Why language accessibility needs to be on your company’s radar

The world is more interconnected than ever. International trade is on track to double this year, 89% of US companies are now employing foreign nationals, and emerging markets are overwhelmingly predicted to achieve strong growth and investment over the next decade. In short, there’s a reason that the language services industry is booming; with this globalization comes a rising need for organizations – public or private – to put technology in place to facilitate communication between speakers of different languages. 

Does your business have an international employee and/or client base? If so then continue reading for everything you need to know about the importance and impact of investing in a language accessibility solution.

What is language accessibility? 

A more recent branch of DEI, language accessibility means offering provisions for speakers of other languages to experience a professional or public space in the language of their choice. Why is this important? Because even if someone has a good grasp of the language spoken in the location of their workplace or country of residence, their level of comfort, productivity, or fulfilment may remain significantly higher when using their native language – particularly when concentrating for long periods of time. 

For example, imagine being hired as a native Spanish speaker to work for an American company remotely, and having to conduct all your written and spoken communication exclusively in English. Or moving to Sweden as a parent and being concerned that you are missing key information during school board meetings or city council sessions that are conducted only in Swedish.  

Beyond creating a fairer and more inclusive environment, endless studies have highlighted the negative impact on retention, productivity, and satisfaction in international organizations that do not put in place language accessibility measures. And frankly, given the number of live speech and text translation options available out there today, there’s no excuse not to look into a solution. 

Is it a legal requirement? 

Language accessibility itself is not a legal requirement today. It’s important to note, however, that many other types of accessibility are, and that the right language accessibility solution can provide compliance for these areas as well.  

In the US, for example, ADA rules require the provision of assistive listening kits in all public places of gathering, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act compels higher education institutions like colleges and universities to provide transcription (speech-to-text) during all forms of electronic learning. 

So, if you invest in the right tool to make your written or spoken communication language-accessible, you’re ensuring wider compliance where it is legally required also. Which brings us to our next point.

What language accessibility options do you have? 

The good news is that the plethora of AI translation tools available today has made localizing your communication easier than ever – internally or externally.  

For written content like emails, websites, chat bots, a quick Google search of ‘AI text translation tools’ will pull up pages of software options, search engine extensions, and plug-ins that will automatically translate messages back and forth.  

For spoken communication like meetings and events, language accessibility gets a bit more complicated; you’ll want a real-time speech translator that provides both captions and translated speech, of which there aren’t many.  

KUDO AI is one such option, and we lead the market in translation quality and latency. Available online, in-person or hybrid, KUDO AI provides continuous, live-translated audio and captions in 30+ languages. So, whether it’s a client event, a training session for partners or an All Hands meeting, you can ensure maximum engagement and inclusion.  

Impact of language accessibility solutions 

When it comes to the ‘impact’ of having a language accessibility solution, we could cite the copious feedback of our clients passing on gratitude from managers, employees, customers, and communities, but ultimately, the numbers speak for themselves. 

• 24 billion hours are wasted each year as the result of unproductive meetings (Zippia Meeting Research Study, 2023)
• 67% of senior executives state that miscommunication due to language leads to inefficiency (Foreign Language Anxiety Study, 2022) 
• 80% of workers are more productive when their managers speak to them in their native language (Forbes Insights/Rosetta Stone Survey, 2021) 
• 59% of employees working in another language worry about missing important information (Foreign Language Anxiety Study, 2022) 
• 25% of employees lose business due to the lack of foreign language skills (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 2022) 
• 84% of businesses report positive revenue growth after localizing their content (Content Marketing Institute, 2023).