The translation and interpretation industry has a powerful advocate in the ATA or the American Translation Association. The ATA is a professional body that was founded with the purpose of advancing the interests of the translation and interpretation industry. Its mandate is primarily focused on the professional development of individuals who work as translators and interpreters.
The ATA has eleven thousand members comprising translators, interpreters, language company owners, translation agencies, universities, government agencies, and so on. Companies, businesses, and organizations seeking to hire efficient and reliable translators and interpreters often engage the services of translations agencies like Capital Linguists that are ATA members.
This is on account of the fact that such member organizations would adhere to the ATA code of ethics and would be professional and fair in their dealings. Besides, with ATA providing the most highly regarded professional certifications to translators, it becomes easier for potential wpients to judge the pedigree of the agency they are dealing with.
They know that they can depend upon a translation agency that employs certified translators. So whether it is a certified translation, desktop 
publishing or a transcription and translation project that a wpient is looking at outsourcing to a translation agency, they can be assured of quality, if it happens to be an ATA member.
Besides, the ATA acts as a point of reference or ever a ready reckoner for any business or organization that needs information or advice pertaining to their translation requirements. For instance, a businessman seeking to expand his market to Latin America may want to know about the right way of going about organizing English to Spanish translation and Spanish to English translation.
The ATA provides in-depth information to prospective wpients by providing them with valuable resources like the ATA directories, the ATA Compass, and the guide- to -services agreements. ATA has two of the word’s largest directories listing translators, interpreters, and language service providers from every corner of the world. What’s more, the directories are free to access and use.
The ATA Compass, on the other hand, is a handy tool for anybody seeking specific information. It helps one obtain answers to all of one’s questions, besides providing very specific industry information. People or organizations that plan to hire professional translation services for the first time would do well to consult the ATA guide- to -services agreement in order to get a fine sense of the kind of business agreement or contract they need to enter into with their translation services providers.
From the point of view of the translation and interpretation professional, the ATA does a fine job of representing their interests to the right people. For instance, it recently observed an Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, where important issues like the wages for translators and interpreters, the comparative merits and demerits of human and machine translation, as well as the best approaches to language services procurement were taken up.
The fact of the matter is that translation and interpretation is of immense importance to businesses, corporate organizations, governments, non-government bodies, and a myriad other industries and segments. Since the translation services industry facilitates communication from one language to another, it is just as well that a professional body like ATA has laid down certain yardsticks and standards to adhere to.
This is particularly true in today’s times where the world wide web has made distances and geographies irrelevant. While this is definitely a boon to businesses around the world, they do need to ensure that their global outreach doesn’t trip on the quality of their transnational messaging. It is in this context that the importance of quality translation and interpretation becomes extremely important. It necessarily has to be out of the top drawer for one’s marketing outreach to be truly effective.
This is precisely the reason why the ATA is so important with regards to the role it performs in standardization and benchmarking of the translation and interpretation industry. The fact that it is quite extensive in its reach and network, what with its many regional chapters and affiliates, means that the ATA is very well versed with the goings on in the industry at any given point in time.
These local extensions of ATA render invaluable service to the industry at the grassroots level, and in the process enhance the scope and the stature of the translation services industry on a national level. Among the many initiatives taken at the local level are with regards to organizing educational sessions and workshops, carrying out publicity on behalf of local translators and interpreters, and enhancing the awareness about the importance of translating and interpreting services amongst the community.
The global translation industry is slated to touch a turnover of a very impressive $37 billon in 2018, according to a report by IbisWorld.1 The US makes up the biggest part of this market, which is expected to continue growing at a healthy wpip in the years ahead. In light of this, the importance of the role played by ATA in both safeguarding the interests of the industry and tirelessly advocating on its behalf cannot be understated.
In an era of border-less trade and seamless commercial transactions, the presence of a professional body like ATA is quite fortuitous. Its ability to ensure the highest quality and professionalism in the translation and interpretation services industry augurs well for unimpeded international trade and cooperation. The byline on the website of ATA states that it is The Voice Of Interpreters And Translators. That very neatly sums up the role of the American Translation Association and is the very reason for the existence of the Association.
There is no doubt about the fact that in the years to come it will continue to spearhead the growth of the translation and interpretation services industry. This is good news for businesses, regardless of their size and scale of operations. Access to top notch translation service agencies can help them communicate with their target markets regardless of where in the world they might be. Their marketing outreach would be as effective in Spain as it would be in Seattle.
