In New York City’s Lower East Side, a historic institution is redefining how it connects with visitors from every background. The NYC Tenement Museum, known for its historic depictions of immigrant life, uses language accessibility to ensure every visitor can fully experience its tours and exhibits.

How is it doing this? Through Sorenson Forum, an AI-powered language platform that delivers real-time translation and captioning. The museum uses these tools to expand access, foster engagement and set new standards for inclusivity in cultural spaces. With multilingual tours, captions and a commitment to accessibility, the Tenement Museum is building a more connected, inclusive world.

A museum with a unique perspective

The Tenement Museum offers an intimate window into the lives of immigrants, migrants, and refugees who shaped New York City. Its guided tours bring to life the stories of working-class residents who lived between the 1860s and 1980s, inside restored tenement apartments and throughout the Lower East Side neighborhood where they built new beginnings.

Founded in 1988 by historian Ruth Abram and social activist Anita Jacobson, the museum began with a remarkable discovery: an abandoned tenement at 97 Orchard St., untouched for more than 50 years. Inside were the belongings of families who once lived there — hairpins, toys, business cards and more — each telling a personal story of resilience and hope.

While textbooks often overlook the lives of ordinary people, the Tenement Museum celebrates them. Its commitment to inclusion ensures that everyone, regardless of language, can connect with these stories. From multilingual staff to translated materials, every effort reflects its mission to honor diverse cultural identities and make visitors feel welcome.

To further this mission, the museum adopted Sorenson Forum, an AI-powered accessibility tool that provides real-time captions in 25 languages and 43 dialects.  The museum’s Visitor Services Manager, shared why the museum wanted to use the technology:

“We wanted to provide translation services for our non-English-speaking visitors who otherwise can’t understand the content and history of the museum. We have some of our primary sources translated in other languages, but the tours are led in English, so the challenge was getting a translation for the entire program.”

By offering instant captions and translations, the museum helps visitors of all language backgrounds engage more deeply with its exhibits and guided tours. This inclusive approach extends to educational programs that explore how immigrants shaped the city’s identity, leaving guests inspired and informed.
The partnership’s success has even inspired the museum to explore Sorenson’s on-demand ASL interpreting service, expanding accessibility for Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors. Together, these services help the museum reach a broader, global audience and ensure no story is left unheard.

The future of language access

The Tenement Museum shows how technology can transform cultural institutions. With real-time language services, it creates immersive experiences that explore identity, policy and community through the eyes of the people who lived them.
By continually expanding its language offerings and embracing innovation, the museum sets an example for others to follow — proving that technology can connect people and open doors to understanding.

Discover what’s possible

Want to make your institution more inclusive?

Connect with our team for a personalized accessibility consultation. Discover how advanced language solutions like Sorenson Forum can help you break down barriers and create a more connected future.

As businesses evolve in a digital landscape, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has taken center stage in any well-formed enterprise strategy. ESG has become a standard measuring stick for evaluating potential investments and partnerships. Although typically the focus of traditional industries (manufacturing, transportation), ESG has become central due to the digital realm’s unique challenges—including accessibility.

Creating an accessible environment can not only improve a company’s ESG score, but also qualify them for tax incentives and provide additional financial and brand benefits that we’re going to explain:

• Economic benefits and tax incentives for accessibility
• ESG and Accessibility
• Accessibility best practices
• Overcoming challenges

Is accessibility part of ESG?

Accessibility falls under the Social aspect of ESG, which focuses on a company's practices related to inclusion and accessibility.

Accessibility and inclusion in business means everyone can use services and products regardless of ability. You might ask yourself, “What is accessibility for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing?” It could be sign language interpreters, captioning services, visual alerts, and text-based communications.

By embracing accessibility, businesses demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility and equity, enhancing their overall ESG profile.

ESG and accessibility

ESG initiatives marry company goals with purpose, emphasizing the importance of environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and ethical practices. The Social aspect of ESG benefits society, including Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, by examining the impact of business actions on consumers, employees, and the wider public. Implementing accessibility is a major part of demonstrating a commitment to social responsibility by eradicating barriers for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

Economic benefits of accessibility

Committing to a diverse and inclusive customer experience that includes people with disabilities has several economic benefits:

1. An expanded market: People with disabilities have considerable purchasing power, with disposable income approaching half a trillion dollars. By making products and services accessible, businesses expand their customer base and drive revenue growth.
2. Innovation and product development: Implementing accessibility fosters innovation and creativity. Companies leading the way in accessible design create user-friendly experiences that resonate with diverse audiences.
3. Competitive edge and brand loyalty: Customers are demonstrating more loyalty to socially inclusive businesses that make online and in-person experiences user-friendly for everyone.
4. Risk mitigation: Prioritizing accessibility helps to avoid potential legal issues, protects reputations, and prevents financial problems, ensuring that businesses thrive in the long run.

Furthermore, businesses that prioritize accessibility are eligible to receive considerable tax benefits. These tax benefits are offset costs of businesses adjusting physical spaces and installing telecommunication solutions to be more inclusive of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and other people with disabilities.

An Accenture study showed that businesses that hired people with disabilities saw increased revenue and profit. Behind the profits, the public can see an enterprise’s implementation of accessibility as a demonstration of its values and a desire to reach a diverse customer base and talent.

Tax incentives for an accessible business

Tax incentives and benefits are designed to encourage more companies to remove barriers and create a more equitable society.

The IRS provides three tax credits for businesses that are deemed accessible. These tax credits are:

1. Disabled Access Credit: To be eligible for this credit, you need to be a small business that earned $1 million or less and had 30 or fewer full-time employees. You need to have incurred expenses that year for providing equal access to people with disabilities.
2. Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction: A business of any size that has removed structural and transportation barriers for seniors and people with physical disabilities can claim this deduction of up to $15,000 per year for qualified expenses. If applicable, a business can claim both the Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction and Disabled Access Credit.
3. Work Opportunity Tax Credit: Employers who hire people with disabilities and veterans are eligible for a credit of up to $9,600.

For more information and tax forms, visit the IRS guide.

Starbucks is a prime example of a corporation combining profit with social good. The company boosted its brand image by opening the first ASL store in Washington, D.C. and demonstrated a commitment to reaching the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.

A case study: NPR

National Public Radio (NPR) hosts This American Life, a weekly podcast. In 2011, NPR began providing transcripts for weekly podcast episodes in response to new FCC regulations. While NPR initially aimed to adhere to legal requirements, the case study showed that transcripts increased traffic and listeners to their podcast.

 Not only do transcripts benefit Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, but they also help ESL learners and people who prefer reading over listening.

Aligning accessibility with ESG initiatives can empower an enterprise to present as a positive influence in society that fosters continued innovation and inclusion.

Accessibility best practices

Implementing best practices for accessibility can boost customer satisfaction, extend market reach, and promote a positive company culture.

Here are some best practices to implement for an accessible business:

Include accessibility from the beginning:

Consider diverse perspectives in the planning stage for products, services, and your environment — a vital element of universal design. If you engage people with disabilities — including the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities — through surveys, focus groups, and consultation with advocacy groups early on, you’ll be a step ahead of accessibility.

Leverage accessible communication technology:

• Equip workrooms and meeting spaces with assistive listening devices (hearing loops). Include VRI interpreting services.
• Provide real-time captioning for presentations and virtual meetings.
• Ensure your website is accessible for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing by providing transcripts for audio content and closed captioning for videos. Use plain language for textual content and avoid jargon.

Make your physical environment accessible:

Install both audio and visual alert systems for alarms and doorbells to provide accessibility for hard-of-hearing and low-vision individuals.

Encourage an inclusive work culture:

Integrate disability into workplace training on accessibility and set expectations for respect. This training can also include guidance for effective collaboration with colleagues of different abilities and how to best use accessibility tools.

Be transparent:

Communicate your accessibility initiatives to your customers and the public. This will not only boost your brand image and reputation but also make accessibility more familiar to others.  By actively removing barriers for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, a business can improve the experience for customers and employees. Achieving accessibility is a continual process that involves learning and adapting to create the ideal user experience.

A thorough accessibility plan spans every aspect of your business, both internally and externally. For example, let’s look at how accessible practices might play out in different departments.

Human resources

Creating an accessible and inclusive workplace for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals is not only a compliance matter but it is a crucial aspect of building a robust workforce. Here is how Human Resources can help create a stronger workforce:

1. Recruitment and onboarding

• Use plain language in job postings and encourage diverse applicants. Make it clear that you support accessibility in your company.
• Ensure the application and interview processes are accessible by providing captioning services and sign language interpreters. Offer the same for the onboarding process.

2. Workplace accommodations

• Review employees’ specific needs and provide flexible solutions, including workplace adjustments, software, and communication technology.
• Make assistive technology available for equitable communication:
• For phone calls: Deaf and hard-of-hearing employees may use video relay services (VRS) or call captioning service, both of which are part of a federally funded program at no cost to eligible individuals or their employers.
• For scheduled meetings, interviews, training, and seminars: on-site ASL interpreting or video remote interpreting (VRI) allow effective communication, while live captioning and transcription boosts comprehension and retention for all participants.
• For impromptu meetings and spontaneous conversations, on-demand VRI and speech-to-text apps support daily communication with colleagues.

3. A culture of belonging

• Create equitable hiring practices by seeking potential Deaf and hard-of-hearing hires for all roles within a business, including leadership roles.
• Support Deaf and hard-of-hearing staff by providing peer support and advice on accessibility.

Marketing and outreach

Your marketing and outreach strategies can be optimized to ensure full accessibility for Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. Here’s how you can adapt your strategy to be more inclusive:

1. Accessible media

• Caption all video and audio content and provide transcripts for long-form content, like podcasts.
• Include sign language interpreting for marketing campaigns and major company announcements.

2. Accessible website design

• Ensure your website complies with WCAG guidelines, which aim to facilitate navigation and comprehension for all users.
• Incorporate accessibility into the design process. Test with diverse users, including Deaf and hard-of-hearing volunteers, to find and fix any barriers.

3. Community engagement

• Solicit feedback and testimonials from diverse communities, which will help you refine your marketing strategies.
• Ensure your events are accessible by providing sign language interpreters, hearing loops, and captioning services.
• Support events and projects of interest to disability communities to reinforce your commitment to accessibility and inclusion.

Overcoming accessibility challenges

Implementing accessibility measures can present a set of challenges for any business. The following are some common challenges and accompanying solutions:

1. Budget concerns

• Take advantage of the tax incentives above if you have eligible expenses.
• Employ a variety of solutions to choose the most cost-effective option for specific needs. For example, video remote interpreting (VRI) may be a better choice for an informal half-hour meeting than on-site interpreting that has a two-hour minimum and potential interpreter travel expenses.
• Consider making changes in phases.

2. Technological barriers

• Invest in assistive technologies and provide platforms to make them accessible to all users.

3. Resistance to change

• Adopting a culture of inclusion can take some getting used to, so provide education about its role in company goals and the long-term benefits.
• Assemble support from leadership to model inclusive behavior.

Conclusion

Creating an accessible environment for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing is a smart business decision: It puts you in compliance with legal regulations, contributes to a strong ESG profile, provides long-term financial benefits, and makes you eligible for tax incentives to offset up-front costs.

Implementing accessibility within the ESG framework positively impacts reputation, brand image, employee satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Such impacts extend beyond business and can effect societal changes.

It’s important to remember that accessibility isn’t a one-and-done process but a continual one that lays a path for growing, learning, and adapting.

Sorenson offers accessibility design consultants who can help you develop a tailored plan for your business that matches your specific needs to appropriate solutions. When you inquire about services, we pair you with a consultant who fits your industry’s needs.

Request a consultation

Technology has transformed communication —  from the uptake of telegraphs in the 19th century to the ability of today’s machine learning software to instantly produce speech-to-text captioning in dozens of languages — and in many ways has brought people together across languages. At Sorenson, we’d argue that technology is a tool for interlingual communication, but it cannot yet match skilled interpreters for linguistic and expressive nuance.

Sign language interpreters are in high demand, and that’s great because:

1. It’s a sign of greater communication accessibility between deaf and hearing people
2. It means more job opportunities for sign language interpreters

Every certified sign language interpreter is part of a relatively small force trying to make a dent in an enormous need:

• In the U.S., there are just over 10-thousand certified ASL interpreters¹ compared to roughly one million Deaf and hard-of-hearing adults who use sign language.²
• While approximately 87-thousand Deaf people in the UK use sign language,³ the country has only 1,500 registered sign language interpreters.⁴
• The Canadian Association of Sign Language Interpreters has about 830 members,⁵ to support 357-thousand Deaf Canadians.⁶

If you’re exploring your options in a career as a sign language interpreter or looking for interpreting jobs, you can be choosy about where you take your skills. Here are some considerations to guide the next steps in your sign language interpreting career.

Key factors to consider in choosing the next steps in your sign language interpreting career

When planning any career move, some factors are obvious — like compensation and schedule — but those essential considerations are a fraction of the impact on your career and job satisfaction.

• Professional development
• Freelance versus employee
• Benefits and compensation
• Variety of opportunities

For interpreters in particular, professional development and continuing education are essential to keeping your skills sharp and opening doors to additional opportunities, whether you want to compare VRS and community interpreting or gain skills and knowledge in specialty areas like medical, legal, or educational settings.

Professional development

In the interpreting world, “knowledge is power” applies to both what you know (continuing education) and whom you know (networking). When plotting a course in your career, think about what kind of access each of your options will provide to training and connections for professional growth.

Continuing education 

The most seasoned and skilled sign language interpreters never stop learning — about techniques, dialects, and evolution of the living languages they work with. It is a professional necessity for interpreters to further their education long beyond completion of their initial interpreter education courses by way of advanced degrees, continuing education courses, and training.

How you approach ongoing professional learning roughly breaks down into two options:

1. You can independently pursue degree programs or enroll in interpreter CEU courses like those available through Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) or a number of companies specializing in language services and education. You’ll find a wide variety of interpreting CEUs (continuing education units), many of which you can complete fully online. You’ll be responsible for the registration costs.
2. If you’re an employee/staff interpreter, your company or organization may offer its own educational or training opportunities, contract with a third party to provide training, or cover the costs for interpreters to enroll in external continuing education courses.

Interpreter education and training opportunities are arguably Sorenson’s biggest impact in the global languages services realm because not only does the company offer complimentary professional development for its thousands of interpreting employees, its interpreter programs also train interpreters who aren’t Sorenson staff.

Sorenson Interpreting Academy provided more than 40-thousand hours of instruction in 2023 alone with 16-thousand participant registrations in its programs for every level from students through experienced professionals.

The mission of these programs is to enhance the skills of Sorenson’s own exceptional interpreters, of course, but also to enrich the sign language interpreting community as a whole through quality professional development opportunities:

• Deaf Interpreter Academy is a no-cost program offering professional-level trainings for new and working Deaf interpreters in the industry and provide skill development opportunities to all interpreters in Deaf-hearing interpreter teaming techniques.
• Compass is also a no-cost program that builds on the linguistic and cultural foundations of heritage language users to fast-track their sign language interpreting education.
• Interpreters with strong potential who don’t yet meet Sorenson’s rigorous standards for employment enroll by the hundreds every year in the company’s Connections program to take their skills to the next level, and 98% say they would recommend the program to others.

The dozens of interpreter educators who comprise the Sorenson Interpreting Academy team include veteran sign language interpreters — many of whom are Deaf interpreters and Codas — sharing  expertise in language development, instructional design and content, as well as mentoring. 

Mentorship and networking 

Meeting and working with fellow interpreters is a chance to borrow skills, build confidence, and open doors to career advancement; sign language interpreting is a small world, after all.

1. Working with more experienced interpreters can develop mentor relationships that allow you to benefit from years of practice and skill-building as well as constructive feedback.
2. Meeting and mentoring younger interpreters can be fulfilling, and don’t overlook the potential to learn from them as well. As sign languages evolve, fresh interpreters may be current on the latest slang.
3. Professional organizations and conferences are a networking goldmine. You may want to weigh how different employment scenarios would impact your ability to participate.

The size of your interpreting team plays a significant role in your mentoring and networking opportunities, whether you’re interpreting for a large language services provider, a small staff, or flying solo as a freelancer.

For example, Sorenson is the largest private employer of sign language interpreters in the world with a team of more than 5,000 interpreters globally. One of the benefits of being part of an interpreter workforce of that size is the potential to learn from peers with an astounding variety of expertise:

• Deaf interpreters
• Trilingual interpreters
• Interpreters with specialized training for DeafBlind and low vision interpreting, medical, legal, and government settings
• Every interpreting setting in the industry: VRS, on-site, scheduled and on-demand VRI

Your level of exposure to other interpreters — as mentors, mentees, and professional connections — may influence your decision to pursue interpreting work as an employee or freelance.

Freelance vs. employee

Are you going to be better off going solo as a freelance interpreter or finding a position with a company that offers sign language interpreting? There’s not a right or wrong answer; it comes down to what factors are most important to you. As with any industry, freelance vs. staff interpreting come with pros and cons, many of them relating to flexibility and support.

Freelance interpreting 

Pros: As a freelance sign language interpreter, you have the maximum level of control and flexibility; you can choose your hours and what kind of interpreting work you book. That flexibility allows you to customize your work schedule. You may also be able to negotiate your rates to reflect your experience, specialization, or other market factors.

Cons: The flip side of freelance interpreting can be additional responsibility and instability. You’re responsible not only  for securing interpreting work, but arranging your own insurance, training and certifications and licensure as required, and handling the administrative side of the business — invoicing, bookkeeping, and taxes.

There are a couple basic options to find freelance interpreting work: 

• Independently, through self-marketing and networking: If you’re well-connected and establish relationships with organizations or individuals that regularly require interpreting, this approach may run smoothly. Without those relationships, marketing yourself can require a lot of leg work.
• Work with a language services provider: The company fields interpreting requests and connects them with a pool of freelance interpreters. This setup removes the burden of marketing yourself, but opportunities may be inconsistent.

Staff interpreting

Pros: A major benefit of an employee interpreting position is the stability of consistent work and pay. As a staff interpreter, you may also have company-provided benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off (though this is not guaranteed, particularly for part-time interpreting positions). Some employers who maintain interpreting staff will also offer professional development opportunities.

Cons: Some staff interpreting positions do offer more flexibility than a standard corporate environment, but do not always offer as much as freelancing. Being an employee means answering to management and operating within the confines of company expectations. Also, as an employee, your ability to negotiate your rates is likely limited to your hiring and potentially annual reviews.

Your experience as an employee will vary by your setting — whether you’re a staff interpreter for a private enterprise, a government agency or educational institution, or are an employee interpreter with a language services provider. While many language service providers operate exclusively with freelancers, there are few exceptions like Sorenson, which maintains a dedicated staff of thousands of interpreter employees.

Benefits and compensation

Interpreting is one of those coveted careers where you can make a real difference in people’s day and make the world a little better. That said, warm, fuzzy feelings don’t pay the bills. You can prioritize making an impact on your community and also care about your compensation.

To get a baseline for competitive pay, you can use online databases to look up the average sign language interpreter income nationally and in your area. For example, if you look up estimates of national average sign language interpreting salaries, you may find numbers like these:

• Average ASL interpreter salary in the U.S. around $64,000/year (from ZipRecruiter.com)
• Average BSL interpreter salary in the U.K. around £35,000 (from Talent.com)
• Average sign language interpreter salary in Canada around $70,000 (from Talent.com)

Bear in mind, what you can expect for a sign language interpreter salary will vary considerably by experience, certifications, location, and specialization. There can also be significant differences in interpreter income between employee positions versus freelance work, and that’s partly due to additional factors like benefits and taxes.

When weighing compensation for different career options, you may want to think about what you’re likely to get in a week, in a year, and in the long run. This is particularly important when considering freelance vs. employee interpreting paths.

• Negotiating rates: As we discussed above, freelance interpreting offers the most opportunity to negotiate your rates, which can significantly impact your earning potential, especially if you have in-demand specialization or experience (or if you’re in an area where the need for interpreting services exceeds availability).
  However, if you don’t have the credentials yet to command top tier rates, if the demand for interpreting doesn’t give you leverage in negotiations, or if you’re not consistently booking work independently you may want to compare the average rate for freelance interpreting to the total compensation you could earn in a staff position.
• Health insurance: Health insurance can be expensive. If you’re responsible for your own insurance, you’ll want to price policies to factor that into your income calculations. Likewise, health insurance benefits can add thousands of dollars a year to the value of a compensation package from an employer.
• Retirement savings: Retirement is where long-term compensation considerations really come into play. Much like insurance, if you opt to work freelance as an interpreter, you’ll need to look into independently setting up and contributing to a retirement savings account and planning for that money to come out of your earnings.
  If you choose an employee interpreting position, retirement benefits do increase the value of your compensation package, but the amount may vary greatly; compare employers’ retirement contributions and/or matching as part of your evaluation of offers.

Review Sorenson employee benefits

Variety of interpreting opportunities

If you could only do one type of sign language interpreting for the rest of your career, what would it be? VRS, community interpreting, scheduled VRI, on-demand VRI? Would it be a specialized service like legal interpreting or DeafBlind interpreting? Can’t choose just one, or haven’t tried them all to know for sure? 

When plotting where to steer your career, factor in how important it is to you to have a variety of interpreting opportunities.

Video Remote Interpreting (VRI):

VRI has skyrocketed in popularity as an enterprise service. For interpreters, scheduled VRI combines the remote video interpreting aspect of VRS with the slower pace and greater potential for prep of community interpreting. The relatively recent introduction of on-demand VRI skews toward a quicker pace for short conversations in an enterprise environment.

Video Relay Service (VRS):

It’s tough, it’s rewarding, and it generates the biggest demand for sign language interpreters. VRS is fast-paced and unpredictable, allowing interpreters to connect sometimes dozens of conversations in a workday.

On-site/community interpreting:

On-site (or community) interpreting is often the option clients name as their favorite for the greater visibility, mobility, and elimination of technical difficulties. Those are equally beneficial for interpreters, though on-site work does require travel, which can include dealing with traffic, parking, and checking in at the location.

Specialized interpreting:

The term “specialized interpreting” casts a wide net and can refer to interpreting needs that require niche skills, additional training, or techniques to fit particular situations or content — like interpreting emergency government news conferences or theater performances. Most often, specialized interpreting falls into three high-demand categories:

• Legal interpreting: Legal interpreting can encompass court proceedings, conversations between attorneys and clients, as well as law enforcement interviews and investigations. It’s another area of specialization that requires specific skills and terminology.
• Medical interpreting: Medical settings are one of the highest needs for specialized interpreters, both in person and VRI. Medical interpreting requires additional knowledge of medical terminology as well as compliance with state and institutional policies relating to safety and privacy.
• Educational interpreting: There’s steady demand for educational interpreters in primary, secondary, and higher education. With more deaf children attending mainstream schools and deaf college enrollment growing at a faster rate than that of hearing peers, the need for sign language interpreting at all levels of education has never been higher. In fact, in the U.S., the National Deaf Center points out that higher education is one of the sectors most keenly feeling the shortage of sign language interpreters as universities struggle to keep pace with the influx of deaf students.⁷

Traditionally, educational interpreting has been largely on-site, but the increase in remote learning has created a need for VRI in education as well.

Those are only a few examples. Specialized interpreting can also include different approaches to interpreting to better meet the linguistic needs of clients, like low vision interpreting or interpreter teaming with a hearing interpreter and a Deaf interpreter.

• Certified Deaf interpreters: If you’re a Deaf interpreter who’s gone through the necessary training to become certified (or plan to), you’re well-versed in interpreter teaming (or you will be). Even for interpreters with native language proficiency, teaming is a skill in itself, and it takes training and practice for Deaf and hearing interpreters to collaborate seamlessly. That’s one of the key elements of Sorenson’s Deaf Interpreter Academy, a no-cost program for Deaf interpreters to hone their skills and build a foundation for professional interpreting success.

To acquire the training required for specialized interpreting, you’ll need to enroll for continuing education programs/courses and training.

Some companies that employ interpreters will provide the necessary training for interpreters to maintain their certifications and licensure. Sorenson is unique in the size and scope of its interpreting and interpreter training teams that it offers wide range of professional development for its staff at no cost to boost the pool of qualified interpreters for any need. Interpreters may even get reimbursement for related costs like testing fees, registration for professional conferences, and interpreting organization membership.

Design your own sign language interpreter career

The biggest takeaway from this guide is that you have options as a professional sign language interpreter. Demand is high for your skill set, and a global shortage of interpreters means you have the power to be selective about your career moves.

There’s not a one-size-fits-all path to suit every interpreter. Weigh your priorities and preferences from the factors we’ve laid out here, talk to mentors and peers about their experiences, and research your options.

Sorenson is always hiring sign language interpreters to support connection and language equity on a global scale. We encourage you to browse our interpreting opportunities and interpreter training opportunities to advance your career.

Browse Sorenson sign language interpreter positions

Sources

1. Dive into your exclusive access to RID publications and materials.
2. How many people use Sign Language? A national health survey-based estimate
3. Prevalence of British Sign Language
4. Facts and statements on inclusion
5. Casli directory of members
6. Statistics on deaf Canadians
7. The ASL interpreter shortage and its impact on accessibility in college settings

The love of sports transcends cultures and countries. Chances are you know a sports fanatic, or you are one yourself. The collective experience of enjoying a sporting event is palpable, and we revel in the athletic competition and the spectacle.

However, the universal love of sports doesn’t equate to universal design. Attending and enjoying sporting events comes with challenges for many sports lovers. Take, for instance, Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities and multilingual audiences where language barriers blunt the full joy of watching sports, leading to an exclusive environment rather than an inclusive one.

Given the incredible variety that sporting events attract, providing accessibility in sports can create the ultimate inclusive experience for sports fans, increasing the potential for audience expansion and attendance.

We’ll look at the benefits of inclusivity in sports, both for fans and the sports industry, and address:

• The revenue potential for improved accessibility at sporting events
• The current accessibility gaps in sports
• The benefits of making sporting events more accessible

The goal of language accessibility for sports and sports entertainment is to increase business and boost the enjoyment of these events for the global audience. The ability to fully enjoy the spectacle that plays out before us amps up the thrill and energy of the experience.

Current state of language accessibility in sports

It’s been more than 40 years since the first closed captioning during a live sports event on New Year’s Day 1981, when the Georgia Bulldogs and Notre Dame played at the New Orleans Superdome. Yet even today, full accessibility for sports audiences remains a novelty — exciting and well-received — rather than the standard.

• Deaf rappers Sean Forbes and Warren Snipe made history at the 2022 Super Bowl as the first deaf halftime show performers in the game’s history.
• In 2023, Justina Miles, a hard-of-hearing American Sign Language (ASL) performer, gained positive attention after her ASL performance for Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show.

However, the world’s largest international sporting events offer a glimpse at the inclusivity that’s possible with language accessibility:

At FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, most of the one million attendees came from Saudi Arabia, India, U.S., UK, and Mexico. However, translation services for sports fans from around the world meant volunteers didn’t need to speak multiple languages, and broadcasters could provide commentary in multiple languages through real-time translation services.  The use of translation technology and real-time interpreting and translation services achieved the goal of making the game accessible and enjoyable for fans.

For the 2024 Olympic Games, athletes from more than 200 countries competed in Paris with an estimated three billion people watching from around the world. Organizers translated all signage and provided live interpreting at the Games as well as captions and/or subtitles for broadcasts.

Sports viewership

An undeniable aspect of language accessibility for these events is demand. Global sporting events attract billions of fans around the world. Here’s a brief rundown of the number of viewers or attendees for international competitions :

• 2022 FIFA World Cup: 1.5 billion
• 2023 Tour de France: 42.5 million French viewers
• 2023 Women’s World Cup: 2 billion (a record) 
• 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics: 3 billion
• 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: 2 billion

Improved technology has both increased sports viewership through real-time availability and contributed to making sports more accessible for the varied audiences watching around the world.

Language accessibility at U.S. sporting events

Though more sports venues have become proactive in integrating accessibility for Deaf and hard-of-hearing live sports attendees, a national ESPN study shows that organizations have lots of room for improvement to accommodate sports fans with “invisible” disabilities (which includes Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals) who come to the games expecting a thrilling and seamless experience.

ESPN conducted a survey of 136 sports teams (NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB and NHL) and received responses from 120 teams. The top concerns of fans with invisible disabilities in this study include:

• Dedicated accessible entrances
• Drop-off zones
• Elevator access
• Printed menus
• Training for stadium staff

Less than half of the teams said they provide dedicated entrances for people with disabilities. About the same number said they provide printed menus that customers can point to.

That’s not to say that venues aren’t moving the needle at all on accessibility. Many upgrades that improve the experience for fans with disabilities are part of innovations that benefit everyone at the event.

Smart stadiums elevating accessibility in sports

Take “smart stadiums” for example. This digital age innovation emphasizes connectivity with 5G and Wi-fi and optimizes fan engagement through assistive tools and beacon technology. With ticketing, concession sales, and seat assistance right on their mobile devices, language barriers pose less of a hurdle for fans to navigate their game day experience.

Smart stadiums are not explicitly for the benefit of sports attendees with disabilities, and many of the intelligent features are beneficial for fans and stadium staff alike:

• Faster and more personalized purchases
• Responsive to changes throughout the stadium grounds (parking, concession stands, weather)
• Monitor bathroom traffic
• Wi-fi availability
• Mobile app that enables attendees to interact personally with stadium staff
• Ability to enjoy the game wherever fans are

These, and other features, improve profitability and the fan experience by saving time and boosting sales.

Additionally, reliable connectivity throughout the venue enables fans to use internet-based assistive technology like speech-to-text captioning and translation apps or on-demand interpreting services.

Accessibility for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals

Wider availability of tools like sign language interpreting, closed captioning, and assistive listening devices (ALDs) at some sports arenas are a big step in improving information and language access for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals attending sports events. They are improving language accessibility for Deaf and hard-of-hearing attendees with sign language interpreting, closed captioning, assistive listening devices (ALDs), and upgrading their sports venues to “smart stadiums.” Smart stadiums optimize fan engagement through assistive tools, 5G and Wi-fi connectivity, and beacon technology.

Slowly but surely, these kinds of considerations for deaf fans are permeating major league sports. Just this year, the National Hockey League debuted “NHL in ASL” for the Stanley Cup Finals, a broadcast of the games with complete commentary in ASL with Deaf broadcasters for Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans watching at home. The broadcast also includes visual features to depict fan noise at the game so viewers can see when the crowd goes wild.

Experts expect the rate of hearing loss to double by the year 2060. With the average age of a baseball fan being 57, stadiums ought to take heed of these changing demographics and lean into accessibility for a growing demographic. 

Multilingual accessibility 

Multilingual accessibility in sports is a complex issue: while linguistically diverse fans don’t have the same legal protections that people with disabilities do to compel the sports industry to adapt, they have something else in their favor: numbers. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey reports more than 22% of people living in the U.S. speak a language other than English.

And it’s not only fans bringing linguistic variation to sports. Twenty eight percent (28%) of MLB players are non-U.S. born. Most of those players are from the Dominican Republic, followed by Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

In 2015, Major League Baseball (MLB) instituted a rule requiring each of its 30 teams to have at least two full-time Spanish-language interpreters.

The Los Angeles Dodgers go a step further to cater to its Hispanic fans with a Spanish version of its website and broadcasts of its games in Spanish (live radio and TV).

Major sporting events (Super Bowl, World Series), global competitions (Olympics, FIFA World Cup), and US sports venues (MetLife, Levi’s) offer on-site multilingual interpreting services. The international makeup of players and fans obliges stadiums to adopt these inclusive language practices.

Examples of venues offering language accessibility in sports  

Several major sports arenas in the U.S. provide accessibility services for Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and multilingual fans. Here are some successful examples of language accessibility in sports.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

This Atlanta, GA stadium provides:

• Assistive listening devices
• Closed captioning handheld devices you can check out from guest services. Closed captioning is viewable on all boards within the stadium
• Obtain accessible seats by contacting Ticketmaster

Madison Square Garden

This New York stadium provides comprehensive accessibility services:

• Assistive listening devices
• Open and closed captions

For hockey and basketball games, open and closed captions are available on a ribbon board for sports commentary.

What’s the difference between open captions and closed captions?

Open captions are burned into the video and are always visible. They cannot be turned off. You can turn closed captions on or off.

Sign language interpreting or closed captions are available for other sports events for fans who request them with two weeks’ notice. 

Crypto.com Arena  

Formerly the Staples Center, this Los Angeles stadium follows ADA mandates for effective communication:

• Closed captions for all events
• Assistive listening devices for access to all information at sports events, including announcements
• You must request sign language interpreters 

AT&T Stadium

This Arlington, TX, sports venue provides:

• Assistive listening devices
• Handheld captioning devices that provide real-time captions for all public announcements
• Choose English or Spanish as your preferred language for audio
• Sign language interpreters available for select concerts with 30 days’ advance notice.
• Casino.com recognizes AT&T Stadium as the country's most accessible sports stadium.

Fenway Park  

Home to the Boston Red Sox, this historic ballpark offers:

• Assistive listening devices
• Closed captioning on all three main video boards and ribbon boards
• Sign language interpreters for pre-game events 

Benefits of language accessibility in sports

Although accessibility planning is not part of every sports venue’s operations, there are benefits to making accessibility in sports standard for attendees:

• Higher attendance: Accessibility features help stadiums attract a broader audience. When Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and multilingual fans come away with a positive experience, they help spread the word about the thrilling experience they had at a game, which gets more people interested.
• Greater participation: Accessibility can boost fan excitement during live games and help everyone cheer and celebrate game wins and boo the losses together. Ever see “the wave” at sports events?
• Positive brand reputation: Stadiums that prioritize accessibility demonstrate inclusivity, encouraging fans to return to relive the same fan experience.
• Robust communication: Captioning, sign language interpreting and spoken language interpreting, and translation services contribute to positive experiences and effective communication for fans and staff.
• Increased revenue: A larger fan base, sponsorships, concession and merchandise sales, and accessible online platforms all contribute to higher revenue.

Financial incentives

The sports industry is wildly profitable. A 2023 study from Statista showed tickets for major sporting events yielded more than 14 billion dollars in 2022, with that number on track to reach 15 billion in 2024. Even with more fans watching their favorite pro sports at home, experts expect the demand for live sporting event tickets to exceed two billion by 2028. Being inclusive of all fans can bring increased attendance at stadiums, considering — as we mentioned above — there are more than 22 million people in the U.S. alone who speak languages other than English, not to mention international visitors. And more than a quarter of American adults have a disability. If sports venues committed to offering those fans the same quality of experience as other fans, how much more likely do you think they’d be to buy tickets? Add in concessions and merchandise sales on top of that.

With the advent of AI tools for real-time captioning and translation and the adoption of universal design, sports attendance will only increase when Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and multilingual fans learn there are language services that directly cater to their communication needs.

The benefits for sports fans are clear, but language accessibility can also benefit sports venues and athletic organizations through increased partnerships and sponsorships. 

Case study: 2024 US Open Tennis Championships

Sorenson sponsored the 2024 US Open, and a multilingual Sorenson team attended the tournament with two Sorenson products — Sorenson Forum and Sorenson Express — to facilitate communication with staff and fellow fans. How did it go? We asked them about the experience.

An unexpected experience for deaf fans

• The US Open website states, “The US Open is fully accessible for guests with disabilities.” Our team said many of the accessibility services appear to focus on patrons with physical disabilities and less so on sensory disabilities. Without the invaluable support of Sorenson Express for on-demand ASL interpreting and Sorenson Forum for live captioning, our Deaf team members noted that language accessibility at the tournament would have been a challenge: On the first day, the team visited guest services to request captioning. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a misunderstanding as the stadium staff believed that captions should be available once they found their seats.
• When the captioning was not available, the team returned to guest services. The staff then offered assistive listening devices. Despite the team explaining they were Deaf and unable to use the devices, the staff struggled to understand the device’s limitations.
• “They were really pushing me to try it,” says Jessie Adner, Sorenson Director of Design Consulting. “I was saying over and over again that I can’t hear. I use sign language interpreters.” Finally, the stadium staff understood and they put the device away. “I could see their wheels turning,” Ms. Adner says. “I gave them my business card and told them I’d be happy to consult with them.” 
• When they were seated in the stadium, the Sorenson team happily used the captions on the video board, but said captions cut in and out throughout the game and primarily focused on the referee speaking rather than announcements, the players, the coaches, or introductions.
• Then they had an idea. They connected a small radio that was available for hearing patrons to a smartphone with the Sorenson Express app to get an ASL interpreter on demand to interpret the game.

Something as simple as interpreting available in a mobile app fulfilled the basic desire to enjoy the game along with other fans.

“People can cheer for their favorite players or talk with the person sitting next to them,” Ms. Adner says. “We were really emphasizing the game day experience that Deaf people often lack.”

Ms. Adner says she’d love to go back to the US Open next year. “It was so fun with my colleagues, with the food and the experience, and just being in the same area as all of the players,” Ms. Adner says. “I’m addicted to tennis now.”

This year’s US Open did have a sign language interpreter for the national anthem as the result of deaf fans’ recommendations in 2023.

Using Sorenson Forum for seamless communication

The U.S. Open attracts not only athletes from around the world, but also fans spanning languages and cultures. A highlight of the game experience for the Sorenson team was being able to talk to those fans using Sorenson Forum’s on-demand translation and spoken language interpreting.

“We had the opportunity to use Sorenson Forum with foreign language speakers,” says Sorenson Director of Corporate Events Britnee Hursin. “We were able to have a conversation which was really cool.”

A Spanish-speaking Sorenson team member carried on a full conversation with a Chinese couple who spoke Mandarin, using Sorenson Forum to translate in real time between their respective languages.

The last word

The Sorenson team said they saw for themselves a significant accessibility gap in sports, even at events that aim to provide accessibility for all fans.

The team emphasized that captions benefit not only Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences but also multilingual speakers, provided they can access captions in their preferred language. They met many non-English speaking fans and say multilingual captioning would make the sporting events “inclusive for a broader audience,” rather than just a tool for deaf communities.

“We’re not just accepting [the] status quo,” Ms. Hursin says. “We want to work in partnership with them .”

A vision for accessibility in sports

The vision for sports is accessible. By integrating language accessibility, the sports entertainment industry can offer multilingual, Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans a prime seat for the thrill and camaraderie of sporting events — and watch inclusion pay off.

Catering to a multilingual audience reaps economic benefits through increased attendance: higher ticket and merchandise sales (including concessions).

Language accessibility benefits also extend to staff, players, and officials through clear communication with customers and teammates.

We encourage sports venues and organizations to prioritize accessibility in their operations. Reach out to accessibility professionals, invest in staff training and technology, and, most of all, listen to audience feedback.

Ready to start implementing language accessibility for your sports events? Request a meeting with Sorenson’s consultant team today to discuss your needs to make your sports events accessible and inclusive.