Language access is often reduced to a checklist: get an interpreter, translate a form, check the box. But what if the streets themselves could reveal whose languages are welcomed, and whose are erased?

In this episode of Language Access Matters, Carol Velandia sits down with Dr. Olivia Mignone, a sociolinguist specializing in linguistic landscapes, migration, and language policy. Her dissertation, Vital Signs: Tibetan in the Linguistic Landscape of Jackson Heights, uses geosemiotic analysis, photography, and community interviews to show how language in public space is far more than signage. It’s a diagnostic of who is seen, who is served, and who gets left out of policy-making.

Through the lens of Queens' Tibetan community, this conversation challenges the "diversity as aesthetic" narrative and makes the case for language access that is community-driven, equity-centered, and built with people, not just for them.

In this episode, we sit down with Cindy Roat, a nationally recognized language access expert, policy leader, and longtime civil rights advocate, to explore a foundational yet often misunderstood question: What does it truly mean to treat language access as a civil right?

Drawing on decades of experience shaping federal, state, and local language access policy, Cindy reflects on the evolution of healthcare interpreting, the ethics that define the profession, and the systems that continue to marginalize people with limited English proficiency. Together, we examine how interpreter training emerged in the U.S., why ethics and role clarity matter, and how language access shifted from an informal workaround to a compliance obligation rooted in civil rights law.

The conversation also dives into the present moment. We unpack the implications of recent executive orders, Medicaid cuts, and political rhetoric around language, and why these forces pose real risks to equitable access to care and public services. Cindy introduces Unheard Voices, a national initiative documenting the lived experiences of individuals whose communication needs are ignored, silenced, or dismissed, and explains why storytelling is essential to effective advocacy.

In this episode of the Language Access Matters Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Lorella Viola, Assistant Professor in Digital Humanities & Society at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, to explore a profound question: Who gets to shape digital knowledge, and in which language?

This conversation examines how language, power, and ideology circulate through digital infrastructures: from search engines and archives to multilingual systems, cultural heritage, and AI tools. Dr. Viola explains how English became the default of the internet, what this means for communities worldwide, and how multilingual approaches can break down long-standing silos in digital knowledge production.

If you work in language access, digital policy, interpretation, cultural heritage, AI ethics, healthcare communication, or global education, this episode illuminates why multilingual design is not just a feature: it is a form of justice.