Translators without Borders (TWB) offers non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and non-profit entities access to professional language services in over 250 language pairs. A community of more than 20,000 language professionals works with TWB to provide translations, using Kató, the TWB translation platform. Together with our translators, TWB has delivered millions of words to non-profit partners since 2011. TWB translators are experienced in translating content for humanitarian, development, health, and education programs.
Enhanced Services: Beyond Access
TWB has a range of language, content, and format solutions designed to suit the unique needs of non-profit partners For example, TWB works with partners who need strategic advice on languages, communicate regularly with communities speaking marginalized languages, and who need unusually large volumes of humanitarian or development content translated. TWB has designed services to meet those needs, from enhanced quality checks, to translation memories, taxonomies, and subtitling or voice-over of videos. In some cases, TWB trains translators or interpreters in country. If TWB does not currently have translators in the language pair you need, TWB can train translators. If you need rapid translation in a crisis, we can do that too.
Improved technologies
TWB is committed to using technology to continuously improve language solutions. TWB uses a variety of technologies, including machine translation, translation memory and enhanced quality assurance tools . These technologies can improve overall output for our partners as well as offer better translations in a wide array of languages.
Our Services
Access to Kató is provided to partners on an annual basis. TWB offers three standard packages for its partners. All packages are offered at differing annual word estimates, based upon anticipated need and agreed upon at the beginning of the agreement. The packages are:
Kató Basic
As a Basic partner, a non-profit organization can submit projects directly, without project management support. In 2018, all Basic partners will have access to the entire TWB translation community and the languages they work in. Guidance on quality assurance will be provided. Importantly, to ensure respect and protection of the volunteer translator community, TWB requests Basic partners keep all postings to 2,000 words or less; larger projects can be broken into sections and posted as jobs.
Kató Plus
This package assigns a project manager to the partner, giving the partner consistent communications with one TWB professional. The project manager will load the work for the partner, will provide estimated turnaround times for projects and will work to get community pick up of projects. All languages are included in Kató Plus; the project manager will inform the partner when a language pair is difficult to source and requires additional community outreach. To increase quality levels, the project manager will oversee two important measures – use of the Kató open translation memory and editing of translations before delivery.
Kató Premium
This package includes all the services as the first two packages, but it also adds additional quality assurance measures and the ability to develop and maintain a custom translation memory. Working with the non-profit partner at the outset of the partnership, the project manager will request past translations, terminologies and glossaries that will be used within the Kató technology to assist translators working with the premium partner’s content and to train a custom translation memory for the partner. Additionally, premium partners benefit from a final technology-driven quality check after proofreading. With premium, if a language is difficult to source, the project manager will work with the community team within TWB to build additional capacity.
TWB also works with partners on a custom basis, including with monthly retainer agreements and occasional short-term agreements. Supplements are also available for hard-to-source languages, audio, transcription, subtitling, and urgent jobs.
If you choose to become a TWB partner, TWB will feature your organization on this website. In turn, we appreciate any acknowledgment that you can provide to translators individually, by name if they wish. Please also consider adding our logo to your website, mentioning us in your annual report and/or evaluations (and copy us!).