We are a Deaf operated agency that provides sign language interpreting services to Northern California and Nevada

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits businesses from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. This means that businesses (regardless of profit or non-profit status) must provide equal access to all services and events. Often, Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals need a sign language interpreter to have equal access to communication. Businesses are responsible for hiring these interpreters at their own expense. The cost of interpreting services cannot be passed to the Deaf, DeafBlind or Hard of Hearing individual as these costs are considered a part of doing business.

The “industry standard” requires team interpreting for anything longer than one hour of continuous Interpreting. This is to prevent repetitive motion injury or carpel tunnel. Research shows that the mental process of interpreting can be fatiguing and strenuous. The processing time and accuracy diminishes if Interpreters are not allowed breaks. A Team Interpreter allows relief of actual interpretation, but also provides a back-up for each other to ensure that all information is disseminated accurately. Lengthy and complex jobs generally require an interpreting team of two interpreters that rotate at approximately 20-minute intervals. This is designed to ensure consistent and effective interpreting quality for your Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing employees and clients. Two Interpreters may not be necessary for all assignments. This is determined on a per assignment basis.

There are many reasons, why it would not be appropriate to use a family member to interpret for you. There is no guarantee of the family member’s interpreting signing or interpreting skills. They may not be familiar with the terminology used in the setting. Professional Interpreters have a variety of experience Interpreting in many different settings. They also follow a strict Code of Ethics. Sign language interpreting is a very complex task that requires knowing more than just sign language or fingerspelling the alphabet. Furthermore, an individual who is able to converse in sign language does not possess the expertise required to perform in the role of a sign language interpreter unless they have the appropriate credentials, including national certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

A 48-hour notice is required from the time of our service agreement to cancel without charge. If you cancel a request within less than a 48-hour notice, you will be billed for the scheduled time. Cancellations with ample notice allows the Interpreter to schedule other work for that time frame.

Actually 40 to 60 percent of English sounds look alike when spoken, so lip reading requires a lot of guesswork. Even the best lip readers only understand 25-30% of what is said to them. ‘Hello, how are you?’ can be easily understood by using environmental cues, but the intricate details of the rest of the conversation may be missed or misunderstood.