Case study · Certified translation

Drafting a certified Spanish translation with Claude, and the workbench that follows

A National Digital product study of our own work. Claude drafted 21 documents that a NAATI translator certified, and a translator workbench is scoped.

National Digital applies document intelligence to its own paperwork first.

Written by Cameron Young, CEO

Reviewed by Tara Buckley, COO, on 31 October 2026

Last updated 31 October 2026

Technologies

Claude
OCR
Xero (scoped)

At a glance

Industry: Certified translation
Engagement type: In-house job and scoped product
Team: National Digital

The challenge

A visa file can run to many scanned documents, and each one needs a certified translation. A model can draft the text of a bank statement or a certificate, but only a NAATI certified translator can certify it. The job tested how much of the drafting Claude could take on before the translator's certification.

What we built

National Digital drafted each document with Claude skills from its scanned source and passed the drafts to a NAATI certified Spanish translator, who certified the translations. The workbench scoped next keeps that division of work and gives the translator the tools.

Drafting 21 documents with Claude skills from scanned sources
Certification of the drafts by a NAATI certified Spanish translator
Scoped: OCR intake of bank statements, police checks and medical certificates
Scoped: Xero invoicing of the translator's jobs
Scoped: zero-retention processing of the documents
Scoped: in-region inference where it is available

The outcome

The 21 documents, 61 pages in all, were drafted with Claude and certified by the translator, who described the drafts as near flawless. The study makes no claim about time or cost saved, because the job did not measure either.

Where it went next

National Digital has scoped a translator-facing drafting workbench and started early prototyping of its document intake and its Xero integration, and has released none of it The workbench is written here as scoped. It has no release date and no price.

This case study describes a job National Digital did for one of its own directors and a workbench that is scoped and not released. It does not name the applicant or the translator.

What is scoped

The workbench is for translators. The translator is the user and the certifier, and National Digital is the tool vendor. National Digital is never the translator of record and has no relationship with the translator's end client.

The scope has four parts. OCR intake reads scanned documents such as bank statements, police checks and medical certificates. Claude drafts each translation for the translator to review and certify. Processing is zero-retention, and inference runs in region where a provider offers it. Xero invoicing raises the translator's invoice for each job.

The translator stays the user so that the sensitive documents stay with the certified practitioner who is responsible for them, and National Digital does not hold them.

Key Takeaways

What the job showed

A model can draft a certified translation, and a certified translator still has to certify it.Critical
Claude produced the drafts from scanned sources. The NAATI certified translator reviewed and certified them, so the accountability stayed with the person who holds the credential.
The translator's verdict on the drafts is the quality measure that matters for this work.Critical
The translator described the drafts as near flawless. The job recorded no other measure of quality, and the study does not invent one.
A workbench should keep sensitive documents with the translator.Important
The scope makes the translator the user, with zero-retention processing and in-region inference where available, so National Digital does not hold end clients' bank statements or police checks.
OCR intake and Xero invoicing are prototype-stage and sit in the scope, not in the delivered job.Helpful
The delivered job used Claude skills on scanned documents. Early prototyping of OCR intake and of Xero integration has started, and nothing of either has been released to a translator.

National Digital drafted a visa translation job with Claude and a NAATI certified translator certified it. A workbench that makes the translator the user is scoped, with no release date and no price.

Questions decision-makers ask about this work

Who certified the translations?

A NAATI certified Spanish translator on the Gold Coast certified them. National Digital drafted them and was not the translator of record. The translator is not named here.

How much of the job did Claude do?

National Digital drafted a Spanish visa translation job with Claude skills from scanned source documents, and a NAATI certified Spanish translator certified it (service) The job comprised 21 (service) documents and 61 (service) pages. National Digital supplied the drafts and the translator certified them.

What did the job cost and how long did it take?

The study states neither. National Digital did not measure its own drafting time or cost, and the translator's fees are not published here.

Can a translator use the workbench today?

No. The workbench is scoped. It has no release date and no price, and early prototyping covers only OCR intake and Xero integration.

How does the scope handle sensitive documents?

The translator is the user and the data owner. The scope calls for zero-retention processing and in-region inference where a provider offers it, so National Digital holds none of the end client's documents.

What would OCR intake do in the workbench?

It would read scanned documents such as bank statements, police checks and medical certificates into text that Claude drafts from, for the translator to review and certify.