St. Louis, Missouri
Tech-Powered
Cultural Diversity
St. Louis, Missouri is a city with a remarkable degree of demographic diversity. From a governmental perspective, this unique character has challenged the city’s ability to provide equitable service and an inclusive environment for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). Recently, digital tools for translation–including those powered by artificial intelligence (AI)–have expanded in number and scope, providing one route for governmental entities to efficiently improve their language access capabilities. However, the efficacy of these tools remains poorly demonstrated, and robust, generalizable guidelines for their implementation are lacking. Herein, we explore the interface of digital tools and language access for the city of St. Louis and make two targeted recommendations to address current challenges.
We began our project by surveying the landscape of language access within St. Louis, Missouri, and the United States. This investigation was supplemented by an exploration of current trends in translation technologies. With a general context established, we interviewed stakeholders from the St. Louis language access community to better anchor our research with local perspectives. Working with city officials from the Office of New Americans (ONA), we utilized these insights to generate a general picture of the successes and failures of the St. Louis area’s language access landscape. Having identified key gaps in current policies and infrastructures, we drafted two recommendations for the ONA that we believe will provide an impactful boost to language access in the city.
As the city’s demographics continue to diversify, St. Louis will need to continue to evolve its language access policies and infrastructures. Our report provides an up-to-date picture of the local language access landscape to keep policymakers working in this space well-informed while preparing them to adjust to ongoing trends. It also shines a light on neglected areas that may require attention. Our recommendations are simple, relatively low-cost, and high-upside actions that were directly informed by perspectives from local stakeholders. By implementing our recommendations, St. Louis will immediately improve language access in the city while also laying a stable foundation for future initiatives.