ASL Interpreting and CART Services
Western Michigan University is committed to creating fully inclusive and accessible experiences for all students, faculty, staff and visitors. To ensure equitable access during meetings, events, classes and presentations, the university supports the use of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services. These accommodations are available for both in‑person and virtual environments.
It is the responsibility of the hosting college, unit or department to arrange and schedule services with these recommended vendors. Event planners and organizers should ensure that ASL or CART accommodations are requested well in advance to support smooth coordination and full accessibility for all participants.
The following vendors are providers for scheduling ASL interpreting and CART services.
ASL interpreter agencies
The following ASL interpreter agencies are recommended for scheduling qualified interpreting services for in‑person and virtual events.
DeafLINK
cirfun.com/deaflink
(269) 968-8249
@email
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services
deafhhs.org
(616) 732-7358
@email
CART providers
The following CART providers are recommended for scheduling qualified real-time translation services for in-person and virtual events.
Archive Captioning & Interpreting
archivecaptioning.com
(218) 841-5589
@email
HRI-CART
hricart.com
(877) 372-2278
@email
20/20 Captioning & Interpreting
2020captioning.com/cart-landing
(800) 870-1795
@email
Definitions
American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreting
ASL interpreting is a service in which a qualified interpreter facilitates communication between Deaf or hard‑of‑hearing individuals and hearing participants using American Sign Language. Interpreters convey spoken language into ASL and interpret signed communication back into spoken English.
ASL interpreters may be scheduled for in‑person settings, live events, classrooms or virtual meetings conducted through platforms such as Teams, Zoom or Webex.
Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART)
CART is a real‑time captioning service in which a trained captioner converts spoken language into text instantly. The text is displayed on a monitor or personal device, offering full access for individuals who rely on written text to follow spoken content.
CART is ideal for lectures, presentations, large events or virtual meetings where accurate, real‑time captioning is essential.