Multnomah County details multiyear website overhaul, launches Spanish translations

Multnomah County officials on Thursday described a multiyear effort to redesign the county website to be more accessible, easier to navigate and grounded in direct community input, and announced Spanish translations are now live.

The briefing to the Board of Commissioners emphasized four main goals: remove language barriers, reorganize site navigation by people’s needs rather than internal departments, deliver relevant search results and publish step‑by‑step service pages. Tracy Massey, the county’s department director for county assets overseeing information technology, said the county funded the program as a one‑time multiyear capital investment and has been building toward the current work since 2018.

“Language access showed up as the number one barrier to using the website,” said Tracy Scribe, the county’s senior digital product manager, describing findings from community engagement. Scribe said the county will lead with Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian and simplified Chinese in 2026 and add additional languages afterward. “As of last week on Wednesday, I’m very pleased to share that Spanish translations are now available on the website,” Scribe said.

Presenters described a mixed translation approach: machine translations handled at scale using privacy‑protected Google Gemini AI models for routine content, and human translation or manual review for critical, time‑sensitive information. The site now includes a public disclaimer and a form to report translation issues, routed to the web and digital experience team for assessment.

County staff and consultants also described the research and engagement that informed the redesign: insight interviews with more than 65 county employees across 13 departments, outreach to 92 organizations with 30 community‑based organization interviews, 10 listening sessions attended by 109 participants, two surveys (262 responses) and 23 usability tests in English and Spanish. Officials said community partners frequently act as “front doors” to county services because the existing site is hard to use and often organized around department names and acronyms rather than the needs of residents.

The planned improvements include reorganizing content into plain‑language category hubs (for example, “food and housing” or “parenting”), selecting a new search technology in 2026 that will be validated by community input, and publishing single‑service pages with clear step‑by‑step instructions and prominent action buttons. Presenters also said the county intends to prioritize accessibility for assistive technologies, continue screen‑reader testing and convene multidisciplinary community advisory groups to refine design standards.

Commissioners praised the community‑centered approach and asked about testing, rollout timing and how the website connects to back‑end systems and program eligibility. Massey acknowledged the effort is substantial and said staff will continue work in coordinated phases, noting the $3,000,000 seed investment the county made to fund the work to date.

The board did not take votes on the project during the briefing. Staff said the website transformation is part of the county’s broader capital planning process and will be reflected in forthcoming capital materials and follow‑up briefings.