16 languages added to North Dakota Job Service and Department of Health websites

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Job Service North Dakota and the North Dakota Department of Health officials announced Tuesday that they’ve added 16 language options to their websites as part of a pilot program.

“Both our agency and the department of health had many requests during the pandemic come from people that didn’t speak English or spoke English as a second language. It will help us serve all our customers better because more people will be able to get information online, versus calling and having to either be on hold on the telephone or waiting for an interpreter service,” said Sarah Arntson, communications officer for Job Service North Dakota.

“The ability for residents who either speak English as a second language or do not speak English to be able to easily access public health information that they understand is an important breakthrough for our website,” said Dr. Nizar Wehbi, North Dakota State Health Officer.

“We have large populations of new Americans across the state and they’re a vital part of our workforce,” added Pat Bertagnolli, Job Service Executive Director.

Jobsnd.com and health.nd.gov now have language options of English, Arabic, Basque, Bosnian, Chinese, French, Hindi, Hmong, Kurdish, Nepali, Pashto, Punjabi, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese. The service providers plan to add more languages and expand to other state websites in the future.