There are many times during office hours that someone who is D/deaf or hard-of-hearing might require an interpreter as an accommodation. Title II and Title III covered entities are required to provide reasonable accommodation and effective communication unless it can be demonstrated that doing so would create an undue hardship on the organization. We examine interpreter requests.
Related: Defining Undue Hardship in Reasonable Accommodation Requests.
What does the Americans with Disabilities Act say about interpreters?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities to ensure equal opportunity in the application process, enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of a job, and enable an employee with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment.
The term ‘reasonable accommodations’ is vague, but the ADA does provide guidance on what is required and what is not. A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job or work environment, which includes the procurement of auxiliary aids and services.
According to the Department of Justice, the term 'auxiliary aids and services' refers to "the ways to communicate with people who have communication disabilities." In regards to those who are D/deaf and hard of hearing, this means qualified note-takers, large print, oral interpreters, cued-speech interpreters, tactile interpreters, real-time captioning, and written materials.
Interpreters and other auxiliary aids can vary in cost and be hard to secure at times, so it is advised that your organization establish processes and vendor relationships ahead of time so staff is not scrambling to provide accommodation.
While you do have some flexibility as an employer, it is important to remember that your mandate is to provide effective communication as required by the ADA. Remember, your employee knows best what is required to accomplish this objective, and failing to do so, or providing the wrong accommodation as a cost savings to the organization is at best offensive and at worst ineffective and unusable.
What types of interpreters are there?
There are many types of interpreters/auxiliary-aids utilized by the D/deaf and hard-of-hearing community, including (some of the most common):
- American Sign Language: Many D/deaf people use American Sign Language (ASL). The most common type of interpreter you’ll be asked for is an ASL interpreter. However, there are more than 300 sign languages, worldwide, so there’s always the chance your employee will use a different one, such as British Sign Language (BSL) or Hawai’i Sign Language (HSL).
- Lipspeaking Interpretation: Some D/deaf people don’t speak sign language, or simply just prefer to use lip-speaking services instead. Lipspeaking is more commonly utilized by people with acquired deafness, which means they were not born deaf.
- Note-Takers: Another option is to hire a note-taker so that your employee can keep up at meetings, or even to provide them with minutes afterward if listening to the fast-moving conversation is challenging.
- VRS/VRI: Service that allows persons with communication disabilities to use sign language to make phone calls or communicate with people via video and internet connection.
- Telephone Relay System (TRS): A service that provides persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or have speech disabilities to communicate by telephone in a manner that is functionally equivalent to telephone services.
When will I be asked to provide an interpreter?
Some employees may require an interpreter full-time. However, others may only need an interpreter for specific situations, such as meetings or team projects. You may also have to provide ASL interpretation for video calls or Zoom conferences.
All of these accommodations are covered under ADA’s ‘reasonable accommodations’ guidelines, but there are certain exceptions. For example, if your company genuinely can’t afford it, or you simply can’t find someone who speaks a rarer sign language.
Related: What Employers Need to Know About Providing Reasonable Accommodation.
Hiring interpreters can be a tricky business and many states have specific requirements regarding the use of interpreters. If you are unsure about the requirements in your state or would like more information about interpreters and the qualifications that are required to provide interpretation services, visit the National Association for the Deaf for directories and additional resources.
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