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i7 <br />Translated Materials <br />Departments also rely on translated documents to provide service to the Latino <br />community. These documents do play an important role in reducing the barriers but <br />do not eliminate it entirely. Language can be a major barrier to literacy when a <br />person speaks an unwritten language. There are individuals who are unable to write <br />or read in their primary language. The Latino community has illiterate individuals and <br />individuals who speak native dialects which are vastly different from Spanish and <br />who are unable, given their life circumstances to learn Spanish. Most County <br />Departments have used volunteers to translate their materials, but the materials <br />have limitations which will be discussed in the barrier section of this report. Health <br />and Social Services spent a significant amount of money to translate as they became <br />compliant with Title VI several years ago. <br />Other <br />In addition to the aforementioned resources, some Departments use automated <br />translation programs. These programs are computer programs that provide a <br />translation for any text that is entered. While those programs may seem like quick, <br />convenient and cost effective fixes to large problems, there are many shortcomings. <br />These software programs are unable to ascertain context and this results in incorrect <br />translations. For instance, "race" has several meanings. In a vital record for the <br />County, it means any of the main groups into which human beings can be divided <br />according to their grouping as people with the same history, language, customs, etc. <br />Automatic software programs can translate it as an athletic competition or a contest <br />of speed. Both translations are right but only one is proper. In addition, these <br />programs may not use proper spelling and orthography, for example the words ano <br />and ano. The first word means anus, the second means year. Notice that the lack <br />of appropriate spelling significantly impacts meaning. These automated translation <br />programs are not expensive costing approximately $100-$200 per license. However, <br />they are ineffective in translating. <br />15 <br />