The ATC is absolutely delighted to share that it has been selected as the winner…
Make the Invisible Visible: Attitudes, Barriers and Strategies for Inclusive Language in UK Translation and Healthcare Communication by Aidan Luker (Centre of Translation Studies, University of Surrey) is a collaborative MA dissertation with the ATC. It explores how professionals in the UK’s translation and healthcare communication sectors understand and implement inclusive language, focusing on gender-neutral and disability-inclusive terminology.
Through interviews and a focus group, it explores how practitioners define inclusivity, how they manage competing pressures, and what strategies they use to make communication more equitable and representative.
The research reveals that inclusive language is increasingly seen as a professional and ethical responsibility rather than a stylistic preference. Participants described its value in improving representation, accessibility and fairness, but also reflected on the barriers that make it difficult to apply consistently. These included structural constraints within institutions, client hesitancy, limited training opportunities, and technological tools that often reproduce exclusionary norms.
Four key themes emerged:
- Representation and visibility: Inclusive language was understood as a way to make marginalised identities visible and respected within communication.
- Empowerment: Healthcare communicators highlighted co-production, plain language and audience testing as ways to strengthen participation and agency.
- Responsibility: Translators and language service providers discussed the need to balance ethical conviction with institutional expectations and client briefs.
- Relational work: Many described the interpersonal negotiation required to build understanding and support for inclusive practice within their organisations.
The study argues that inclusive translation is not simply a matter of choosing the right words, but a socially grounded practice shaped by context, collaboration and care. It contributes to ongoing discussions in translation studies about the translator’s ethical agency and the collective responsibility for language that represents all people fairly, concluding that inclusive language is an ongoing, reflective practice that demands curiosity, care, and a commitment to making language work more just for all those it seeks to represent.
Author Biography
Aidan Luker is a translator and translation project manager with a strong interest in inclusive communication and the ethics of language. He holds a Master’s in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Surrey, where his research explored how inclusive language is understood and applied in the UK’s translation and healthcare communication sectors.
He completed a BA in French and Portuguese at the University of Southampton, where he developed a deep interest in how language shapes identity and belonging. Drawing on queer theory, translation studies and social linguistics, his work examines how language can both challenge and reinforce barriers to inclusion.
Alongside his professional projects in the medical, environmental, engineering and marketing sectors, Aidan volunteers as a translator for Kiva, supporting microfinance initiatives by translating loans that help small start-ups secure funding. This work reflects his belief that language can drive social change and open access to opportunity.
He sees translation as a form of connection that makes people visible, empowers communities and brings empathy into communication. Grateful to the mentors and professors who have supported his growth, Aidan continues to promote the message that guides both his work and his values: question everything, never shrink to fit in, and keep fighting for representation.
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