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A Tool for Cultural Organizations

Accessible Communication Guide

This Guide covers practical tools, tips, and skills for using interpreters, assistive technology, creating accessible documents, and more. See the Communications and Marketing Guide for the business communications of the organization.


Table of Contents

Time Savers

Toolkits and Training

Accommodation Guides

Additional Resources


Time Savers

Read:

 Watch/Listen:

Toolkits and Training

Online Toolkits:

Webinars:

Accommodation Guides

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation
  • How can I find an ASL interpreter?
    • An ASL Interpreter is a hearing individual who has passed written and performance exams to become a professional interpreter for the Deaf community. Most ASL Interpreters do not come from Deaf families or use ASL as their first or native language, however there are exceptions.
    • Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) are certified individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing, a part of the Deaf community with a strong sense of Deaf culture, and are native users of ASL.   
    • The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf offers a national listing of ASL interpreters. Your state’s Office for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services can also offer recommendations for ASL Interpreters or CDIs.
    • Not all Deaf people or those who are hard of hearing use ASL. It is a best practice to provide live captions alongside ASL interpretation when it is offered.

Captioning and CART

  • What are Captioning and CART?
    • Captioning/CART: 9 minutes. Information about cart, captioning, relevant laws, and also includes a link to an 8 minute YouTube video about captioning and CART. 
    • Do check your State’s Office for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services to find recommendations for CART providers.
    • Ask if your captioning service provides a transcript after your event. Transcripts are useful to share with a recording of an event or program, or to help compile notes from a meeting! 
  • How do I add captions to videos?  
      • Plan in advance. You can also add captions to existing videos.
      • Add your own closed captions to YouTube videos.
      • SubtitleEdit is free, open-source software that allows for post-production captioning of video files.
  • How much does live captioning cost?  
    • Look for free artificial intelligence (AI) software to create captions, such as Zoom or YouTube’s auto-caption features.  Note that these can be inaccurate but are better than providing no captions at all.
    • CART provided by a trained captioner can be provided either in-person or virtually and typically costs about $100 per hour.
    • CART is preferred over AI by the Deaf and hard of hearing community because it is generally more accurate than auto-generated captions.
  • What video conferencing platforms allow for captions?
    • The Video Conferencing Platforms Feature Matrix from the National Association for the Deaf compares video conferencing platforms for accessibility for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.  
    • CART captions can also be provided in a separate browser window if your video conference platform doesn’t support caption integration. 

Verbal/Image Description:

Tactile Graphics/Models:

  • Are there any standards or guidelines for creating tactile graphics and models?  
  • How do I go about creating a tactile graphic or model?  

Additional Resources

Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution unless otherwise noted.