This is the first edition of The Access Point, Equal Access Language Services’ monthly newsletter. Our goal is simple: to shine a light on how language access shapes equity, safety, and justice in every public service — from hospitals to schools to courts.
At EALS, we believe that true inclusion begins with the right to be heard and understood in your own voice.
Across the U.S., more than 26 million people don’t speak English fluently. For them, something as basic as a doctor’s visit, a parent-teacher conference, or a court appearance can become an uphill battle.
Without qualified interpreters or systems that support multilingual access, the consequences are serious:
01. Patients with limited English proficiency face a 25% higher risk of medical errors.
02. Parents without English fluency are 3x less likely to participate in their child’s education.
03. Court cases have been overturned because language barriers denied defendants their constitutional rights.
When organizations overlook language access, they don’t just exclude individuals — they compromise outcomes:
01. Healthcare → Miscommunication leads to longer hospital stays, more readmissions, and higher costs.
02. Education → Students fall behind because families can’t fully engage with schools.
03. Justice → People risk unfair trials when they can’t understand or express themselves.
What looks like a “communication issue” is really an equity issue.
At Equal Access Language Services, we work to close these gaps by combining:
01. Professional interpreting & translation for healthcare, education, and legal settings.
02. Training programs (like our 7-module Effective Inclusion Through Language Access) that help professionals embed access into their daily practice.
03. Advocacy & consulting that push organizations and policymakers to treat language access as essential infrastructure, not an optional add-on.
We don’t just translate words. We create systems where every voice can come through — fully, clearly, and authentically.
Language access is at an inflection point. On one hand, communities are becoming more diverse than ever. On the other, there are growing policy efforts to limit multilingual rights by declaring English the “official” language.
We see this newsletter as a space to:
01. Share stories from the field that reveal the real impact of language barriers.
02. Break down research and data that every leader should know.
03. Highlight advocacy efforts and policy changes you can act on.
04. Offer tools and resources that help organizations move from intent → action.
Whether you’re a healthcare professional, educator, HR leader, policymaker, or community advocate — you have a role to play.
Ask: Are interpreters available in our systems?
Learn: How do I work effectively with multilingual services?
Act: Push for policies and budgets that include language access.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Voices Unmuted is more than a newsletter — it’s a call to reimagine equity through the lens of language access.
Follow Equal Access Language Services for future editions.
Share this with colleagues and leaders who believe inclusion should mean everyone.
Until every voice is unmuted, our work is not done.
