1. Calling translation superheroes!

    Can you help the international FOI community?

    mySociety helps people run Freedom of Information sites in 25 jurisdictions around the world, on our Alaveteli platform.

    These partners are usually keeping their sites going with little resource or funding, and we want to upgrade everyone to the newest version of Alaveteli so that they won’t need to manage this substantial task for themselves.

    There are improvements and new features in the updates, which is exciting for our partners and their users — but of course, with every new feature come new, small strings of text that help explain it to users, label the buttons, describe any errors that occur, etc, etc.

    And although we’re good on coding languages, sadly we can’t say the same about most of the actual spoken languages that need translation. So if you are fluent (ideally as a native speaker or equivalent) in any of the languages listed below, and you would like to do something both interesting and extremely worthwhile, we would be very grateful!

    Translation is done via a system called Transifex. Those who are able and keen to contribute to the global Freedom of Information movement should drop us a line on alaveteli@mysociety.org with an idea of your availability and commitment, and we can get you set up.

    We need translators fluent in:

    • French (France and Rwanda versions)
    • Spanish (Spain, Colombia and Nicaragua versions)
    • German (Germany)
    • Turkish
    • Nepalese
    • Kinyarwanda
    • Macedonian
    • Romanian

    If you speak languages other than these, you can find the full list of languages here and we’re sure any of our partners running sites would be grateful for the translation help — but the above languages are our priorities as these are the sites we help by hosting ourselves.

    We’re aiming to get things upgraded as soon as possible, and certainly in time for International Right To Information Day in September, so we’re looking for translators with availability over the coming three months (May, June and July 2019). If this sounds interesting and fun to you please do get in touch.

    Image: Yogi Purnama

  2. Win a mySociety hoodie – tell us how you got things changed with one of our sites

    Andy in a mySociety hoodiemySociety websites are all about giving you the power to get things changed.

    We’re looking for stories for our annual report, and we want to hear about any changes—big or small—that you’ve seen from using one of our sites.

    If we go ahead and use your story in our annual report, we’ll thank you with one of our lovely snuggly mySociety hoodies and no doubt we’ll throw in a few stickers, too.

    Here (left) is what those hoodies look like, ably modeled by ace volunteer Andy.

    So have a think:

    fixmystreet-logoPerhaps you’ve made an improvement to your community through FixMyStreet: it could be something as small as getting some litter cleared away, or as big as campaigning for a new road layout. TWFY
    You might have used TheyWorkForYou to understand how your MP voted.
    Maybe you used that information to help you decide how to vote this year.
    WDTK
    Have you discovered information on WhatDoTheyKnow? Let us know what you did with that knowledge.
    writetothem-logo Maybe you used WriteToThem to ask for help from your elected representatives, or to encourage them to think about an issue that’s important to you.

    Here’s what to do

    Submit a video (45 seconds max) or a photo with text (150 words max) or just text (150 words max) explaining exactly how you got things changed with one of the mySociety sites.

    Video

    Videos should be landscape format. We’re not looking for high production values: just you, talking into your camera phone is fine! Tell us which site you used, and what got changed. When you’re happy with your video, please upload it to YouTube or a similar video hosting site, and send the link to press@mysociety.org.

    Photo with text

    Send us a photo of yourself. It can be a simple portrait, or you might like to include a relevant feature, like a pothole you got filled in, or a community project one of our sites contributed to in some way.

    Then add a few words to explain which site you used, and what got changed. Please send your text as an email along with your photo as a jpg attachment, to press@mysociety.org.

    Text

    Tell us which site you used, and what got changed, in an email to press@mysociety.org.

    Closing date

    Please have your submission with us by November 15th.

    And this is the small print

    Submission of a video, photo or text constitutes an agreement that we may use it, and your name, in mySociety’s annual report 2015. This report is sent to our friends, supporters, funders and partners, and also publicised through mySociety’s various social media channels. We reserve the right to edit your text, but where we do so it will be for accuracy or clarity and not to change the underlying meaning.

    We may also upload your video to the mySociety YouTube channel.

    We may not use every submission. Those chosen for inclusion will receive a mySociety hoodie and stickers.