"Willkommen zu Selma Rosine-Kapital der Welt! Selma ist eine schnell wachsende Gemeinschaft von ueber 23.000 gefunden im zentralen San Joaquin Senke."

Roughly translated from German to English: "Welcome to Selma, the Raisin Capital of the World! Selma is a rapidly growing community of over 23,000, located in the central San Joaquin Valley."

These introductory words from the city of Selma's Web site can be translated into 15 different languages thanks to a one-year grant the city just received.

Now, essentially anyone from anywhere in the world can access the city of Selma's Web site, and be able to read and understand it.

"It has to do with making information and services accessible and available," said Terry Amsler of the Institute of Local Governments that helped Selma receive the grant. "A Web site is one place people go to get information."

Residents can go to the city's Web site to get information regarding anything and everything, from how to get a building permit to when T-ball sign ups are. In the past, perhaps, some residents were not able to read the Web site for that type of information due to langauge barriers.

And while, according the Recreation and Community Services Director Mikal Kirchner, the number one reason for the translation tool is for the local community, it also is for people from around the country or in foreign countries.

The city will also receive a quarterly report as to what languages are used the most, to see if the translation tool is effective and worthwhile enough to continue its use once the grant has expired.

"Locally, it will be Spanish," said Kirchner of the language he expects will be used the most. "But outside of Selma, it's going to be interesting to find out."

At the bottom of the city of Selma's Web page are 15 different flags for the different languages that the page automatically translates into. The translation is done with the help of the Web service WorldLingo, an industry-leading provider of professional Web site localization services. WorldLingo deals mainly with governments, corporations and online businesses around the globe.

The translation of Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and of course English, has an 80 percent accuracy rate.

The grant also offers translation consultants to the city and translation equipment for meetings.

Selma was practically handpicked for this service by the Institute of Local Governments, a non-profit of the League of California Cities. As a part of its Inclusive Public Engagement program that attempts to reach everyone in a community, the Institute of Local Governments sent out articles and outreach to determine which local cities would benefit the most from this translation service.

The grant that comes from the Community Technology Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation. However, if the city decides to maintain the service past the initial year, the cost would range from $400 to $700 a year.

"This allows them to try it out without having to pay for it," said Amsler.

For more information, or to try out the translation on the city's Web page, visit www.cityofselma.com.

July 25, 2007