NIH provides interpreting and real-time captioning services to the deaf and hard of hearing community. Services are centrally funded and available to everyone upon request – including employees, contractors, patients and their families, and visitors.

The Division of Amenities and Transportation Services (DATS) manages the Interpreting Services program. To request an interpreting service for your open event, use your NIH email account to create a user profile in the secure web-based portal. Enter the names of the people requesting services or contact the Interpreting Services team at 301-827-3252.

NIH Manual Chapter – 2206 Sign Language Interpreter Policy, Section C, Paragraph 1, requires the following language to be included when announcing events open to NIH employees, contract staff, or the public: ”Individuals with disabilities who need sign language interpreting and/or other reasonable accommodations to participate in this event, should contact (insert your local meeting point of contact and phone number) or through the Federal Relay (1-800-877-8339). Requests should be made five days in advance of the event.”

Check out the Consumer Guide for more tips at: www.ors.od.nih.gov/pes/dats/interpret/Documents/Consumer%20Guide%20-%20May%202018.pdf.