Some Considerations for Working with Interpreters

Consistency is Key

Scheduling 4 or more interpreters for an online or onsite event?

Consistent interpreters for long-term or regular assignments ensure continuity, build rapport, and foster trust between parties. This practice enhances communication accuracy, cultural competency, and efficiency by allowing interpreters to develop a deeper understanding of specific contexts, terminology, and communication preferences.

This is particularly important in classes and long-term trainings, where continuity supports steady progress. Frequent interpreter changes can create gaps in understanding that may require consumers to spend additional time, or even revisit or repeat portions of the material, to fully access the content.

Consider scheduling an onsite/online coordinator with interpreting experience. Consider one of your team taking on the additonal role of coordinating services, prior to and on site or online. This includes last minute changes based on skillset, teaming requirements and support, last minute changes based on real time event changes as they occur.

Preparation materials

Your content may be specialized in terms of vocabulary, common abbreviations, method of delivery, etc. Sharing power points, schedule, speakers communication preferences, languages used, etc with enough time to review, even if some details may change or expand, helps the interpreter prepare to render your message faithfully and effectively.

Trilingual Interpreters

Video Meetings

While working with an additonaly English/Spanish spoken language interpreter can be effective, trilingual interpreters who work with ASL as one of their language pairs have ELK, extralinguistic knowledge, that allows for a smooth interpretation with respect to deafness, ASL, and specialized vocabulary in the provision of services for the D/deaf.

Plan Ahead for Smooth Virtual Communication
For video-based assignments, schedule interpreters to arrive 10–15 minutes early for a tech check. This allows time to verify audio/video quality, confirm the platform setup, and identify who is who before the meeting begins. Early arrival reduces delays, increases accuracy, and helps interpreters establish rapport with both the team and consumers.

Whenever possible, enable captions to support accessibility for everyone in the meeting, interpreters, Deaf participants, and hearing users alike.

Many video platforms also include features such as Interpreter Mode, Multiple Spotlighting, or Assigning Interpreters as Co-Hosts/Hosts. Using these options helps ensure that interpreters have stable visibility, can pin the appropriate video feeds, and can manage their onscreen setup for optimal performance.