In line with the Welsh Government strategy, Cymraeg 2050, who’s aim is to increase the number of Welsh speakers by 2050 and increase the range and use of Welsh language services offered to the public, we partnered with 3 organisations to help them create bilingual content, to create a better experience for users of their services.
Working in partnership with the Welsh Language Commissioner, we worked with Natural Resources Wales, Cadw and Swansea University to try a new approach to creating bilingual content – trio writing – a process involving a subject-matter expert, content designer and translator.
Impact
We established direct relationships and contacts with a variety of organisations and sectors across Wales. Some were new to us.
We worked with individual organisations to demonstrate the value of co-designing content within their context to improve their bilingual processes and outputs. Those organisations expressed their interest to keep using these techniques to collaborate in the future. Cadw wanted to do keep going at the end of sessions and booked a third as they wished all content could be created this way. Swansea University also wanted to keep writing and booked a second session.
We shared these ideas to approximately 150 organisations during the Language Matters Roadshow.
The Welsh Language Commissioner also published a trio writing case study on their website as an exemplar for other organisations.
Hear from our partners
“One of the great side effects of Trio Writing is that the exercise often sheds light on things that don't work well in English either – so every user is a winner!
I welcome all efforts to think innovatively about how to improve the Welsh language services available. It is clear that Trio Writing can contribute significantly to improving the standard and quality of public services, both in Welsh and English.”
“It was a fantastic session. The work you are both doing is groundbreaking! Be great if in a few years' time Trio Writing is embedded across all that WG do. WG should be leading on this to set an example for the rest of Wales.”
Next steps
We will:
- follow-up with organisations who couldn’t be part of the pilots earlier this year and those we spoke to in the roadshows to offer our services
- develop a strategic approach to our bilingual design activities and create the conditions for organisations to succeed
- understand more about the challenges facing public sector organisations when providing information for users
- share knowledge and best practice with the public sector
- continue nurturing our relationship with the Welsh Language Commissioner and build other relationships to expand our reach and influence
How this work evolved
Eisteddfod
In 2022, we attended the National Eisteddfod of Wales for the first time and worked with other Welsh public sector bodies to research how Welsh speakers used Welsh language services.
The research found that Welsh public services used unnatural sounding Welsh and that, often, the Welsh content was not dependable. Since then, there has been a lot of work to explore how we can improve the design of bilingual services that promote and ease the use of Welsh and treat those who speak it equally with those who speak English. Trio writing was born as a methodology for designing and creating bilingual content.
Read ‘How can we help Welsh speakers make more use of online services in Welsh?’ – An address by Jeremy Miles, Minister for Education and the Welsh Language – August 2022.
Launch of trio writing book
Trio writing is when 3 people work together to create bilingual content. The 3 roles are usually a subject-matter expert, content designer, and translator. Sometimes a user researcher replaces the subject-matter expert.
In 2023, we went back to the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and launched our book, Trio Writing: Designing bilingual content for user-centred services. It involved people across the public sector and the book is a way to bring some of these voices together to highlight the benefits, give tips, and share case studies.
Language Matters Roadshows
In 2024, we held 3 in-person roadshows across Wales (St Asaph, Cardiff, and Carmarthen) and one online roadshow with the Welsh Language Commissioner. We looked at how public organisations can create bilingual content for Welsh language services and better promote those services to their users. Attendees shared their own experiences, made connections, learned from one another and from those who have improved their own content and services through the collaborative process of trio writing. We had 286 registered attendees across all 4 roadshows.
Hear from The Welsh Language Commissioner, who introduces the Language Matters Roadshow and the importance of building digital services bilingually:
Read more
Using trio writing to better collaborate on bilingual content
How it meets our objectives
CDPS’s objectives:
Objective 1: Supporting the leadership and culture amongst public service leaders to drive good digital policy making and support digital transformation.
Objective 2: Support others to ensure that people can access digital public services by helping them create services that are designed around user needs.
Objective 4: Using the output of the landscape review to shape CDPS priorities now and in future, with a particular focus on collaboratively solving shared sectoral, or geographical, issues and concerns.
Objective 5: Continuing to promote shared use of the technologies and create and embed common and shared standards in digital, data and technology.
The Five Ways of Working – Well-being of Future Generations Act
- Long-term
- Collaboration
- Prevention
7 well-being goals – Well-being of Future Generations Act
- A prosperous Wales
- A resilient Wales
- A more equal Wales
- A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language