Government Communications

Tell us once. We’ll remember how your agency works.

Every agency has its own rules: which terms your department uses, who signs off on a change, which files need an accessible version, and what has to go public by Friday. We learn them once, so you don’t have to repeat them with every request.

We write those rules into our own instructions for your account. Camila Saunier, one of our founders, usually looks after the relationship, working with our project managers. There are eleven of us, so you work with the people who own the firm, not a rotating cast of junior account managers. When something needs a conversation, we pick up the phone or get on a Zoom call.

We handle translation, document accessibility and alternate formats for federal, state, county and city agencies, and for the contractors and publicly funded groups that work with them. Much of this work comes back on a schedule: meeting agendas every week, renewal notices, election materials every cycle.

We are not the right vendor if the lowest per-word price is all that counts, or if the deadline leaves no time to do the work properly. In our early years we took jobs like that anyway. They went badly for everyone. Now we say so before the first call.

Operating to ISO 9001 and 17100 standards  ·  Women-owned (WBENC), SAM.gov-registered  ·  U.S.-based linguists and U.S.-only data handling  ·  Serving government agencies since 2005

ON THIS PAGE

• Our Public-Sector Work Started with One Video Call
• Who We Work With
• The Communications We Help You Deliver
• Your Instructions Become Our Way of Working
• Terminology That Improves with the Relationship
• Translation and Accessibility, Planned Together
• Work from the Requirements That Apply to Your Program
• Data Handling that Follows the Assignment
• Deadlines Need Communication as Well as Capacity
• Interpreting When Your Program Needs It
• Working With Your Procurement Team
• Begin With the Work You Actually Need

Our Public-Sector Work Started with One Video Call

The County of Santa Clara found us the way most clients do. We had a video call. They sent a test assignment, then another, then more. The relationship grew through the work, not through a claim that we could do everything before we had understood what they needed.

We have been in business since 2005. Our public-sector clients include:

• The County of Santa Clara, California
• Harris County, Texas
• The City of San José, California
• The City of Celina, Texas
• Newark Public Schools, New Jersey
• Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, Wisconsin

Each of them buys differently and answers to different rules. What works for a school district can be wrong for a county, so we don’t copy one client’s setup onto the next. What carries over is the people. Our translators have worked with us for more than a decade on average.

For education-specific communications, including parent information and special education materials, see Education Communications.

Who We Work With

Some clients hire us directly. Others bring us in under a contract they already hold with an agency. We work both ways.

Federal Agencies and Prime Contractors

We work with federal agencies and the prime contractors who serve them. The work includes public information, program documents, forms, reports and training materials. Sometimes it’s one set of documents. Sometimes it’s a steady flow of work under a larger contract. 

If you’re a prime contractor, you already have an agreement with the agency, and our work has to fit inside it. Tell us the approved terms, the handling rules, who reviews, and how delivery and sign-off work. We build all of it into our instructions. We handle the translation and accessibility part. You keep your other providers.

Federal electronic content has to meet the Revised Section 508 Standards. These use WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA, the main web accessibility guidelines, and apply them to PDFs, Word files and other documents as well as web pages. Your contract may ask for more. We confirm the exact standard with your team before we start.

A public report and a file with restricted agency information are two very different jobs. Before any file comes in, we check what the contract allows: which systems we can use, who can see the files, whether subcontractors are permitted, and what we have to hand back.

State, County, and Municipal Agencies

We work with state departments, counties, cities, public authorities and courts, and with the organizations that run programs for them.

A resident reading a renewal notice needs to know what to send, where to send it, and by when. The staff member who sent us that notice needs every language version back in the right format, without having to work out again how it was done last time.

Some agencies send every request through one office. Others have several departments ordering under the same agreement. We set up our instructions to match the way yours works. Terms used across the agency stay the same everywhere, and each department keeps its own preferences.

Your agency decides policy, who qualifies, which languages are required, and what gets published. Most agencies already have a plan that sets this out. Our job is to carry it into the documents.

Need to build or update a language access plan? Our Language Access Programs page covers it: working out which languages you must serve, listing the documents that need translation, and writing the steps your staff follow. If your current plan works, keep it. We’ll work from the one you have.

The Communications We Help You Deliver

Most of our government work is written. We work in more than 200 languages. For each program, we confirm which languages you need, who will read the documents, what subject knowledge the work calls for, and what formats you need back.

Benefits, Housing, and Human Services

We translate applications, eligibility and renewal notices, consent forms, appeal information, housing information, program instructions and requests for documents. We pay close attention to the parts that tell a person what happens next: the deadline, any conditions, what to send, and who to contact.

We also work with county health and human services, behavioral health and housing programs. We translate the text your agency approved, and if something is unclear, we ask. Our translators don’t make eligibility or policy decisions for you.

Public Information, Infrastructure, and Administration

We translate public-health advisories, transportation notices, planning documents, environmental reports, public surveys, tax and financial information, policy summaries and community outreach materials. We also translate the website and portal pages that go with them.

It helps to look at the English before translation starts. If a document sends readers to three departments without saying which one handles their request, translating it just carries the confusion into every language. When we see a passage like that, we point it out to whoever owns the content. What the document says is your team’s call. Our job is to keep the approved meaning and make the instructions clear in each language.

A translated survey still has to work as a survey. A translated report needs its tables, labels and references in the right places. So before we start, we ask where the document will be published, and then decide how to produce it.

Official Records and Election Materials

We translate official letters, administrative notices, ordinances, resolutions and other records. If the office receiving the translation, or your contract, requires certification, we include a signed certification statement. Not every government document needs one, so we check for each job.

Our Government Certified & Official Documents page covers that work. Election offices can use our dedicated Election Translation service, which covers approved election materials and how they are reviewed.

Public Meetings and Participation

Agendas, notices, instructions for taking part, presentation materials and meeting webpages all need to work together. A resident who gets a translated agenda should also be able to read how to join the meeting.

California’s SB 707 (Government Code section 54953.4) shows why it pays to know exactly what the law asks for. From July 1, 2026, until January 1, 2030, it requires certain translations from eligible legislative bodies. The law allows digital translation services, and it does not require the whole agenda packet to be translated. We help agencies produce and keep up the materials they need. We won’t tell you the law requires professional human translation when it doesn’t.

Your Instructions Become Our Way of Working

Camila is a people person. If a short call will settle a question, she’ll pick up the phone or join a Zoom call, and so will our project managers. They run each assignment day to day. Camila is one more person you can reach when things change.

Once we understand how you work, we write our own instructions for your account. They cover things like the approved source, your terms, the language list, the file formats you need, who reviews, how we deliver, and any special handling. We keep them on our side, so your staff don’t have to repeat them with every request.

After that, routine work gets simple. You send the material and tell us what’s new. We already know the rest. Over time, familiar jobs need less and less explanation, and changes still get our full attention.

What feels automatic to your staff should be supported by careful work on our side.

We also need to know what “finished” means to you. Is it when the translation is approved? When the accessible files are ready? When the package reaches your printer or mailing vendor? We settle this at the start, so a job we call done doesn’t land on your desk still needing work.

When something unexpected comes up, we get the right people together quickly. A reviewer questions a term. The source changes late. We need to move people around to cover the work. We talk through what your team needs, agree on what to do, and build that into the job.

We take review comments seriously. A question about a phrase might point to a department habit we need to learn, something unclear in the source, or a real mistake in the translation. We start by understanding the concern, even when the translation has already been through our checks. A short conversation settles the question in front of us and gives the next job a better start.

What matters for agencies	The Translation Company	Large global agency	Commodity / instant-MT vendor
Supplier diversity (WBENC / women-owned)	Yes — certified, SAM.gov-registered	Rarely	No
Access to decision-makers	Direct CEO access	Junior account manager	Self-serve portal
Data handling	U.S.-only, PII/PHI care	Often offshore	Unclear / public engines
Quality process	Human, two-step, ISO 9001 & 17100-aligned	Varies by team	Unreviewed machine output
Interpreting & equipment	In-house OPI/VRI/on-site/ASL + equipment rental	Subcontracted	Not offered

Terminology that Improves with the Relationship

One thing we recommend to agencies is updating an old glossary. Sometimes there’s no glossary at all, and making one is the best place to start.

A glossary is an agreed list of terms and how to translate them. It records what your agency calls a benefit, a department, a document or a procedure. Without one, or with an old one, the same questions come back with every job. An up-to-date glossary gives translators and reviewers something they can rely on.

A translation memory is different. It stores earlier translations next to the original text, so wording can be reused when similar material comes back. Reuse still takes judgment. A paragraph that looks familiar might have a new deadline or a changed condition.

If you already have terms or translations from another provider, bring them. You don’t have to start over, and you don’t have to keep every old phrase either. We go through what’s still useful, point out the terms you need to decide on, and build on the work you’ve already paid for.

The bottom line is that the more you translate with us, the bigger your translation repetition gets. It is always for you to take with you whenever you want. We never tie it to the next job. If you stay, it should be because the work is good.

Our translators have worked with us for more than a decade on average. We pay them fairly and on time. Because they stay, they remember your terms and the decisions made on earlier jobs. Our written instructions back that up.

Translation and Accessibility, Planned Together

A translated document can still be hard or impossible to use. A form might have no labels a screen reader can read. A table might be read out in the wrong order. An image might hold an instruction that was never written out in text.

We do the layout and accessibility work in-house, alongside the translation. We work in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, InDesign and PDF. Starting from a well-prepared source file means less fixing later. Each language still needs its own checks, though. A reading order that works in English can break in a new layout or in a right-to-left language.

Our accessibility work is led in-house by Camila, who is an IAAP Accessible Document Specialist and holds a DHS Trusted Tester credentials. A credential doesn’t replace testing. Every file is still checked against the requirements we agreed on for it.

For state and local government websites and mobile apps, the ADA Title II rule requires WCAG 2.1 AA. The deadlines are April 26, 2027, for governments with a population of 50,000 or more, and April 26, 2028, for smaller governments and special district governments. Your existing duty to communicate effectively with people with disabilities still applies. The rule has an exception for older documents, but it doesn’t cover a document people still use to apply for or access a service, however old it is.

We help you start with the documents people use most, such as current applications and notices, and then work through the rest. Our Section 508 & Document Accessibility page covers remediation and testing. Our Alternate Formats page covers large print, Braille, audio and similar formats.

Work from the Requirements that Apply to Your Program

Federal language-access policy changed in 2025. Executive Order 14224 revoked Executive Order 13166, while expressly stating that agencies were not required to stop providing materials or services in other languages. The Justice Department’s former LEP guidance resources remain suspended pending review. Old executive-order language should not simply be copied into a new purchasing brief.

Your legal and program teams decide which rules apply, based on your funding, your location, your services and the people you serve. State and local law, rules for your sector, accessibility duties, agency policy and your contracts can all play a part. We turn those decisions into clear instructions for the work.

Machine translation is part of this too. For health programs covered by Section 1557, 45 CFR Section 92.201(c)(3) requires a qualified human translator to review machine translation in certain cases: when accuracy is essential, or when the content is critical to rights, benefits or meaningful access. The rule doesn’t apply to every government document.

We use professional tools, with a person accountable for reviewing the work. Translation, a separate language review and a check of the finished files each catch different problems. Our translation work follows ISO 17100 and, where it applies, ISO 18587, the standard for full human editing of machine translation. We don’t claim certification to either standard.

Data Handling that Follows the Assignment

A blank application for the public and a completed one with someone’s personal information are two different security jobs. Both need an accurate translation. The rules for handling them can be very different.

If your contract says the data has to stay in the United States, we set up the work so it does. The rule has to cover who can open the files, as well as where they are stored. For ordinary public forms and other content where it’s allowed, we may use qualified subcontractors outside the United States. Our project management stays in the U.S.

Before work begins, we agree on what data we can receive, who can see it, how it’s sent, how long we keep it, and whether subcontractors can be used. If the rules differ between departments or types of documents, we write that into your instructions.

Our SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001:2022 certification provide evidence for vendor-security review within their respective scope. For work involving protected health information, we have a HIPAA risk analysis and business associate agreement arrangements, including for the subcontractors who handle that information. We share the documents with whoever is doing your security review. 

Our AI vendors’ terms forbid them from training on client data or keeping it for their own use. We can give you zero-retention terms in writing, which means the vendor keeps nothing. The tools we use still have to fit your agency’s rules. A tool being called professional-grade doesn’t mean it meets a data residency clause in your contract. See our confidentiality and security information.

Deadlines Need Communication as well as Capacity

We keep you updated while the work is under way. When your department has promised to publish something by a set date, hearing nothing from your vendor doesn’t help.

We plan backward from the real deadline: a public posting, a print date, a hearing or a scheduled release. Translation is only one step. Review, layout, accessibility and publishing all need time too.

When the source changes late, we talk it through with you. If the change affects several languages or formats, we agree on what has to be redone and move people around to get it done.

For established clients with active contracts and steady work, we can set up after-hours or weekend coverage. We plan it around what each client needs. It isn’t something we promise with every new request.

For emergencies, see our Emergency & Public Safety Communications page. It covers planning ahead and urgent communications, under the arrangements we agree with you.

Interpreting When Your Program Needs It

A translated notice can’t take the place of a live conversation at a benefits appointment, a hearing or a public meeting. When your program needs it, we arrange interpreting by phone, by video, in person or in American Sign Language, usually through partners and subcontractors.

Before we confirm, we check the details: the language or type of communication needed, the subject, any confidentiality rules, and where and how the interpreting will happen.

Our Government Interpreting page covers interpreting for government services. For the full range of options, see Interpreting, ASL, CART & Captioning.

Working with Your Procurement Team

We are a WBENC-certified women-owned business, an approved participant in the federal Women-Owned Small Business program, and registered in SAM.gov. Each of these is a separate credential. We give you the paperwork your purchasing process needs, so you don’t have to guess from a logo whether we qualify.

We have active agreements through CMAS, OMNIA/Region 4, and NASPO ValuePoint. The agreement, its scope, its ordering terms and any participation rules have to match what you want to buy. We work out with you which route applies and what records your buyer needs to check it. Ask us for the current details and scope for the services you’re considering. Having an agreement in place doesn’t mean every public body can buy every service on the same terms. 

If you’re a prime contractor, our language and accessibility work can be a clearly defined part of your larger contract. If you’re an agency buying from us directly, we work within your purchasing and approval process. Either way, we agree from the start on the scope, who can place requests, how work is signed off and how billing works.

Our supplier-diversity information and Translation RFP Toolkit are good places to start. A useful specification says what the documents are, who will read them, which languages and formats you need, what security rules apply, and who reviews the work. With that in hand, the agency and its vendors can judge the work against the same clear standard.

Begin with the Work You Actually Need

Competitive bidding is fine with us. What matters is whether the scope and budget leave room to do the work properly.