Formed in 2001 and consisting of Chevin Housing Association Ltd and Harewood Housing Society Ltd, Chevin Housing Group owns and maintains rented homes across the across the whole of Yorkshire and Humberside.
As a charitable organisation working in a culturally diverse area, it was important for them to communicate effectively with their tenants and service users, without putting too much of a strain on their budgets.

THE CHALLENGE
In 2006, Chevin had a range of information documents for clients which required full or part translation. They knew which languages were most common amongst their service users, but were unsure the best way to go about ordering the translations to get the best value for money.

Chevin had already decided that they would only translate the leaflet titles to begin with, and then see what the demand was for the information so that full translations could be produced when necessary. As the documents were going to be produced throughout the year, their plan was to send through the requests for the titles translation as and when they were required. They wanted to be able to use the files in-house as well as have the option for their designers to use the translations in documents too.

THE SOLUTION
Their dedicated OSW Project Executive took all their requirements into account, and provided them with not just one but a range of different options, to suit various budgets and requirements. By grouping the shorter texts together as one project as one of the options suggested, Chevin were able to save not only time in making requests throughout the year but thousands of pounds on the predicted costs of the translation.

The following year, Chevin took on the mammoth task of redeveloping their website. Again, they were able to rely on OSW for sound advice for approaching the translation of the site and assistance in discussing the technical aspects, collaborating with Chevin’s web design team.

Following consultation with OSW, the decision was made to produce text for translating a smaller section of the site, with a view that once users were on the site the majority of their questions could be answered by this section. This meant that once the site was live and being used, they could then judge whether more information required translation.

Working with the website designers, the translation team were able to check all links of the site before it went live, to ensure all was working well.

The site is now live and can be seen at www.chevinha.co.uk.