idioma.chat
Government Pilot Program

Your 30-Day Pilot Playbook

A structured guide to running a successful government pilot — from day-one setup through the internal case study that justifies a full agency contract.

Start Your Pilot →

What Does Success Look Like?

A successful 30-day pilot answers three questions your leadership will ask at renewal: Did residents use it? Did it work accurately? Did it stay within budget? These are the numbers that matter.

>500Translation sessions in 30 days (for 50K+ pop. site)
3+Languages used by residents in the first week
100%Budget adherence — no overages, automatic cap enforcement

These benchmarks are based on observed usage patterns from pilot deployments. Your numbers will vary by site traffic and community demographics. The Analytics dashboard tracks all of these automatically.

4-Week Pilot Timeline

Week 1
Install & Configure
Sign up and complete the onboarding checklist in the dashboard
Add your domain(s) in the Domains tab — this restricts the widget to your site only
Configure language presets (we recommend starting with your community's top 5 LEP languages)
Install the embed snippet in your CMS header — 5 minutes for WordPress, CivicPlus, or Granicus
Set a conservative monthly budget cap (e.g. $25–$50 for a pilot) — translations pause automatically if reached
Share the live URL with 2–3 internal testers before public launch
Week 2
Launch & Monitor
Enable the widget sitewide — no code change needed, it's already embedded
Check the Analytics dashboard daily — look for at least 3 languages appearing in the first 5 days
Note which pages are being translated most (the Source Domain column in your CSV export)
Forward one translated page to a bilingual staff member for spot-check accuracy
Capture any resident feedback through your normal feedback channels
Week 3
Tune & Document
Enable AI Quality Review in Settings if you need MQM-scored translation accuracy data
Export your 30-day CSV from Analytics → share with your IT or program lead
Document: which languages, how many sessions, any content gaps found
If AI features are useful, enable Plain Language for benefit/services pages
Note any pages where residents might need additional help (these become training targets)
Week 4
Build the Case Study
Pull your Analytics export for the full 30-day period
Fill in the Case Study Template below using your actual numbers
Answer: What languages were most used? Did it work within budget? What would we change?
Prepare a one-page summary for department leadership or council approval
Evaluate: expand to additional departments, increase budget, or add more language presets

Case Study Template

Copy this template into a document and fill it in with your pilot data. This is the artifact your leadership needs to approve a full contract.

AGENCY: [Your agency name] PILOT PERIOD: [Start date] – [End date] SITE: [Your website URL] USAGE SUMMARY ───────────────────────────────────── Total sessions: ___ translation sessions Languages served: ___ unique languages Top language: ___ (___% of sessions) Pages translated: ___ unique pages BUDGET ───────────────────────────────────── Monthly cap set: $___ Actual spend: $___ Cost per session: $___ ACCURACY ───────────────────────────────────── Spot-check method: [ ] Staff review [ ] AI Quality Review Languages checked: ___ Findings: ___ RESIDENT FEEDBACK ───────────────────────────────────── Feedback collected via: ___ Summary: ___ RECOMMENDATION ───────────────────────────────────── [ ] Expand sitewide at $___/month budget [ ] Add departments: ___ [ ] Language adjustments: ___ [ ] Continue pilot with changes: ___ Prepared by: ___ Date: ___

Agency Compliance Checklist

Items your IT security or legal team will typically ask about. Each links to documentation.

PrivacyNo PII collected from website visitors — translation content processed in memory onlyView →
DataData Processing Agreement (DPA) available — covers GDPR, CCPA, and state privacy lawsView →
A11yWCAG 2.1 AA conformance documented — 16/16 criteria Supports, VPAT availableView →
Uptime99.9% monthly uptime SLA for the translation API with service creditsView →
SecurityClerk-managed auth, API key rotation, TLS-only, IP rate limiting, full audit trailView →
BillingMonthly budget caps with auto-pause — no overages possible on fixed-appropriation budgetsView →
Languages100+ languages including all Executive Order 13166 LEP languagesView →

Ready to start your pilot?

Create an account in under 2 minutes. The widget can be live on your site today.

Start Free PilotTalk to Us First