Translated Captions During Meetings
Allow for Greater Public Engagement
Gardner Announces New Service
FREDERICK, Md. – Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner announced a new service for the county’s 38,000 residents who speak a language other than English that will allow them to more easily engage with Frederick County Government. Public meetings now offer real-time closed captions in more than 100 languages. Captions are available for any meeting that streams from Frederick County’s online engagement hub, PublicInput.com/FrederickCoMd, as the meeting is taking place.
“We are stronger when everyone has a voice in how our county operates,” Executive Gardner said. “Translating our meetings helps to ensure we are delivering open, transparent government to all our residents.”
To use translated captions, viewers select their preferred language by clicking on the Translate button at the top of the engagement hub. Captions are automatically turned on.
In addition to translated captions, during board or commission meetings that accept public comments, this same Translate button allows people to type a comment or question in their native tongue, and County staff will be able to instantly translate those comments into English.
Community partners that serve non-English speakers have been contacted about the new service so they can share the information with their clientele. These partners include the Frederick County Immigrant Affairs Commission, the Spanish-Speaking Community of Maryland, the Asian-American Center of Frederick County, the Association of Nigerians in Frederick, Centro Hispano, and the Literacy Council of Frederick County.
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