Linguist thoughts on vendor portals

Language service providers (LSPs) commonly send jobs to translators and interpreters via online portals that enable accessing project details and files. But the quality of such gateways varies greatly, leaving some linguists thrilled by the technology while others no longer want to deal with LSPs that use such tools. So how can LSPs or technology vendors improve their portals for better linguist acceptance?

Text by Hélène Pielmeier

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Image: © fizkes/istockphoto.com

Vendor portals are web-based gateways accessible via login credentials that enable freelancers and subcontractor LSPs to interact with the client – usually another LSP, although some end clients also have portals for their providers.

In CSA Research’s 2019 survey of over 7,300 linguists, we inquired about the number of portals that linguists used to retrieve jobs, deliver files, and submit invoices. We asked them to count each platform for which they needed separate login credentials. Only 11% of respondents reported using no portal at all. For the balance, the average was five logins. The maximum a linguist reported was a massive 368.

We suspect many linguists under-reported this number and actually log into many more platforms than the average of five. Translators and interpreters sometimes need multiple logins when working for the same client – one for a skill testing platform, one ...