KUDO Inc., a multilingual software-as-a-service (SaaS) company based in New York City, announced the launch of its new KUDO Language Access platform, which provides on-demand remote interpreting for conferences and other virtual or hybrid events.
Language Access is a project roughly five months in the making, and taps into the company’s network of more than 10,000 interpreters to provide services in more than 200 languages. MultiLingual spoke with KUDO’s co-founder and CEO, Fardad Zabetian to learn more about Language Access’ features.
“Language Access was developed with the aim to increase accessibility and inclusion as part of KUDO’s mission to break language barriers,” Zabetian said.
Language Access’ launch took place on Sept. 23, which was also the United Nations’ International Day of Sign Languages — that’s not a coincidence. The company timed the launch of Language Access to coincide with the celebration of sign languages, and “pay tribute” to sign language interpreters, Zabetian said.
Among the languages offered on the platform are 147 different sign languages, including American Sign Language, British Sign Language, Mexican Sign Language, Chinese Sign Language and International Sign Language.
“When we think about enhancing global communications, multilingualism is only part of the challenge and enabling sign language interpretation in 147 languages brings us one step closer to making global events truly more inclusive,” Zabetian said.
According to Zabetian, Language Access was developed with the goal of improving and expanding upon currently existing remote simultaneous interpreting platforms — most virtual event platforms are not properly equipped for interpretation, and support few language options or pairings, he said. Language Access, on the other hand, is compatible with any virtual event platform or video conference tool, and allows for interpretation in up to 32 languages per event.
“Being a SaaS company is only part of KUDO’s identity and the technology we offer is meant to empower the interpreting community to foster a more inclusive new normal,” Zabetian said.
