How a Local Government Brings Inclusivity to Community Meetings with AI Translation

Challenge: Bringing Inclusivity to a Diverse Community

About 40% of Modesto’s population is Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many people in the community speak Spanish, along with other languages. After hearing concerns from the diverse community of Modesto, city council began searching for solutions

“Some solutions in the beginning was providing more people at the Council meetings that spoke other languages like Spanish,” Modesto Deputy City Manager, Scotty Douglass said. “But all the while we were searching for a more consistent solution that was technology-based.”

They were looking for a service that allows residents to read and listen to city presentations in other languages at live meetings so everyone can participate. They wanted to provide a consistent solution for the community that was technology-based and did not require people to make special requests before each meeting. They also wanted a solution that worked for in-person and virtual meeting attendees.

‍

Solution: AI-Powered Translation and Captions

Modesto selected Wordly, an AI-powered live translation and caption solution. Wordly provides real-time translation to meeting participants, enabling members of the local community who don’t speak English the opportunity to participate in city council meetings. The solution also promotes transparency and engagement between city management and residents.

“It’s a cloud-based service we run through Zoom and it connects to this third-party service,” Douglass said. “It essentially pushes the audio to this other service, and they take that audio that’s in English in this case, and then it provides the option for translation.”

Wordly provides AI captioning and translation in dozens of languages and is designed to promote transparency and engagement between city management and residents.

Each participant can select their own language and listen to live translated audio or read captions on their own phone, tablet, or computer. The translation and captions are accessed through a QR code or website URL that gives participants the ability to choose their preferred language during the meetings.

How the City Implemented Wordly

Phase 1: Configuration - 1 Week

• Modesto worked with Wordly to configure the Wordly system, including Zoom translation

Phase 2: Testing - 12 Weeks

• Created testing scripts and meeting scenarios
• Tested various languages, computer platforms, and browsers

Phase 3: Go Live - 4 Weeks

• Soft release
• Engaged community groups
• User surveys
• Advertised new capabilities on website, at meetings, and with a press release

‍

Results: Benefits of Wordly

Wordly enables members of the community to join city council meetings and follow along in their preferred language through real-time translation.

“A lot of other cities are using people to do that service and most of them are doing that on a request basis,” Douglass said. “We wanted to be able to make this a consistent thing that we could do for our community.”

• Easy Implementation: No special hardware requirements (e.g., no sound booth, special headsets, etc.)‍
• Out of the Box Integration: Pre-configured Zoom integration for virtual sessions‍
• Fast Session Setup: Only takes a few minutes to set up for each meeting‍
• Broad Inclusivity: Select from dozens of languages with both audio and caption options‍
• Increased Accessibility: Captions provide access for attendees who prefer to read a live transcript during the meetings in English or other languages‍
• High Quality: The customizable glossary helps ensure names and other important terms are transcribed correctly‍
• Affordable: One price for captions, subtitles, audio translation, and transcripts – includes all languages‍
• Media Coverage: Positive coverage by local press and selected for an industry award

“We have a significant portion of our community that speaks Spanish, and then there’s others that speak many other languages,” Douglass said. “This is a service that allows them to see it in other languages as the meetings are live so that different people can participate.”

About Modesto, California

‍

‍

Modesto was founded in 1870 and is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California. With a population of over 200,000 people, Modesto is located 68 miles south of Sacramento and 90 miles north of Fresno. The city, in the San Joaquin Valley, is surrounded by rich farmland and home to many notable businesses.

About Wordly

Wordly is the pioneer and leader in live interpretation, providing a high-quality, secure, easy-to-use, and affordable live AI translation and caption solution for communicating across multiple languages. Wordly translates dozens of languages in real time, making in-person and virtual meetings and events more inclusive, accessible, and engaging.

Its SaaS platform meets enterprise-grade security and privacy standards and eliminates the need for human interpreters or special equipment. Millions of users across thousands of organizations rely on Wordly to make their events and meetings accessible to everyone.

See it in action – book a personalized demo.