People use “translation” and “interpretation” interchangeably, but for a clerk planning a public meeting the difference decides who you hire, what equipment you need and what residents actually get. Here is the translation vs. interpretation distinction in plain terms, and how to plan for each.
The short version
- Translation is written or text. A translated agenda is translation. So are translated captions on a screen.
- Interpretation is spoken, usually by a human interpreter who listens in one language and speaks in another.
Captions are text, so live translated captions are translation, even though they happen in real time. SentraCaptions provides captions and translated captions. It does not provide spoken (audio) interpretation or an AI voice.
Translation vs. interpretation in practice
Written translation
This covers documents residents read: agendas, notices, instructions for joining by phone or internet, and webpages. It's prepared ahead of time, so there's room for review before anything is posted.
Live translated captions
Speech recognition creates English captions about one second after speech, and machine translation turns them into other languages. Residents read along on the chamber screen or on their phone. There's no scheduling per meeting, and up to 8 languages can run at once. The tradeoff is that automatic captions and translations contain errors, and quality varies by language.
Simultaneous interpretation
The interpreter speaks at nearly the same time as the speaker, usually into a headset system that listeners wear. It keeps the meeting moving but needs equipment and, for long meetings, sometimes more than one interpreter per language.
Consecutive interpretation
The speaker pauses, and the interpreter repeats what was said in the other language. It needs no special equipment and works well for a single resident at public comment, but it adds time to that person's remarks.
When each one fits
- A resident wants to follow the whole meeting in their language: live translated captions on their phone or the chamber screen.
- A resident wants to speak at public comment in a language other than English: interpretation, often consecutive, so the council understands them. Spanish speakers at public comment are recognized by speech recognition and will appear in the captions, but an interpreter is still the clearest path for the council.
- Residents need to know the meeting exists and how to join: written translation of the agenda and notices.
- A resident who is deaf or hard of hearing requests CART (a human stenographer captioning live) as an accommodation: consider that request under the ADA's effective communication rules, which give primary consideration to the person's choice. Machine captions don't replace CART in every situation. See machine captions vs. CART.
- A language isn't supported by machine translation (Hmong and Khmer, for example): an interpreter or another community-based approach.
How SB 707 uses the terms
SB 707 (Durazo), signed October 3, 2025, uses both words, and the difference matters. Most new requirements for eligible legislative bodies (including city councils of cities with 30,000 or more residents, or cities in counties of 600,000 or more, and boards of supervisors of counties over 30,000) start July 1, 2026. Among them:
- Agendas must be translated into up to three applicable languages, based on American Community Survey data, with instructions in each language for joining by phone or internet. Digital translation tools are allowed.
- Bodies must reasonably assist members of the public who want to translate a meeting or receive interpretation, as long as it doesn't disrupt the meeting. Bodies are not required to provide interpretation themselves.
SB 707 does not itself require live captions. Live translated captions are a practical way to support its language-access and participation goals. Confirm with your city attorney or county counsel whether your body is covered and what “reasonably assist” should look like for you.
Planning for both
- Decide your baseline. Many agencies run live translated captions at every meeting and translate agendas into their applicable languages.
- Write a request process for interpreters. Tell residents on the agenda and your public meetings webpage how far ahead to ask and whom to contact.
- Plan for residents who bring their own interpreter. Decide where they sit, how they'll hear clearly, and how timing works at public comment so it doesn't disrupt the meeting.
- Review machine translation quality. Have a fluent speaker check the languages that matter most to your community.
- Keep the record straight. Transcripts from captions, in every language as TXT or SRT files, can help staff prepare minutes. They are not official minutes, and they're not a certified translation.
Agencies that run meetings in CivicCA can let it start captioning when the meeting starts and pause it for recess and closed session, so translated captions are there for residents without extra steps for the clerk.