Language Service

The Vendor is required to provide professional language assistance services that promote equitable access to government programs, services, and civic engagement.
- Services include interpretation, translation, and related support on an on-call basis, with a strong emphasis on cultural responsiveness, quality assurance, and inclusive communication.  
- Professional language assistance services that promote equitable access to government programs, services, and civic engagement.
- The County’s growing multilingual and multicultural communities require consistent, high-quality, culturally responsive interpretation and translation services to effectively navigate public programs and participate in civic life.
- The County seeks providers capable of offering flexible, tiered pricing models that reflect document complexity, the balance of machine translation and AI-assisted tools with human translation and review, and turnaround time requirements.
- While machine translation and artificial intelligence (AI) tools may supplement translation workflows, the County recognizes that quality varies based on language, subject matter, and the level of human review.
- Language access services:
•    Spoken language interpretation services 
•    Sign language interpretation services 
•    Written translation services 
•    Transcreation and inclusive communications support services
- Interpretation services
•    In-person (Onsite)
•    Telephone (Over-the-Phone Interpretation, OPI)
•    Video Remote Interpretation (VRI)
•    American Sign Language (ASL) (In-person and VRI)
- Interpretation services may include sight translation, which is the verbal rendering of written text from one language into another when necessary to ensure meaningful communication during an interpreter interaction. Written texts that may require sight translation by interpreters include, but are not limited to:
•    Client/participant-related forms and documents
•    Court orders
•    Letters
•    Program brochures
•    Informational guides
•    Public facing or internal videos
•    Other vital documents
- VRI providers must be delivered using secure, reliable videoconferencing platforms. Providers must supply and maintain the necessary technology, equipment, and high-speed internet connectivity to ensure clear audio and video quality and uninterrupted service to the best of their ability.
- Translations must preserve the meaning, tone, intent, and formatting of the source document, including annotations, table of contents, abstracts, main texts, references, charts, and graphics.
- Translation services are required for business, legal and medical information materials and may be utilized in public, private, or community-based settings, for both emergency and non-emergency situations.
- Translation may be requested for:
•    Client-related forms and documents
•    Court orders
•    Emergency management communications
•    Letters and program brochures
•    Informational guides and reports
•    Webpages, social media, graphic designs, or audio transcripts
•    Other vital documents
- Translations must meet County readability and accessibility standards, using plain language and culturally appropriate phrasing.
- Transcreation and Inclusive Communications Support Services
•    Conduct cultural and contextual review of County materials before and/or after translation to ensure functional equivalence, cultural appropriateness, and relevance for local communities.
•    Identify community needs, barriers, and solutions related to culturally and linguistically appropriate services, programs, materials, and outreach approaches.
•    Consult and recommend best practices for making County resources accessible, culturally responsive, and inclusive of individuals with varying literacy levels, abilities, and communication preferences.
•    Provide plain language editing and support the development and maintenance of glossaries for commonly used County terms and concepts.
•    Conduct cultural reviews to ensure that County communications are respectful, meaningful, and appropriate within specific cultural contexts,
•    Collaborate with designated County staff to plan and support culturally responsive staff trainings, outreach strategies, projects, events, and programs.
•    Coordinate with designated County staff and, when applicable, community reviewers to support project implementation and solicit community feedback.
•    When appropriate and determined by the County on a project-to-project basis, represent County projects or initiatives through the phone, virtual, in-person, or other community engagement activities.
•    When appropriate and determined by the County on a project-to-project basis, collaboratively design, facilitate, and document focus groups, listening sessions, surveys, or other activities to gather community feedback and provide summaries and recommendations to the County.
- Core Languages: Arabic, Khmer (Cambodian), Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Filipino (Tagalog), Ukrainian, Vietnamese, American Sign Language (ASL)
- Non-Core Languages: Amharic, Bengali, Bosnian, Burmese, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Chuukese, Dari, Farsi, French, German, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Kannada, Karen, Kurdish, Lao, Malayalam, Marathi, Marshallese, Mayan languages (e.g., Mam, Q’anjob’al), Mixteco, Mongolian, Nepali, Oromo, Pashto, Portuguese, Romanian, Somali, Swahili, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, and Urdu