In many cities, the residents least likely to report a problem are the ones most likely to live with it. Language is a big part of why. If the report form, the emails and the help text are only in English, a lot of residents never start.
What works in Spanish today
Sentra 311 supports English and Spanish across the resident experience:
- The city's report page switches between English and Spanish with one button.
- The report steps, buttons and messages are translated.
- Emails to residents go in the language the resident used, from templates the city can edit in both languages.
- The tracking page shows status and updates in the resident's language.
- Knowledge base articles have an English and a Spanish version.
- The public performance page is available in both languages.
- The chat answers in the language the resident writes in.
Each request records the language it came in, so staff know which language to reply in.
Why not just machine-translate everything?
Machine translation has improved a lot, and we use it where it helps. But some text needs a person: the names of request types residents see every day, legal language about claims, and anything about safety. For those, Sentra 311 uses text the city reviews. Where the Spanish version of a knowledge base article is empty, the English one shows rather than an unreviewed translation.
More languages: on our roadmap
Many cities need more than English and Spanish. In California's Central Valley, for example, Hmong and Punjabi are common languages at home. Adding more languages is one of our top roadmap items, with three parts:
- The resident pages and emails in more languages, chosen by each city.
- Translation of what residents write, so staff see the original and an English version side by side.
- Translation of staff replies back into the resident's language, reviewed before sending.
Each city will choose its languages. We'll share more as this ships.
What residents see in Spanish
A resident who switches the report page to Spanish sees the steps, buttons, help text, confirmation and tracking page in Spanish. When they leave an email address, their updates arrive in Spanish too: received, work started, fixed, sent to another agency or closed without a fix.
Cities edit the email templates in both languages in the portal, under Admin › Notifications. Each template has a preview, so staff can check the wording before saving. Knowledge base articles have separate English and Spanish fields, with a live preview of each.
Replying to residents
When staff write a public reply on a request, it goes to the resident by email and appears on the tracking page. Bilingual staff can reply in the resident's language. Saved replies can be set up for common answers, which helps keep wording consistent and reviewed.
Measuring reach
One useful check is to compare where requests come from with where people live. If some neighborhoods report much less than others, language may be part of the reason. The council district report makes this easier to see.
Phone and in person
Not every resident will use a website. Call-takers and front-desk staff can enter requests in the portal on a resident's behalf, and the resident still gets updates by email if they give an address. The knowledge base answers are on the call-taker's screen, so they can answer common questions while the resident is on the phone.
A quick check for your city
Open your city's report page on a phone, switch it to Spanish and file a test report the way a resident would. Then read the confirmation email. If any step feels awkward, the wording can usually be fixed in the portal in a few minutes. It's worth asking a Spanish-speaking colleague to do the same test and tell you honestly how it reads.
Tips for multilingual cities
- Ask your community. School districts and community organizations often know which languages families use at home.
- Start with the request types. Getting the names of the twenty most common types right in each language does more than translating every help page.
- Use plain words in English first. Short, plain English translates better.
- Have a native speaker review templates. Especially emails about closing a request or sending it to another agency.
Every resident who can report a problem in their own language is a resident whose street gets fixed.