American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and real-time captioning will be offered at Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) council meetings beginning Aug. 22, CUSA Live facilitator Luke Smith said.
The additions will give deaf and hard of hearing students the opportunity to be better informed on CUSA council meetings, Smith said. ASL interpreters will also be offered at council and executive debates during elections.
The interpreters will be available upon request, with about one week’s notice, Smith said.
Real-time captioning will be available at all CUSA council meetings beginning Aug. 22, Smith said, and there may be a trial at the July 25 emergency meeting to pass the budget.
Captioning will be done by projecting a text document onto a screen at council, Smith said.
“That document at the end [of the meeting] will serve as a transcript,” Smith said.
The details are still being sorted out but he said he hopes to incorporate the document into the CUSA Live feed of council meetings.
Captioning will be done by hire at around $45 per hour, he said, and ASL interpreters will be hired for around $55 an hour.
Smith said the interpreters told him a minimum of two interpreters would be needed for meetings that last more than an hour. CUSA meetings average three hours.
“It can be kind of a brain drain to constantly be doing that,” he said.
Five thousand dollars was approved for the project by the CUSA accessibility fund committee for the upcoming academic year, Smith said.
Smith said he does not expect the project to go over budget unless ASL interpreters are requested for every meeting—which he said is unlikely.
There has been a push to have ASL interpreters and real-time captioning at CUSA council meetings for a few years, Smith said.
The decision might enlighten students about the presence of students with hearing impairments and other disabilities on campus, said Paul Menton Centre disabilities co-ordinator and learning strategist Laura Brawn via email.
Brawn said 1,742 students between May 2012 and the end of April 2013 were actively registered with the Paul Menton Centre, meaning they received services.
Of those, she said two per cent—35 students—registered with a hearing impairment. One of those students required ASL.
Smith said while the number of students with auditory impairments may be low, the new hearing accessibility measures coincide with upcoming mandatory provincial law.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act will be rolling out new accessibility measures over the course of the next few years.
“Every obligated organization shall upon request provide or arrange for the provision of accessible formats and communication supports for persons with disabilities,” the act states. The provisions will not be enforced until January 2014, 2015, or 2016 depending on the organization.
Smith said CUSA’s push for an early adoption allows them time to adapt before the act comes into full effect.
