, and digital literacy training, making it easier for individuals in underserved communities to develop their digital skills and participate fully in the digital world. 
Fostering a sense of digital literacy among historically marginalized groups is essential, as it allows them to navigate the digital landscape effectively and critically. For LEP individuals, tailored digital literacy workshops and educational initiatives can make a significant difference. These programs offer training and resources that cater specifically to the needs of individuals with LEP, helping them become more proficient in using digital tools and accessing online information. Programs like the National Housing Service (NHS) of Queens’ digital literacy programs are prime examples of initiatives that work towards closing the digital divide. By providing workshops and training sessions that are targeted to communities with LEP, the NHS of Queens empowers immigrants and others with LEP to enhance their digital skills, thereby improving their access to educational, economic, and social opportunities.
By keeping digital inclusion in mind in your organization’s online presence, you can more effectively enable people with LEP or disabilities to access your services and programming online. Here are three key ways to promote a sense of digital inclusion in your organization: These are just a few ways to contribute to inclusivity in your web presence. If you’re looking to improve your site’s accessibility through language support such as translation, interpreting, or WCAG, Avantpage can help. Contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040.