No one likes being talked over or ignored. For people with disabilities, it’s a common occurrence. Still, at events where sign language interpreters are present, it can be particularly frustrating to see someone addressing an interpreter more often than the individual for which the interpreter is present.
This isn’t a new problem brought to the forefront by Zoom calls and increased commitments to access. A 2014 post by interpreting provider Sign Nexus points to how commonplace problematic processes like this can be. When you add in the occasional scandal about fake sign language interpretation, the campaign for UK politicians to include interpreters at their speeches and a society obsessed with what Deaf people do, such as sing or listen to music, it seems that cultural competency is lacking.
Properly directing focus
Treating a Deaf person like they are the sidebar rather than the main focus means creating the erasure that providing ASL interpreting was meant to help prevent in the first place. Just like it’s rude to only talk to whoever is accompanying a wheelchair user or speaking down to someone with an intellectual disability, choosing to engage far more with your interpreter than the person they are there to create access for is disrespectful and culturally insensitive. Sign language may be beautiful, but interpreting may be a job that takes a lot of skill and you may not have seen an interpreter in action before. Still, you are responsible for engaging with the person in front of you rather than fawn over their (usually) hearing interpreter.
When you focus too much on an interpreter, you’re saying that you don’t consider the Deaf person a true part of the conversation. They are being treated as the person to be talked at instead of the person to be talked with in this situation.
Those at the University of Oregon’s Accessible Education Center said,
“Speak directly with the D/deaf person, not the interpreter, when using an interpreter to communicate. The interpreter is not part of the conversation and is not permitted to voice personal opinions or enter into the conversation. Face the D/deaf individual and speak to them in a normal manner. Avoid phrases like "tell her" or "ask him." When the interpreter says, ‘I’ or ‘me,’ those are the direct words of the D/deaf or hard of hearing consumer, not the interpreter.”
Confront your assumptions
So, where can you learn the etiquette necessary to be equitable and accessible while hosting events involving interpreters? For one, read and watch videos, attend events, be curious, and ask about cultural norms in your region and community. Look at sites like The Limping Chicken, one of the UK’s top blogging platforms for Deaf writers.
Confront your assumptions about what communicating with accessible services like sign language interpretation can and should look like. As with so much advice regarding accessibility, begin with access as foundational to the space you’re holding rather than as a legally mandated afterthought.
For example, integrated sign language is becoming an increased area of focus in theatre. As a result, sign language is not sidelined to a hidden corner of the stage but is integral to the plot or the play's characters. Here again, from an audience perspective– ASL shifts away from being an ignorable sidebar and towards what it is, a way to communicate and an incredibly valuable cultural expression.
In the same way, Alt Text as Poetry is pushing people to see access as a beautiful and creative thing, performances with integrated sign language ask how an entire cultural community can embrace the language being used.
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