1. Adventures in Translation
A Tale of Two States
Adventures in Translation 1

2. Project Launch Maryland: 2012 Colorado: 2016 2
Before 2012 Maryland did have several forms translated into Spanish and Korean and even posted online. There were concerns about the quality from the public about the poor quality of the translations and eventually took them off. It wasn’t clear who performed the translations. We made a decision to start the translation of all public forms printed by the Judiciary.
In 2005 Managing Interpreters from around Colorado began compiling translation samples that were being used in their courts. Most of these were not completed by certified translators and were of very poor quality. A team of active interpreters who also had translation credentials began translating some of the most-used documents for criminal cases. A more formalized process began in 2008 under one Managing Interpreter, standardizing statewide documents and translating forms critical to the civil and pro se processes. 2

3. Identification of Needs
Maryland
Identified five most frequently requested languages
 Spanish  French  Korean
 Russian  Chinese
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. 3

4. Identification of Needs
Colorado
Spanish: Approximately 1200 forms and 35 signs have been translated for statewide use.
Identified seven most frequently requested languages
 Spanish  Vietnamese  Russian  Arabic
 Korean  Chinese  Somali
LOTS: Identified critical court forms to be translated first:
 general program documents  protection orders
 divorce & family matters  criminal
 evictions & foreclosures  money cases 4

5. 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 5

6. 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. 6

7. 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) 7

8. Statement of Work Colorado
1st Phase: 12 forms were translated into 7 languages
2nd 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 8

9. Challenges Maryland Ongoing revisions of court forms and brochures
Desktop publishing (OmniForm 5.0 and In-Design; some languages are not recognized in Omniform)
Emergency requests interfered with the normal turnaround times
Court Signs 9

10. 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 10

11. Translation Policy Maryland
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 11

12. Translation Policy Colorado
ColoradoOLA.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 12

13. LEP Community Outreach
Maryland
Colorado 13

14. 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 14

15. 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 15

16. Question & Answer Feedback… What is your state doing?