Can NIH employees located off Campus (Rockville, Frederick, Baltimore and North Carolina) use the Interpreting Services Contract?

Yes, the census data gathered for contract funding purposes does include these areas.

Does this contract allow for professional note taking (for D/HH employees attending training classes)?

This falls under the real time captioning (CART) provision of the contract. The real time captioning uses court reporters who use court reporting techniques, which is translated into a format via a laptop or screen. The information is given to the requestor on disk in a suitable format. Although available, this service is extremely expensive and should be used only in extreme necessity. The DATS will work with the requestor to determine if the need for CART is appropriate.

It is now 11:00 am, and I forgot about my meeting that is scheduled for today at 2:00 PM. What should I do?

Since this request would be received less than 5 days prior to the start of your event, the DATS can not guarantee that services would be provided. We would suggest that you first call the DATS, and we will call AI and explain the circumstances. If they can provide services for you, we will ask that you enter the request on the on-line interpreting services request page. Please note that while the DATS and AI will make every attempt to accommodate last minute requests, in some cases managers may have to reschedule meetings in order to ensure the provision of reasonable accommodations.

I just discovered that my meeting has been changed to a different location, and the meeting is scheduled to start in 20 minutes. How do I let the interpreter know?

We ask that you immediately contact the DATS at 301-402-8180. We will immediately contact AI and notify them of the change. Of course, we ask that as soon as you learn of any event changes that you notify our office.

I have materials that the interpreter should review before the meeting. What should I do with them?

When entering your request, there is a "Special Instructions" space where you can indicate if materials are available for AI to review prior to the event. 

My meeting was supposed to last from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. However, it ran over until 4:00 PM. What do I do?

Please contact the DATS as soon as possible. We will ensure that the records are updated.

However, if your AI scheduled interpreter has another event immediately after yours, they may not be able to stay until your meeting finishes. That is why it is imperative to request enough time to cover your event in advance.

How do I know how many interpreters to request?

Since this is a performance based contract, we are relying on AI's expertise to determine the correct amount of interpreters per request. AI and the DATS will review each request, and depending on the content and length of the assignment, decide the appropriate number of interpreters (this helps avoid fatigue and ensures linguistic accuracy). In some cases there may be more than one consumer and type of service being requested at the same time. All of these are taken into consideration before assigning the interpreter(s).