Guidelines for Sign Language Interpreters

Many people with Usher syndrome may already have low vision due to the eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).  Because of this, there are certain guidelines that sign language interpreters need to follow so their hand gestures can be seen easily by people with Usher.

Reminder about the vision of people with RP/Usher:

• Reduced peripheral vision: As RP progresses, an individual’s peripheral vision reduces. Their visual field narrows; that is, when they look straight ahead, they do not see what is on their left, right, above, and below. This implies that for Ush people who use sign language, the person signing to them needs to understand the extent of the Ush person's visual field, so the Ush person can see both the hand signals as well as the facial expressions of the signer.
• Unclear central vision: Some individuals with Usher may have other eye conditions that affect their central vision. Their central vision may be blurred. 
• Glare:   Any form of glare may be bothersome. Glare from a window in the classroom, glare from the computer screen, glare from any light around the signer, etc.

Guidelines for Sign Language Interpreters

• Wear dark colored tops with no prints. Black or dark blue.  Plain black top is preferred. This will make it easier to see the interpreter's hands.
• If the interpreter has dark-colored skin, it might be better to use a plain white shirt. 
• Sign within a small space (preferrably within the width of your body, and above your waist). Remember that an Ush person has a narrow visual field, and may not see your hands if you move your hands away from your body.
• When on video calls, like in an online video meeting:
• have a simple dark background, or background with no clutter. Eg, you can put a plain dark-colored cloth in your background.
• make sure there are no bright lights behind you or above you that can cause glare
• make sure your face and the area in front of your body, where you sign, are well-lit
• When in doubt, ask the Ush person if they can see your hands well, and be willing to adjust for a more effective communication.

Accessibility Guidelines for Online Video Meetings

[This section is also posted under "Accessibility Guidelines" page of this blog.]

• Understand the communication needs of all deaf/deafblind attendees.
• If there are deaf attendees, make sure there are interpreters supporting the meeting online.
• If there are deafblind attendees, make sure they have tactile interpreters with them in-person. 
• Remind the speaker before the meeting: 
• Avoid sharing slides on screen, when there are 2+ sign language interpreters who also need to be on focus.
• If the speaker really needs to share slides on screen:
• use a slide background that is dark-colored and plain (no design). A light-colored background can cause glare problems, which consequently can lead to eye strain and headaches for low-vision attendees.
• use a light-colored text to contrast with the dark background
• avoid clutter on a slide. Use less text.
• use bigger font size
• use simple straight-line fonts, not cursive-type
• avoid using italics, or underlines, or long blocks of all-capital letters as all these are harder to read
• avoid using images or videos. If images cannot be avoided, image descriptions.

• Remind the interpreters before the meeting:
• wear dark colored tops with no prints; plain black top is preferred. This will make it easier for the deaf low vision attendees to see the interpreter's hands
• keep your background simple (preferably plain and dark colored)
• make sure there are no bright lights behind you that can cause glare
• make sure your face and the area in front of your body, where you sign, are well-lit
• request the interpreters to join the online meeting early to ensure they can hear you, you can hear them, deaf low-vision attendees can see them properly.
• if an interpreter is unable to follow the discussion (due to low volume, network issues, difficult technical terms, strong accent, etc), the interpreter should interrupt for clarification. This will ensure that they are conveying the correct message to the attendees.
• At the beginning of the Zoom meeting,
• switch to Speaker View (not Gallery View)
• make all ISL interpreters co-hosts, and remind the interpreters to help the host spotlight the correct people (the attendee or interpreter who is currently signing).
• request all attendees to name/rename their Zoom profiles properly. This helps the interpreters identify the speakers to the deaf/deafblind attendees.
• start the recorder
• turn on the live captions. Remind the attendees how to turn on their live captions
• During the meeting,
• spotlight all active online interpreters., to ensure that all DLv attendees can see the interpreter properly. This will also ensure that the Zoom recording will capture a bigger image of the interpreters.
• At the end of the Zoom meeting, 
• save the transcript onto a file
• save the contents of the chat window
• If you wish the contents of the meeting to be available to others, you can either (1) upload the Zoom video of the meeting onto YouTube (and manually edit the captions), or (2) edit the transcript file (to make it more descriptive and to correct for errors) and share the transcript file with others (via email, Google Drive, etc).  [Remember: for the profoundly deafblind who use braille, a descriptive transcript file is more helpful than a video with captions.] 

Zoom Accessibility features: https://explore.zoom.us/en/accessibility/