Making Ends Meet: Translations

Under the Official Languages Act, public bodies have a duty to publish certain documents that would be of interest to the public in Irish and in English simultaneously and to the same standard. This has a huge impact on the production of documents like Annual Reports. Often long documents by their nature, this doubling up of content can create very lengthy documents. And as you know, the longer the report, the more it will cost to print. next >

CASE STUDY — The Ombudsman for the Defence Forces Annual Report 2007

Brief & requirements
The brief was to create an elegant, visually appealing dual-language Annual Report without creating one big, cumbersome document.

Our solution
Rather than creating one long, heavy report, the English and Irish versions were designed as two matching items presented together in a bespoke folder, fulfilling the need for simultaneous availability but also having documents that are easy to handle. Have a look at the ‘printing on demand’ section too, for tips on producing documents in more than one language without incurring unnecessary printing costs.

Some Translation Tips
The more straightforward and well structured a document is to read in English, the easier it will be to translate! Mistakes can happen in typesetting, so agree at procurement stage with the translator that they will proofread the typeset document as part of their work, and add that time to the schedule at the planning stage. No matter what language you’re working in, have it checked by an expert in that language.

While there is no legal requirement to do so, you are required to communicate with and deliver services to people who do not use English. Over the last few years we’ve designed materials in Romanian, Arabic, French and Polish, and for Nigerian and Chinese communities in Ireland.