Remember how the Virginia Department of Health got called out last month for using Google Translate to create the Spanish language version of an FAQ page on COVID-19 vaccines?
A journalist from the Times-Dispatch reported on Twitter Tuesday that the new VDH vaccine registration site also uses Google Translate.
“The site was supposed to include an English and Spanish version, but the Spanish version is a Google Translate form of the original English one,” T-D politics reporter Mel Leonor tweeted. “My first language is Spanish, and the translation is workable but not adequate. The first field, ‘First Name’ is ‘Nombre de pila.’”
This has the attention of Del. Elizabeth Guzman, who reiterated her call for VDH to stop relying on Google Translate to convey information about the COVID-19 vaccine in Spanish.
“The Virginia Department of Health needs to work for all Virginians,” said Guzman, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for lieutenant governor. “Relying on Google Translate to connect Spanish-speaking Virginians with a life-saving vaccine reflects either an abject cultural incompetence or a blatant disregard for the lives of our community.
“Please diversify your workforce and start tracking how many of your 5,231 employees speak Spanish. In the meantime, either hire a professional translation service (monolingual Spanish speakers pay taxes, too!) or send an all-staff email to see if you can identify one or two of your 5,000+ employees who speak Spanish!”
Story by Chris Graham
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