Media Kit

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is gratified to witness history in the making with the Biden-Harris White House declaring that all of their press briefings will have American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters to be truly inclusive. The White House's streaming video with the interpreters must also have professional and accurate captioning on all social media platforms so that it is truly inclusive for all segments of the deaf and hard of hearing community. We now need the TV networks to carry the ASL interpreter on their broadcasts, which are already captioned, so that every deaf and hard of hearing person can understand the press briefings including those who do not have high speed Internet. We applaud MSNBC for being the first and only TV network so far to carry the video feed of the ASL interpreter on their broadcast of the White House press briefings.

The pandemic has turned the world upside down, in every possible way. It has impacted us in our personal lives, our jobs, and those around us as well as brought to light unfortunate situations that could have been avoided. During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have observed a concerning lack of access across many different contexts. A big barrier has been that many government press briefings were not accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people, and to address this issue, we have been focused on advocating for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and accurate captioning in all broadcasts of such emergency briefings. We have received many complaints from deaf and hard of hearing people unable to understand from the briefings what they are supposed to do or avoid to stay safe and healthy. Our community has mobilized and used our resources to persuade 49 state governors to provide ASL interpreters for their press briefings, although it required lawsuits to compel NY Governor Cuomo as well as the White House in the previous administration to provide ASL interpreters. In addition, the information found in many government resources is not accessible to many deaf and hard of hearing people, especially those who use ASL as their first language which is a distinct language from English. To fill this void and to address new communication barriers that have arisen as a result of this pandemic, we have developed a series of advocacy letters and position statements.

Medical

Medical Communication Access for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communication Access Recommendations for the Hospital

Video-Based Telehealth Accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patients

Guidelines for Healthcare Providers – Video-Based Telehealth Accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patients

Remote Employment

Accessible Remote Work Meetings for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Employees

Remote Workplace Communications Access: Recommendations for Employers During Times of Expanded Telework

Video Conferencing Platforms Feature Matrix

Wearing Masks

Best Practices for Wearing Masks When Communicating with Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

Position Statement on Communicating with Deaf and Hard of Hearing People While Wearing Masks

Education

Advocacy Paper for Families Seeking Accessible PreK-12 Education

Position Statement: Educating PreK-12 Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students During the COVID-19 Outbreak

To ensure deaf and hard of hearing Americans know what their rights are during this pandemic, people can explore NAD.org/coronavirus. Additionally, many deaf-led organizations are creating content about coronavirus in ASL to share what they know about the disease and the pandemic. Examples include: The Daily Moth, Health Signs Center, Deaf in Scrubs, and more. The demand is there, and the community is filling in this information on its own without any support from the federal government. Deaf and hard of hearing people are affected by the pandemic, just like everyone else, but we’re not getting the same access to information, resources, and updates as others. Accurate captioning helps anyone and everyone. Appropriately assigned interpreters at press briefings avoids possible misunderstandings.

Providing appropriately qualified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting access requires more than just randomly hiring an interpreter who knows sign language. Care must be taken by everyone who hires an ASL interpreter to ensure that they are properly vetted for any interpreting job, whether it is a medical appointment, a job interview, a court proceeding, or a White House press briefing. Federal law defines a qualified interpreter as one that is able to interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially. Consequently, the White House needs to ensure that it properly vets the interpreters that handle their press briefings to ensure that their qualifications meet the federal standard. The NAD does not oversee or manage any interpreting hires for the White House, and it is important for people who have concerns to share their feedback directly with the White House.

Too often in emergencies, government agencies disseminate critical time-sensitive information through various forms of media but fail to ensure that the information shared is fully accessible to all. This is particularly true for deaf and hard of hearing people, who are often left behind during such disasters and emergencies. There are at least 48 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the country, and yet they are often forgotten during these crises.

Televised news is often the most reliable way to get the message out. However, while much of television is captioned as required by law and enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), there is not the same mandate for live news broadcasts. All national level news broadcasts must be captioned including live broadcasts, but the local news are only live captioned in the top 25 markets. All other local news usually do not provide live, accurate captioning of their broadcasts as most of them recycle the teleprompter script as captioning, and that does not include breaking news which is what most emergency broadcasts entail. Consequently, many deaf and hard of hearing people are unable to receive accurate information from their local news broadcasts, which gives them more localized information than the national news. The FCC does mandate that live captioning be provided in emergencies and disasters, but this requirement is not usually followed. 

Often, such televised news is converted into digital media that is circulated on the Internet and on social media by the news stations. Pursuant to the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), such digital versions of the broadcast news must retain the captioning when shared via the Internet or social media. Unfortunately, in many cases, those digital versions are captioned through “Automated Speech Recognition” (ASR) technology instead of being professionally captioned by a trained expert. ASR basically means that a computer is used to generate captioning, often without editing to ensure accuracy. This often renders such captioning useless for the most part. The solution is to ensure that every live broadcast involving emergency communication has a highly qualified and professional captioning company working to provide accurate captioning. This can be done on Social Media platforms as well, every form of media used for emergency communication should be made accessible with captioning and ASL interpreters. 

In addition, there are many deaf and hard of hearing individuals whose primary language is American Sign Language (ASL), a language completely distinct from English. Many of these deaf and hard of hearing individuals are not able to fully understand English, and this especially so when the information is complex and advanced such as information about health pandemics. For this population, it is not enough to share emergency communications in English. The same information must be shared in ASL. Unfortunately, for many emergencies in the past, press conferences have failed to use qualified professional interpreters to render the shared information in ASL.

Since our press release on April 6, 2020, all 50 states’ Governors have provided ASL interpreters at their press conferences, and we are monitoring the situation to ensure that this continues and that the interpreters provided are qualified. However, up until May 13, 2020, the ASL interpreter for Governor Cuomo of New York was only visible on the online broadcasts, not on the television broadcast. This rendered the television broadcast inaccessible for those who rely on ASL and do not have Internet access. Such deprivation of access during the ongoing crisis compelled Disability Rights New York to file a federal lawsuit against Governor Cuomo. On May 12, the federal judge granted a preliminary injunction requiring Governor Cuomo to begin providing an in-frame interpreter on the television broadcasts immediately. At first, Governor Cuomo had done so but the picture-in-picture size of the ASL interpreter was not big enough to see clearly. The whole point is for the interpreter’s signing to be visible enough. The NAD advocated for a larger size for the interpreter’s frame on television, and was finally remedied. In addition, some of the governors have not used interpreters consistently, so we are advocating that interpreters always be present during such press conferences. We are also seeing problems with county and local government and health officials not providing interpreters during their press conferences. We have also seen situations where the government officials are hiring clearly unqualified persons claiming to be interpreters, and we encourage all government agencies to screen all interpreters to ensure they have the appropriate qualifications and strongly encourage the hiring of Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDIs) to be used.

Despite repeated requests from the NAD, members of Congress (view Senator Sherrod Brown’s Letter to the White House Regarding ASL Interpreters and Senator Sherrod Brown’s Letter to the White House Regarding COVID-19 Accessible Information), and even another federal agency, the Trump White House had refused to provide interpreters during the briefings. Finally, on September 23, 2020, we won, and a federal district court ordered the White House to provide American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, live streamed on its website, for all public briefings addressing COVID-19 that are held by the President, Vice President, and Press Secretary. The Trump Administration provided its first COVID19 press with an ASL interpreter on November 13th and a few other times afterwards. Evidently, the Biden-Harris Administration was watching the lawsuit. Their willingness to provide ASL interpreters at all press briefings should now be the standard for accessibility going forward for all presidential administrations.

In addition to advocating to ensure that there are ASL interpreters at all during those press conferences, we also have had to educate television stations to make sure that their camera crew includes the ASL interpreter in the camera shot. There have been many situations where the interpreters are only partially visible or completely left out of the camera shot, making them completely inaccessible for deaf and hard of hearing viewers. Even when the network does include the interpreter in the camera shot, sometimes they neglect to move a logo or a chyron covering up the interpreter, which means the content is still inaccessible to deaf and hard of hearing viewers.

More work needs to be done to ensure that every press conference including those done by mayors and other officials from local municipalities provide their information clearly with both quality captioning and qualified ASL interpreters.

DeafBlind people who seek medical treatment during the COVID-19 crisis encounter significant barriers to communication with medical personnel. Many people who are DeafBlind that use sign language are able to understand what is being said to them by placing their hands on the hands of an interpreter signing to them. This form of interpretation is referred to as tactile interpreting. Consequently, DeafBlind individuals who understand through tactile interpreting must be in close proximity to the interpreters to receive information. 

With the current mandate for social distancing and other protective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many hospitals are resisting allowing anyone on the premises other than medical staff or the patient.  As a result, many hospitals are not allowing in-person interpreters. This practice has been difficult in terms of communications for many deaf and hard of hearing people who seek medical treatment, but has been absolutely prohibitive to DeafBlind people. They often arrive at medical facilities with support service providers who can wear protective equipment. The refusal to allow in-person interpreters or support personnel at hospitals are causing DeafBlind people seeking medical care to be left alone in their beds with no means of communicating. They are unable to participate in their own care and to consent to specific treatments. In fact, they are not receiving any information at all about their medical health or treatment. 

Many hospitals, seeking to avoid having outside people such as interpreters come into their facilities, are instead using Video Remote Interpreting Services (VRI), which uses videoconferencing technology to communicate with an off-site interpreter. While VRI services, when it is in good working order, can be useful for a sighted deaf individual, this is not a feasible option for a DeafBlind person who is unable to see the VRI screen. If they need to go to the hospital, some DeafBlind individuals plan to bring with them devices with tactile Braille displays to be able to type back and forth with medical personnel. This can help reduce communication access challenges for some DeafBlind patients but many DeafBlind people do not know Braille. Another issue is many hospitals are now using tents to triage or even treat patients. There are often long wait times in the tent and there is no electrical outlet to keep accessibility devices charged. 

As a result, DeafBlind people who have to go to the hospital often must arrive alone and that can feel lonely, frightening, and frustrating for someone so dependent on familiar touch. Hospitals need to be prepared to ensure that any and all DeafBlind people who need to be admitted to the hospital during the COVID-19 crisis be provided properly qualified interpreters able to render tactile interpreting and that such interpreters be provided the PPE necessary for them to do so safely.

The ubiquitous use of masks may be necessary for safety reasons, but it does hinder communications for 48 million deaf and hard of hearing people. This is a problem not only for lipreaders but also for those who do not lipread simply because being able to see the mouth movements and facial expressions are helpful cues to basic communications in various situations such as at the food store, bank, or other parts of daily life. 

While people’s use of clear masks or clear face shields may make it easier for deaf and hard of hearing people to understand them, it is important to emphasize that the use of clear masks or face shields does not mean there is full accessibility for all deaf and hard of hearing people. Clear masks often are not clear enough for full comprehension even for expert lipreaders. Clear masks and face shields are nevertheless helpful to provide visual cues to assist with communications in limited situations. For real conversations, we recommend that other means of communications be provided, especially for complex discussions such as during medical and mental health visits, legal consultations, educational settings, court appearances, and work meetings. In other words, qualified professional sign language interpreters and/or professionally rendered captioning services should be provided. 

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) encourages the use of clear masks or face shields to make it easier to communicate, especially for deaf and hard of hearing people. While the NAD does not endorse any products, there is a company that makes clear masks that appear to meet federal requirements for medical use. Another company also makes clear masks but their website indicates that their masks are not approved for surgical use. We recognize that the demand for clear masks is more than those companies can meet and support any efforts to use makeshift clear masks for the time being. There are also other companies making clear face shields which often can be better for communication purposes as it allows deaf and hard of hearing people to see the entire face.  

Most importantly, people should follow the CDC’s recommendations which currently are to remain at a social distance and wear a mask. Based on a scientific article, face shields could be a better option than wearing a cloth mask.  If you need to communicate with a deaf or hard of hearing person and you are wearing a mask, write something down or use a high visibility notes app on your phone such as BIG (iOS) Big Word (Android), and Cardzilla (iOS, Android).  Face shields are the best way to preserve the importance of face covering and still allow those who rely on lipreading to understand. Clear masks are the next best option.  Short of these options, if the person who needs lipreading is at least six feet away, it may be possible to pull down the mask and move your mouths to allow lipreading at a safe distance. Hearing people can still be inclusive, even during this pandemic. Be willing to use white boards and/or phone apps to provide visible written communications. Obtain and use clear masks. And when you have online content, make sure it is fully accessible — consider captioning it properly (not automated captioning) and include the use of ASL interpreters.  

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is currently developing various policy guidances and policy statements that address the new paradigm during COVID-19, including with respect to the use of masks and clear masks. With those policy guidances, we will be contacting government agencies and legislators to ensure that these new policies are implemented at all levels.

It has been well documented that the deaf and hard of hearing population often experiences the most difficulty when it comes to preparing for and recovering from emergencies and disasters. To address this gap, the NAD is urging all government agencies to implement the recommendations provided in our emergency communication position statement. The NAD has a position statement on how to make emergency communication accessible, and we ask that all government agencies and media entities read and implement the recommendations in this statement. FEMA has recently issued guidance materials that are in line with our recommendations, see their guidelines on video production and livestreaming emergency briefings.

As more than 25 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus with more than 420,000 dead, deaf and hard of hearing people are more at risk of being affected with the coronavirus. They are often left behind with the latest updates and actions the U.S. government has taken to address this pandemic.

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of deaf and hard of hearing people whose primary language is ASL, the NAD and these five deaf individuals asked the White House to provide ASL interpreters during all COVID-19 related briefings so that they can have meaningful access to such important information. While captioning is generally available during live broadcasts on network television broadcasts, live captioning is often not accurate enough, especially for people whose primary language is ASL.

Public health communication around the coronavirus has been mostly disseminated in the form of complex written English, which is not accessible to a large portion of the population including deaf and hard of hearing people. There have been a few videos about coronavirus, and most from the government are captioned which is good. However, there has been almost no sharing of information about coronavirus in American Sign Language (ASL) from any government agency.

In early March 2020, the NAD contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to inquire about any plans to share all of the same information being posted on their website in ASL. It took repeated inquiries over the course of two weeks before we were assured that ASL videos would be produced, but it took another week for five such videos to be posted on YouTube. While we thank the CDC for creating these five ASL videos about coronavirus, they have since then created several more videos but failed to ensure that the signer on those new videos was signing in ASL. We have continued to push the CDC to do better. As far as we know, this is the only government produced video about coronavirus that is in ASL. This is inadequate and unacceptable.

Further, there are people who are DeafBlind and it is essential that all communication be shared with them in a fully accessible manner. This requires expertise and preparedness in anticipation of all emergency communication. This has not happened during this coronavirus disaster.

 

From a policy and support level, in the future, all government agencies that handle emergency communication should include qualified deaf and hard of hearing persons to ensure that their information and materials are always accessible.

The calls and emails that we have received reflect deaf and hard of hearing people being alone in hospitals without ways to communicate with the hospital doctors or staff or even to make calls to family outside of the hospital. 

The usual mandate for hospitals is to provide communication access through various means such as: in-person sign language interpreters; Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) [essentially using the Internet to see an interpreter who is offsite]; or provision of captioning or other means of written communications. In general, hospitals should always provide whatever communication access works best for each deaf or hard of hearing person, as each person has different needs. For many signing deaf and hard of hearing people, in-person sign language interpreters are essential for clear and effective understanding of medical communications in hospitals. VRI is often not ideal or effective in hospitals for many reasons. Unfortunately, many hospitals are dispensing with usual protocols as they are overrun with patients beyond their capacity, and the contagious nature of COVID-19 have made them abandon allowing in-person interpreters. This does not excuse hospitals from providing interpreters through VRI or captioning services. Captioning services are important for deaf and hard of hearing people who do not know sign language especially now when all hospital staff use masks which make lipreading impossible. Captioning is not helpful for deaf and hard of hearing people whose primary language is American Sign Language (ASL). Consequently both ASL and captioning must be provided. 

Given how many hospitals are neglecting our civil rights to understand and participate in our own treatments, the NAD worked with several other organizations to develop a position paper for hospitals and medical facilities as well as an advocacy paper for deaf and hard of hearing consumers.

With the dire nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect things to get worse on a medical level and are working with other organizations to ensure that the civil rights of our community is not disregarded during these challenging times.