Translation Services in Akron, OH

Akron by the numbers

Residents: 189,247
Speak a language other than English at home: 15,856 8.9%
Speak English less than “very well”: 8,522 4.8%
Limited-English households: 2,019 2.4%
Born outside the U.S.: 13,212 7%

Languages spoken in Akron

8.9% of Akron residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 4.8% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese and Russian, Polish, and other Slavic.

4,487Other Indo-European languages
4,454Spanish
2,821Other Asian and Pacific Island languages
755Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese
676Russian, Polish, and other Slavic
363German and other West Germanic

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates for Akron city (tables C16001, C16002, B05002, B05006) (opens in a new tab). Figures with a wide margin of error are not shown.

Where Akron residents born abroad come from

Countries of birth point to the languages behind the Census groups above, and to the documents (birth certificates, diplomas, court records) that arrive for translation.

Nepal1,528
Mexico1,324
Bhutan1,321
Burma (Myanmar)936
China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan609
Thailand536

Language services in Akron

Detailed languages in Ohio

The Census Bureau publishes individual languages for states, not for cities. These are the most-spoken languages other than English in Ohio.

Spanish327,084
Yiddish, Pennsylvania Dutch or other West Germanic languages71,791
Arabic51,748
German45,938
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)43,517
Nepali, Marathi, or other Indic languages38,051
French (incl. Cajun)34,927
Amharic, Somali, or other Afro-Asiatic languages28,384

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 2024 1-year, table B16001, Ohio.

Language access rules in Ohio

Court interpreter program: Supreme Court of Ohio Language Services Section, which administers testing, certification, and credentialing of court interpreters through the Court Interpreter Credentialing Program, publishes the roster of interpreters, and makes roster interpreters available to courts by telephone and video.
Court-certified languages: Ohio offers credentialing in more than 40 languages, including ASL, with National Center for State Courts tests in 17 of them (Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Cantonese, Filipino, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese); candidates scoring 70% or more on each oral exam part become certified and those scoring above 60% become provisionally qualified, and Sup.R. 9.10 also recognizes registered and language-skilled interpreters below them. Sign language interpreters must hold the RID Specialist Certificate: Legal to be listed as sign language interpreters.
The rule: R.C. 2311.14(A)(1) requires the court to appoint a qualified interpreter whenever a party or witness cannot readily understand or communicate because of a hearing, speech, or other impairment, and Sup.R. 9.10 (formerly Sup.R. 88) requires courts to appoint a foreign language interpreter for a limited English proficient party or witness when needed for meaningful participation, and a sign language interpreter for a deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind party, witness, or juror who requests one or whom the court finds needs one.
Order of appointment: Sup.R. 9.10 requires courts to appoint a Supreme Court certified interpreter in person, and to use a provisionally qualified or registered interpreter, then a language-skilled interpreter, then a telephonic or video interpreter, only after summarizing on the record its efforts to obtain a certified one; courts must use all reasonable efforts to avoid appointing friends, family, other court staff, law enforcement, or counsel as interpreters.
Team interpreting: Sup.R. 9.10 requires two or more interpreters for any case or court function lasting two or more hours that requires continuous, simultaneous, or consecutive interpretation, for shorter matters when complexity warrants, and whenever multiple parties, witnesses, or jurors need an interpreter.
Ancillary court services: Sup.R. 9.11 (formerly Sup.R. 89) requires courts to provide foreign language and sign language communication services in conjunction with ancillary court services, using credentialed interpreters or court employees the Language Services Section has qualified.
Limits on artificial intelligence: Sup.R. 9.09 (effective October 30, 2025, amended November 13, 2025) bars courts from using artificial intelligence to translate substantive legal writings such as legal forms, court orders, and probation conditions, or to interpret in any substantive legal proceeding, and allows AI translation of general court information only with clear disclosure to the public.
Credentialing exams: The Ohio written exam covers general English proficiency, court terminology, and interpreter ethics with an 80% passing score, and the oral exam requires 70% on each of its sight translation, consecutive, and simultaneous parts.
Statewide hotline: The Supreme Court of Ohio's Language Services page tells court users who are not provided a court-appointed interpreter to call 1-888-317-3177 (weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and states that roster interpreters are available to courts by telephone and video.

Sources

Akron questions

What languages are spoken in Akron?

8.9% of Akron residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 4.8% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese and Russian, Polish, and other Slavic. The most common countries of birth among residents born abroad are Nepal, Mexico, and Bhutan.

How many Akron households have limited English?

2,019 of 84,734 households (2.4%), according to the Census Bureau: households in which no one age 14 or older speaks only English or speaks English “very well.” These are the households most likely to need an interpreter or translated documents.

How are court interpreters credentialed in Ohio?

Supreme Court of Ohio Language Services Section, which administers testing, certification, and credentialing of court interpreters through the Court Interpreter Credentialing Program, publishes the roster of interpreters, and makes roster interpreters available to courts by telephone and video. Ohio offers credentialing in more than 40 languages, including ASL, with National Center for State Courts tests in 17 of them (Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Cantonese, Filipino, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese); candidates scoring 70% or more on each oral exam part become certified and those scoring above 60% become provisionally qualified, and Sup.R. 9.10 also recognizes registered and language-skilled interpreters below them. Sign language interpreters must hold the RID Specialist Certificate: Legal to be listed as sign language interpreters.

Do you provide on-site interpreters in Akron?

Yes. We schedule interpreters in person in Akron and across Ohio, and by phone and video nationwide, in 250+ languages including Spanish and ASL. Book less common languages as early as you can.

Do you provide conference and meeting interpreters in Akron?

Yes. We staff conferences, conventions, trade shows, seminars, corporate training, and client meetings in Akron with simultaneous or consecutive interpreters. For simultaneous interpreting, our own technicians deliver, run, and strike the booths, transmitters, and receivers, shipped from our own inventory.