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Article published In:
Fair MT: Towards ethical, sustainable Machine Translation
Edited by Joss Moorkens, Dorothy Kenny and Félix do Carmo
[Translation Spaces 9:1] 2020
► pp. 150–169

Machine translation and fair access to information

ORCID logo | Tampere University
ORCID logo | University of Turku | University of Helsinki
This article contributes to the discussion on fairness and ethics in MT by highlighting efforts that have been made to use MT for the humanitarian purpose of increasing access to information for groups that are underserved. The article provides an overview of example projects in which MT has been implemented for this purpose in three contexts: civic participation, public health and safety, and media and culture. In addition, the article examines some of the ethical issues surrounding efforts to use MT for accessibility, including issues of quality, acceptability, and the need to involve stakeholders in development.
Keywords: machine translation, accessibility, ethics, machine translation for information purposes, post-editing, linguistic accessibility
Article outline
  • 1.Access to information and machine translation
    • 1.1Access to information as a human right and language as an obstacle to accessibility
    • 1.2The challenges of multilingualism and MT as a potential solution
  • 2.Example projects using MT to promote fair access to information
    • 2.1Access to civic participation
    • 2.2Access to health and safety information
    • 2.3Access to culture and media
  • 3.Ethical considerations in MT for accessibility
    • 3.1Quality issues
    • 3.2Acceptability of the use of MT
    • 3.3Involvement of stakeholders in development efforts
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Funding
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 17 August 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.00025.nur
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