"With over 30 years of professional experience, HIS Sign is your single resource for interpreting services"
Christina Hammrich, President/Owner
Customer FAQ's
General FAQ
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 mandates that a comprehensive variety of public and private services as well as employers must be accessible to all people, regardless of disability. When dealing with people who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard of hearing, this means that communication must be accessible. In many cases, the best way to ensure this is to have an interpreter.
An interpreter may be used any time communication is occurring between people who do not share the same language. Deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing people may not have access to information if it is presented in English, either verbally or in writing. Some simple communications (for example, between a deaf customer and a clerk in a store) can be done through written notes or gestures, but any time important content is being communicated, having an interpreter present safeguards the participants by ensuring that information is accessible to both parties.
The ADA states that all public and private agencies that provide services to the general public, and all employers with 15 or more employees, must be accessible. This means that, if your agency, service, or business is accessible to people without disabilities, it must be accessible to people with disabilities. Additionally, companies with 15 or more employees must follow fair hiring and employment practices when considering candidates with disabilities. (However, some states supercede the ADA. For example, the ADA is superceded in Washington State by RCW, which covers employers with 8 or more employees.) Therefore, it is the agency, service, or business which is responsible for payment for interpreting services.
Interpreting services should be budgeted as part of your annual planning for accessibility services. It is true that, on a per-encounter basis, you may pay more for interpreting services than you generate in revenue for your company. However, if you consider the cost over the course of a year as an overhead cost of doing business, providing accessible services is quite reasonable.
People are usually familiar with ASL, but there are variations such as “PSE”, Pidgin Signed English and “SEE”, Signed Exact English.
- ASL or American Sign Language is more of a conceptual sign language and there is usually not a 1-1 mapping of a sign to an English word.
- In SEE or Signed Exact English, there is a sign for every single word as well as the definitions for the word (ex. run). Tense, prefixes and suffixes of the word are also signed. This is typically used in an educational environment where the theory is that it helps Deaf children to learn English.
- With PSE or Pidgin Signed English, you may have some ASL, some SEE in English word order and some SEE signs out of order or a mixture.
When a HIS Sign interpreter arrives for an assignment they will initially discuss the language preferences with the Deaf consumer so that they can present (sign) in the manner that is desired. We ask this on the Job Form as it helps us when determining which interpreter to send on an assignment. Our goal is to provide you, the customer and the Deaf Consumers, with the best services possible and this assists in that goal!
VRI FAQ
There are no setup costs associated with the activation of HIS Sign’s video interpreting services!
Normal setup is scheduled over a period of 1-2 days and is dependent upon your availability to work with the HIS Sign Staff.
Step #1: Install the HIS Sign VRI Application on your compatible device.
Step #2: Schedule to have your installation verified and tested with one of our staff.
Step #3: Begin using HIS Sign’s video interpreting services!
In a crunch, Expedited Application setup can be requested (See “Expedited Setup Fee” on Pricing Page). Utilizing this option, you can be up and working within an hour or two on a compatible device. (Compatibility Requirements)
Our VRI Application is currently supported on:
• Microsoft OS (Windows 10, 8 and 7)
• Mac OS X 10.7 (Mountain Lion) or higher
• Mac iOS 8 or higher (iPad 3rd generation of iPad Mini 2nd generation)
Our VRI Application is currently supported on the following web browsers:
• Google Chrome 31 (and higher)
• Internet Explorer 10 (and higher)
• Mozilla Firefox 25 (and higher)
• Apple Safari 6.2 (and higher)
Normal Business Hours for VRI are 8:00am – 10:00pm, Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays.
A Business Day is a 24 continuous hour period, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
On Demand Services are services that can be used in an unscheduled fashion, as they are needed.
Scheduled Services are services that are used at predetermined and agreed upon times. With HIS Sign pricing, they may qualify for reduced rates.
We invoice monthly with payments due 30 days from the invoice date. A 2% late fee is added for each 30 day increment past due.
There are no cancellation charges for On Demand Services. Cancellations less than two full Business Days before the beginning of a Scheduled Services assignment, when they qualify for reduced rates, are considered untimely and will be billed as if the services had been provided.
There are no cancellation charges for On Demand Services. Cancellations less than two full Business Days before the beginning of a Scheduled Services assignment, when they qualify for reduced rates, are considered untimely and will be billed as if the services had been provided.
Yes, the platform used for the HIS Sign VRI Services meets or exceeds the HIPAA Compliancy requirements.
Yes, using the HIS Sign VRI Services meets or exceeds the ADA requirements.
There is not a simple answer to this question. We suggest you contact the ADA using this link.
Yes, HIS Sign utilizes a service that allows us to digitally sign the contract, simplifying the process of signing up to use our VRI Services.
CART FAQ
CART stands for Communication Access Real-time Translation.
The CART service is referred to as real-time captioning and results in the display of everything that is being said, word for word on a computer, television or projection screen. The service may be provided by a “captioner” that is either on-site or off-site (remote). A transcript can also be produced at the completion of services.
A individual, the “captioner”, uses a device (court reporting stenography machine or computer with real-time captioning software) with an internet connection and types in everything that is said. The word for word text is then displayed on a computer, television or projection screen.
The “captioner” is not actually typing each word, the phonetic origin of a word is used instead of the actual spelling, which allows the “captioner” to type up to 260 words per minute with 98% accuracy and above.
Yes, refer to https://www.ada.gov/effective-comm.htm for further details.
The “captioner” uses an internet connection to hear and to project what is said at the service location.
To receive remote CART services you will need the following:
- A computer with an internet connection (A high-speed internet connection is not required but is helpful) at the service location.
- Compatible remote captioning software (provided free of charge).
- A high quality microphone for use at the service location that connects to the computer or an audio feed from a sound system.
- Computer(s), television(s) or projection screen(s) to connect to the computer in order to allow the consumers to view the captioning.
To receive on-site CART services you will need the following:
- Computer(s), television(s) or projection screen(s) to connect to the computer used by the “captioner”. This will allow the consumers to view the captioning.
