Wikimania 2021: Update to our language approach

Following our first announcement of our language and timezone approach – we would like to share an exciting new update!

Previously, we shared that we will be translating sessions from English to the United Nations languages – including German. The translations will be offered via an audio stream to participants, where they can select the language offered of choice.

What was the first approach again?

Our first approach looked something like this:

Speaker	Organizer provides audio translation in	Organizer or Speaker provides closed captioning/subtitles in
Presents in English	Arabic, French, German, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish	English

What’s the update?

Closed captioning/subtitles

In our previous approach, we asked for speakers to provide an English transcription for their pre-recorded sessions if they would not be in English. We are now removing this as a requirement, and are leaving it up to the speaker’s discretion to provide a transcription that can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons post-event. This would make the requirements for speakers a lot lighter than originally announced.

Audio Translations

In addition to the above, we received feedback during the Core Organizing Team’s office hours (offered in multiple time zones and in Arabic, English and Spanish) from speakers all around our movement and we have worked hard to adapt and accommodate the need for dual translations. 

Please see below as we update our language approach for Wikimania 2021: The Virtual Edition. 

Speakers present in	Attendees can listen to translation in
English	Arabic, French, German, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish
Arabic, French, German, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish	English

Example 1: 

If the speaker is presenting a session in English, the attendee will be able to listen to the translation of that session in: Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin and German.

Example 2: 

If the speaker is presenting a session in Mandarin, the attendee will be able to listen to the translation of the session in English.

Example 3: 

If the speaker is presenting a session in Japanese, there will be no audio translation support offered (as Japanese is not one of the supported translation languages). The speaker may provide a transcription that can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons post-event.

Please note that audio translations are only available for the Main stage, Movement Groups & Affiliate Track and the Individual track.

As far as Closed Captions are concerned, we are looking into providing automated solutions for this purpose. More to come on this in the near future!