METM26 presentation

No one left out: inclusive conference communication that works

Mary Fons i Fleming, Barcelona, Spain; Amy Dara Hochberg, Barcelona, Spain

Interpreting and other accessibility services are commissioned by meeting organizers for various reasons. However, communication with users of these services—presumably an important goal—is not always prioritized. Organizers face budget, time, and space constraints as well as a perceived need for seamlessness for most participants. These issues often crowd out the aim of communicating meaningfully with all participants. The resulting choices stymie the work of hired interpreters, both signed and spoken, live captioners, and other service providers, significantly hindering full and equal participation. Participants who require these services become less visible and less able to contribute, making organizers less likely to appreciate the benefits of inclusion measures and more reluctant to prioritize them at subsequent events.

In the context of our presentation, we posit spoken language interpreting as an accessibility service at any event where a single spoken language dominates. After reviewing the types of services that can be provided at in-person and remote events and the basic requirements for their delivery, we will discuss frequent practices that make them less useful than they could be (for instance, by limiting floor questions to the dominant language) and likely reasons for each. We will then propose constructive approaches that can be suggested to organizers so that meetings can be more inclusive. Rather than focusing on our needs as service providers, the first step is to identify how organizers’ default choices may detract from their own goals. The clincher is identifying suggestions that require the least effort and cost for the client.

Any METM participant who organizes meetings or provides language or accessibility services can contribute to this session and learn from it.

About the presenters

	Mary Fons i Fleming is a conference interpreter, consultant interpreter, translator, and editor who first developed an awareness of disabilities while working on assignments for a Down syndrome advocacy organization. She has organized mixed signed-and-spoken interpreter teams and interpreted remotely for blind and visually impaired participants.
	Amy Dara Hochberg, PhD, is a multilingual health communication researcher, academic and medical translator, and EFL teacher whose lifelong profound deafness and lived experience fuel her work on language access in healthcare.