BURG Translations Blog
What ‘Qualified’ Actually Means: The Section 1557 and Title VI Interpreter Standard
Bilingual staff act as interpreters in healthcare systems and federally funded programs all the time. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it solves an operational problem for organizations without investing in new personnel or resources.
Here’s where that solution becomes a problem. Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act defines what a qualified interpreter is in federal regulation, and that definition is more specific than the ability to speak two languages. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 doesn’t provide the same definition, but it still requires organizations to demonstrate that whoever is interpreting is qualified to do so. Either way, the requirements are defined by law and they’re learned through professional interpreter training, not by being bilingual.
Language access programs are built to ensure individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) have meaningful, fair, and equitable access to services, programs, and information in their language. Whether an interpreter meets the federal qualification standard is a separate question, and it’s one compliance teams encounter when they sit down to document that their program meets the applicable federal requirements.
Language Access Compliance: Regulatory Updates | Q2 2026
Issue #2 | Q2 2026
Welcome to our second issue. At the request of our Client Advisory Board, BURG Translations developed this briefing to keep our clients informed about language access requirements that may affect your industries.
Compliance officers in healthcare and regulated industries spent much of this quarter waiting for guidance that didn’t come. The federal guidance that organizations used to structure their language access programs was formally withdrawn more than a year ago. The replacement information that the DOJ promised still hasn’t appeared. This quarter, two major accessibility deadlines were extended within days of implementation, while OCR resolved three enforcement actions in three months, all under the same statutes and with the same corrective actions. Organizations are still being asked to interpret their own obligations without the federal frameworks that once defined what meeting them looked like.
This issue covers regulatory changes, new legislation, enforcement actions, and legal developments across healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, and legal services from 2025 through Q2 2026.
Catch up on last quarter’s updates in the Q1 2026 issue.
Language Access Compliance: Regulatory Updates | Q1 2026
Issue #1 | Q1 2026
At the request of our Client Advisory Board, BURG Translations developed this briefing to keep our clients informed about language access requirements that may affect your industries.
If 2025 felt like a difficult year to keep up with…well, it was. New federal legislation and active court settlements all took place in the same 18 months, just as much of the federal guidance (guidance documents, not the underlying statutes) that helps organizations navigate language compliance was formally withdrawn.
This issue covers regulatory changes, new legislation, enforcement actions, and legal developments across healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, and legal services from 2025 through Q1 2026. A small number of items are from late 2024 and are included because they remain active or established enforcement patterns that continue to apply.
CASE STUDY: How Salvi Harps Broke into the Chinese Market with Seamless Website Localization
Executive Summary
Salvi Harps, a globally renowned Italian manufacturer of concert and lever harps, needed to expand into the Chinese market but faced barriers due to the lack of a localized website. After a disappointing experience with a previous vendor that relied on manual translation and delivered subpar results, Salvi turned to BURG Translations. BURG delivered a tailored localization strategy, implemented an automated integration, and sourced linguists with expertise in musical terminology. The result: a flawless Chinese-language website that enabled Salvi to successfully enter a new market and grow revenue.
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Choose the Best Translation Service for Your Project
Communicating and exchanging thoughts and information are crucial to developing and expanding our global economy. But if you’re sharing content in a new or non-English market, choosing the right types of translation services is key to ensuring the content, tone, imagery, and overall message resonate with the reader.
Specifically, by choosing the right approach from the start, you can:
- Save time
- Lower costs
- Avoid mistakes
- Connect faster with new audiences
So if translation services aren’t all created equal, how do you pick the best fit for your business and project?
This guide breaks down the main types of translation services, ranked by when they work best, how accurate they are, and what they cost.
