ASL & CART
The Disability Equity Office provides American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and coordinates external Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services for individuals with disabilities on the Ann Arbor campus. This includes Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing employees and job applicants in addition to campus event participants.
Requesting Services
Due to the high volume of requests for ASL and CART services, you may submit your request up to six months in advance of the day of the event. To ensure coverage, please submit your request as soon as possible. Requests must be submitted before the service date to receive financial support for CART services.
U-M Employees w/Single Sign On (SSO)
Community Members
ASL and CART coordination services are not available for:
- Admitted and enrolled students seeking academic/classroom services
- Michigan Medicine units, departments, and employees
- Michigan Medicine patients (excluding those supported by the Dental School and University Health Services)
- Student organizations
- Unaffiliated groups
Identified Users & Inclusive Events
ASL interpreters are available on a first-come-first-serve basis for identified users and inclusive events. CART services coordination is available for identified users and inclusive events. CART financial support for identified users requests and inclusive events is available when initially requested through the Disability Equity Office.
Identified Users
Identified users means an individual with a disability that requires ASL or CART services to equally and effectively communicate and participate in a meeting, event, program or to receive a service. This includes:
- Employees, this includes faculty and staff
- Applicants and interview candidates for employment
- Visitors, guests, and event attendees
- Research participants for studies on the Ann Arbor campus
- Dental School and University Health & Counseling (UHC) patients
Inclusive Events
Inclusive events are events where ASL and/or CART services are requested for general accessibility purposes without a known identified user. These type of campus events include:
- Athletic events
- Consultations and meetings
- Graduations, commencements, honors ceremonies, etc.
- Interviews for campus employees
- Live and recorded remarks by university officials
- Seminars, lectures, town halls, public performances, assemblies, and theatrical events
- Trainings, workshop, and conferences
No Cost Services
ASL Services
There is no charge to the unit for ASL interpretation if requests are submitted to the Disability Equity Office and our ASL interpreters provide the service. We do our best to accommodate all requests.
If our staff interpreters are not available for the date/time of the requested services, and an external service provider is needed then the unit is responsible for the payment of the external service provider.
The Disability Equity Office will still provide service coordination when staff interpreters are unavailable to fulfill requests for identified users.
In cases of unforeseen cancellations by Disability Equity Office ASL interpreters(s) resulting in the need to secure an external provider(s) for a previously confirmed assignment, the Disability Equity Office will work to identify an available external vendor to provide ASL services. If services are identified, we will cover the cost of the external vendor.
CART Services
The Disability Equity Office covers financial support for CART requests submitted to, and facilitated by, our office. Please ensure to submit a request early.
Important: We cannot reimburse a unit or group for services that were not approved and organized by the Disability Equity Office.
Meet Our ASL Interpreters
Kacey Lundgren