The vendor is required to provide language services to support a variety of city programming and operational functions.
- The specific accommodation services within the scope of language and communications access extend to interpretation and translation services and audio & video accessibility.
- Providers must ensure comprehensive coverage for the city core language needs (see below):
• Spanish         • Cabo Verdean creole (Kabuverdianu)        • Cantonese
• Haitian         • Arabic                    • Hindi
• Chinese         • Russian                     • Portuguese
• Vietnamese         • French                    • Albanian
• Greek Italian        • Mandarin                    • Korean
• Somali
- Provide services to federal courts:
• Certified interpreters
o The cortication requires a passing grade on a written exam, compliance with a code of professional conduct, and an oral exam
o The exam or evaluation process is by recognized governmental or professional organizations. other associations could be through universities that offer cortication for legal interpreters.
 State mass legal services offer training programs and connecting opportunities for upcoming legal interpreters. some of the supported languages are Arabic, Bosnian, Cantonese, Croatian, French, Haitian creole, Hmong, Ilocano, Korean, Laotian, mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
• Professionally qualified interpreters
o Must meet the criteria in one of the following:
 Passed the U.S. department of state conference or seminar interpreter test in a language pair that includes english and the target language.
 The U.S. department of state's escort interpreter test is not accepted as qualifying.
 Passed the interpreter test of the united nations in a language pair that includes english and the target language.
 A current member in good standing of the association international des interprets de conference (AIIC) or the american association of language specifialists
 For sign language interpreters, someone who holds the specialist certificate: legal (SCL) of the registry of interpreters for the deaf (RID)
• Language skilled interpreters
o An interpreter who does not qualify as a professionally qualified interpreter, but who can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court the ability to interpret court proceedings from english to a designated language and from that language into english, will be classified as a language skilled/ad hoc interpreter.
- Interpretation:
• Interpretation involves the delivery of language assistance services.
• A specific interpreter when deemed important or when the interpreter is available.
• Consecutive interpretation interpretation the interpreter speaks after the presenter and simultaneous interpretation describes interpretation the interpreter speaks at the same time as the presenter.
• To facilitate this, simultaneous interpretation equipment is used.
• On-site interpretation: services will be provided at various facilities owned, rented, or reserved by the city.
• On-site interpreters must be physically present at the time and location specified by the city of boston, abide by all security and site-related procedures and protocols, specific attire, and be able to render services for a variety of constituents in varying settings and group sizes.
• Coordinate situations that require services to be delivered outside.
• Interpreters may be asked to arrive earlier for troubleshooting/setup, arrival times may vary depending on the event, meeting, etc.
• On-site interpretation also includes but is not limited to:
o    Spoken language interpretation, which may be consecutive or simultaneous.
o    Sight translation of letters, brochures, and legal and vital documents, in which the interpreter takes the written text in one language and verbally translates it into another.
o    Interpretation of voice-over: the voice of an unseen person who narrates a motion picture, television commercial, and/or others
o    In-language communication, to support way-finding, understanding of simultaneous interpretation equipment, seeking feedback from constituents on services, etc.
- Written translation:
• Translation involves the conversion of a written text from one language into a comparable written text in another language.
• Materials requiring translation commonly include but are not limited to, letters, brochures, legal documents, web pages, media, graphic design, or audio recordings.
• Additional requirements and standards of written translation shall include, but are not limited to the following:
o Provide accurate and culturally competent written translation services from english into source language and/or source language into english, maintaining original meaning, style, and tone.
o Receive source documents and deliver translated documents through a variety of communication channels, including, but not limited to email, other electronic means, postal service, or courier.
o Provide translated texts in universally acceptable formats including but not limited to microsoft office suite, google suite, canva, adobe indesign, and pdf.
o Use desktop publishing (DTP) to reproduce the formatting and layout of the original document into the target language using adobe creative cloud, google suite, or microsoft suite, etc.
o Provide written translations with proper spelling, grammar, word choice, and language structure. ensure graphics, titles, headers, images, and fonts meet project requirements.
o Proofread already-translated documents for accuracy, quality, consistency, tone, and style.
o Mandatory use of our in-house glossaries to ensure consistency in our translations
- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Pre-Proposal Q&A Conference Call Date: February 10, 2025