L.A. lawmaker wants city site to be multilingual

Los Angeles councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski filed a motion Friday directing the city's Information Technology Agency (ITA) to find ways to make Los Angeles World Wide Web site more accessible to the area's non-English-speaking population.

Miscikowski's motion gives the ITA 30 days to suggest ways in which the city's Web pages can be upgraded to provide information in other languages, or at the very least, links to information in other languages.

The motion was filed after a reporter from civic.com magazine asked members of the city council about their level of interest in Webcasting to non-English-speaking communities.The motion instructs the ITA to work with key city agencies, including the police, fire, housing, aging and community-development departments, to identify information that should be translated into selected languages that would best serve their various constituencies over the Internet.

Miscikowski, who represents Los Angeles' 11th district, also is scheduled to file a separate motion directing the ITA to study the feasibility of broadcasting city council meetings via video teleconferencing or real-time media streaming as a way of boosting citizen participation.