Since the pandemic, most of my work as a freelance graphic designer has moved online. In person meetings and consultations seem to be a thing of the past and as a result I am able to work for companies nationally and – more recently – globally too.
However, conducting more and more meetings online has resulted in more of a struggle for me to book sign language interpreters. I have an agreement with Access to Work where I am granted so many hours a month to use for interpreters in meetings and so on, but I find the Access to Work terms problematic for so many reasons.
Firstly, Access to Work will only pay a fixed rate – a rate which some interpreters have told me is not acceptable for them, when they are able to take a much higher rate elsewhere. This limits the choice of interpreters for me.
Secondly, many interpreters I have used have had to wait months to receive payment from Access to Work – something that is frustratingly out of my control. This disappoints me and it does mean, understandably, that interpreters can be less enthusiastic about taking a booking with me again.
However, aside from the frustration and limitations set by Access to Work, there is a new problem altogether with the amount of work that is now being undertaken online and more and more people using online video calls for meetings.
With so many last minute decisions to make in graphic design and with the quick turnaround deadlines I am given, I am often called to attend online meetings at very short notice, sometimes on that very same day!
The pool of interpreters I regularly use will tell me they are already booked up and need advance notice – something that I am unable to always do unfortunately. This means I will often have to book interpreters from agencies I have not worked with before or book freelance interpreters that I am not familiar with.
Recently there were two separate occasions where I felt extremely let down by the interpreting service I received. For one meeting I had an interpreter who although was fine at relaying information to me in BSL, really struggled with the voiceover and relaying to the client what I was saying.
At one point I signed the word ‘consultant’ and the interpreter said ‘C?’ to which I fingerspelled it back slowly to clarify, but this didn’t help at all. Several times the interpreter was lost and I had to stop, start, explain myself more simply and try again.
In the end I had to revert to typing in the Zoom chat box so the client understood what I was trying to express. I understand it takes time to build a rapport and understand a new persons way of talking, but I felt frustrated that I was not able to communicate smoothly with my client.
On a second occasion, a similar problem occurred. Here the interpreter was fine at delivering information in BSL but when it was my turn to express an idea, she paused and just watched me for minutes at a time – waiting until I had finished talking and then saying ‘right, what he said was…’ – which I was mortified by. At the end she would say to me ‘is that what you mean?’ as though I was a school student and not a professional.
My ideas and information had been simplified and the complete wrong information given. Luckily I had captions on to read what the interpreter was saying – or else I wouldn’t have known – and I was horrified at the complete misunderstanding of my ideas.
I later found out that although both interpreters were in fact fully qualified NRCPD registered interpreters (as the agency had assured me) they were not used to working via Zoom or in fast paced business settings. They were used to the same in person clients they’d used for years.
This leaves me in a tricky position. What else can I do? If my preferred interpreters are unavailable and my only option is to use unfamiliar interpreters for last minute meetings with clients, how do I ensure I am represented well?
A friend of mine says that they often use an interpreter to receive BSL but then they turn their microphones on to talk back in english. This is not something I can do clearly and it frustrates me, to no end that I cannot always communicate my ideas easily in BSL and be understood.
I wonder if any Limping Chicken readers have been through similar situations with interpreters and working in a fast paced business world. How did you get around it? How can I also ensure any new interpreters are fully aware of what my work involves? I would be keen to receive any advice or ideas.
This blog has been written anonymously as part of the Insight series – where readers are invited to share their story or news about their interesting job with The Limping Chicken. If you have a story to share please email rebecca@rawithey.com
Image courtesy of i-stock photos.
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Judy Scholes
March 14, 2023
Firstly I’m sorry this Deaf person had such a bad experience with their interpreters. It shouldn’t be their problem to fix.
However, as an interpreter who works in Access to Work bookings remotely, here is what I would expect from a new client:
As the interpreter I should be pro active in asking my new clients for prep. Deaf clients can really help me by having that prep to hand and ready. You could prepare a briefing document which outlines your role, your immediate colleague’s names and roles (who is your line manager, for example?), And any jargon or abbreviations that are regularly used, including sites/locations (‘I’m at Huntingdon House’ is hard to interpret when you’ve never heard of it before). When you book an interpreter through an agency, email the agency the briefing document every time (agency cannot say, ‘Oh, we’ve lost it!’) and insist that it is passed to the interpreter.
Secondly for a new client I would expect to have a pre-meeting briefing, remotely, and included in the price I quoted for the job. (This is instead of me arriving on site 20 minutes beforehand to discuss in person.) Therefore you might want to book remote interpreters for 30 minutes before the meeting time, so you can explain what this specific meeting is about, who will be in the meeting and their roles, and any ideas or issues you want to raise.
Many Deaf people have not had training or experience in what to expect from interpreters, or how to work with them. There is a gap here which needs to be filled somehow. I am not blaming the Deaf blogger for the problems they experienced. Just mentioning one of the issues highlighted by their experience. It doesn’t help that sometimes interpreters don’t ask for prep like I describe above (the briefing document and the pre-meeting-meeting) – the more interpreters just turn up, implying they can work without that prior knowledge, the more Deaf people assume that’s ok and that we don’t need it to be the best interpreters we can be.
Finally I would really encourage the Deaf blogger to complain to the agency about both interpreters, and possibly to their registered body as well (NRCPD/RBSLI/the Scottish register). The agency need to know it is not ok to send inexperienced interpreters into such high level meetings – it’s not good for the Deaf client, the hearing client, or the interpreter!
Caron Wolfenden (RSLI)
March 14, 2023
That is truly horrifing and unacceptable – interpeters need to be exposed to a range of settings in their training and unfortunately, the way some courses work this opportunity is not offered. The NRCPD Code states we should only undertake work we are competent at…the demand is overwhelming at the moment and unfortunately, agencies are filling gaps and not always with the best fit.
I recently looked at one national agency and on their ‘Interpreter’ team page, half were TSLIs or CSWs, so it was really misleading.
One solution I have found is to treat bookings as if we were in the room together – insist on a briefing, meet beforehand with client and coworkers pre meeting and also have a debrief after. Forcing this as part of the booking may help us in our shift to organisations now insisting on online meetings. If I was face:face I would do this so why not online too? We need to get creative.
More and more Deaf people now access phonecalls themselves so the demand is high. Maybe booking regular preferred interpreters for a couple of hours a day might also help – then at least you can offer an alternative time to have those quick chats.
It’s not easy – we have always known there are not enough appropriately trained and qualified interpreters – the situation has been exascerbated by lockdowns. No quick fixes but hopefully you can keep raising concerns with agencies, with NRCPD and on forums. I loved reading this post – thank you for sharing.
Judy Scholes
March 15, 2023
At the end of the article, the Deaf person asks, “How can I also ensure any new interpreters are fully aware of what my work involves? I would be keen to receive any advice or ideas.”
There are two things which would improve this situation for the Deaf client. Firstly, they could write a briefing document for new interpreters. This would describe their role; list their colleagues who may be in the meeting or come up in discussion, and their roles (especially their Line manager or Team Leader); list any acronyms or vocabulary frequently used in the office; and anything else they think may be relevant. Every time a new interpreter is used or one is booked through the agency, this briefing should be sent to them – then the agency cannot say ‘Oh we lost it…’. The Deaf person should insist this is passed on and if the agency don’t do it, they should complain. The Deaf person could even book time with one of their regular interpreters, and create the document together, as the regular interpreters will have valuable ideas for what should be in the document.
Secondly, I would encourage the Deaf person to book the interpreter for 30 minutes before the meeting, in order to have a briefing before the meeting itself starts. (This would be instead of me arriving at a venue 20 minutes early, and having a chat as we walk down the corridor to the meeting room. Therefore it would be included in the interpreter fee and should not be charged separately/on top.) In the briefing they can check the interpreter has read the briefing document, and see if they have any questions; and outline the expected agenda for that specific meeting, including any points they want to raise or ideas they have already had. This also gives the interpreter time to ‘tune in’ to the Deaf person’s BSL so they can most effectively reflect them in the meeting itself.
I have ONE Deaf client through Access to Work who is as thorough with preparation as I describe above. I don’t know who taught him how to work effectively with interpreters, but I am incredibly grateful! I realise that most Deaf people might not realise the difference preparation makes to the quality of our interpreting – most of the time, they don’t have access to both languages (which the OP had, in this case, because closed captions are on).
Finally I would like to encourage the Deaf person to complain about the service he received from these two interpreters. If you don’t tell us you are not satisfied, how can we improve? They could complain to the agency who booked them, and say that in future, they need interpreters who are used to working over Zoom. If they were still unhappy, they could complain to the NRCPD (or other registering body) as well.