MTA web site adds nine more languages

Things are getting a little easier for non-English speaking commuters as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) recently announced the unveiling of their newly upgraded online language assistance program.
The main feature in this upgrade was adding nine new languages to the list of 14 that were already available on the webpage. Also included is a pop-up tool in which the user can suggest more languages for the MTA to use in the future.
The new languages that were installed into the system are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Polish and Romanian. Along with these new languages, the MTA’s web pages continue to be available in Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.
The change comes as part of the MTA’s switch to Google Translations, which will result in improvements to the way web users get translations. The new service will allow users to see the original English text as they read and suggest improvements to the translations.
“This improved translation service furthers the MTA’s goals of breaking down boundaries and improving customer service while at the same time reducing our expenses,” said Elliot G. Sander, the Executive Director and CEO of the MTA. “Our website now more accurately reflects the wide variety of languages spoken by our customers, and it will help more visitors to understand our system before they arrive.”
To get a translation, simply click on the websites drop-down menu that says “Select Language” and 23 foreign languages appear. The drop-down menu replaces the 14 icons of national flags that formerly appeared at the bottom of MTA web pages.
The number of languages available is expected to grow as Google expands its service.