ispeak Houston

City Employee Language Access Center

Use this webpage to explore language access resources that will help you assist non-English speakers in real-time.

You will also find links to portals you can use to request interpretation and/or translation projects at the bottom of the page. Please contact your Language Coordinator for instructions on how to access the portals or contact 832.393.1010.

iSpeak Houston offers training to City departments on the essentials of language access.  To request a training, please email Terence.ONeill@houstontx.gov.  You can also receive training using LMS Talent Management Training, or by watching the video below.

Department Language Access Plans
City of Houston departments that offer direct services to the public are required to submit a language access plan. Each plan specifies how an individual department will assist non-English speakers. 

• View the plan for your department

Additional Resources
To supplement your training on language access, explore the below links. You can browse through our catalog of iSpeak Cards used by constituents; read through City of Houston’s official policy on language access; and understand the demographics of Houston that support the need for language access.

To print one of the posters in its highest quality, select 11x17 paper, and choose the option “Fit to printer margins.”

• iSpeak Card Library
• Mayor’s Administrative Policy 2-11 for Language Access
• Language Spoken at Home (Other than English)
• Partnering with an Interpreter
• Additional Resources from Language Line Solutions
• How Assisting LEPs Flow Chart (updated 01.20.2023)
• Ability to Speak English "Less Than Very Well" in City of Houston (.pdf)
• Migration Policy Institute Language Portal
• Language Identification Guide Poster (11x17, .pdf, update April 2016)
• Interpreting Services Poster (15 Languages)
• Language Access Promotional Posters (11x17, .pdf)
  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • English
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Urdu
  • Vietnamese
• Language Identification Guide Card (8.5x11, .pdf, updated April 2016)
• Google Translate App for iPhone
• Google Translate App for Android
• Language Line Weekend Portal for Emergency Translation Projects (Note: THIS FORM IS ONLY FOR WEEK-END EMERGENCY USE, you will not receive a quote. Your translation will be started immediately and delivery will be made as soon as possible. All non-urgent requests should be submitted via the normal LanguageLine channels)

City of Houston Language Access Portal (LingoNet) - Use this portal to request/submit projects for translation from Language Line Solutions. Employees must be granted access to use this function. Contact your language access coordinator for more information or call 832-393-1010.

USER-FRIENDLY

• Project submission in less than 30 seconds
• User Management and User-friendly interface
• Project Creation and Delivery
• Estimation
• Custom Reporting
• Support for any file type, No file format limitations
• Ability to create language groups for easy submission
• Ability to request and approve estimates

iSpeak Houston is a project of the City of Houston and the Department of Neighborhoods