Automated Tile Translation into 36 Languages

Lengthy text, time constraints, and complex terms are barriers to benefits engagement. Layer in language barriers for nonnative English speakers and a critical component of employees’ total compensation gets much harder to access.

Language barriers are a big issue: Based on 2018 Census Bureau data, “the Center for Immigration Studies [found] that 67.3 million residents in the United States now speak a language other than English at home, a number equal to the entire population of France.” Multi-language support in today’s multicultural society is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have.

To meet this need and uphold our vision to empower employees to understand their benefits, we’ve released a new feature: Tile Translation.

With a push of a button, Airbo will automatically translate all Tiles into one of 36 languages.

We’re excited for this feature to help those who need it most. An Airbo team member recalled for this article her experience translating important communications for her mother, a nonnative English speaker, and the stress that came with it.

“We both worried about knowing enough to make the right decisions, especially about benefits because they directly impacted our quality of life.”

Accuracy is essential here, which is why Airbo Tile Translations are processed through Google Translate, the world’s leading automated translation service. According to our research, many Airbo Users already get help from it. Our Tile Translation feature makes that a more seamless experience: Once a User selects a language, Tiles will automatically translate every time they log in.

Google Translate is a good but imperfect solution, and we can’t guarantee that things will always translate apples-to-apples. That said, we’ve put that disclaimer right up front for the User, which you can read here.

To help ensure from our end the highest possible translation success rate, we review all Airbo-provided Tiles for accessible English with minimal specialized terms. We recommend doing the same if you create your own Tile content.

Even with these minor constraints, we already see how helpful folks find this feature.

The scenario of language barriers in the workplace bottlenecking benefits engagement and causing undue stress will only become more common every year for the foreseeable future.

Pew Research data shows that “immigrants will play the primary role in the future growth of the U.S. working-age population,” and, assuming current trends continue, future immigrants and their U.S.-born children will account for 88% of the nation’s overall population growth through 2065.

We are committed to helping employers meet this growing need, and Tile Translation is a big part of that. The feature also makes it possible to fulfill our vision of empowering employees to understand their benefits–all 164 million of them.

Check out a preview of Tile translations below, and let us know if you have any questions!

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