ASL & CART Services

The Disability Equity Office provides American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and coordinates external Communication Access Realtime Transcription (CART) services to identified Ann Arbor campus Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing employees in addition to event participants. This initiative is part of a two-year pilot program supported by the Office of the Provost to provide financial support and full time staff to increase access and model inclusive event practices across the wider community.

Identified Users & Inclusive Events

ASL interpreters and/or CART are available for identified users defined as Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, and Disabled individuals in the following categories:

• Employees, this includes faculty and staff
• Applicants and interview candidates for employment
• Visitors, guests, and event attendees 
• Research participants for studies
• Dental School and University Health Services (UHS) patients

ASL interpretation and CART can also be utilized at inclusive events which are events where ASL and/or CART services are requested without a known identified user. Some examples of these type of campus events include:

• Athletic events
• Consultations and meetings
• Graduations, commencements, honors ceremonies, etc.
• Interviews for campus employees
• Live and recorded talks by university officials
• Seminars, lectures, town halls, public performances, assemblies, and theatrical events
• Trainings, workshop, and conferences

Requesting Services

Due to the high volume of requests for ASL and CART, you may submit your request up to six months in advance from the day of the event. To ensure coverage, please submit your request as soon as possible. Requests should be submitted using the ADA Initial Contact Form. If you are a returning user and a U-M employee utilize our Accommodate login.

The Disability Equity Office does not provide ASL and CART services to:

• Admitted students
• Michigan Medicine units/departments/employees/events
• Patients of Michigan Medicine (excluding those supported by Dental School and UHS)
• Student organizations
• Unaffiliated groups

Service Provision and Cost Allocation

ASL Services

There is no charge to the unit if requests are serviced by Disability Equity Office staff interpreters for any event.

If staff interpreters are not available for the date/time of the requested services, and an external service provider is needed to fulfill the request, 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 locate an external provider(s) for a previously confirmed ASL assignment, the office will work to identify an available external vendor to provide ASL services. If services are identified, the Disability Equity Office will cover the cost of the external vendor.

CART Services

The Disability Equity Office provides financial support for CART requests. The office will administer the payment of invoices using the CART fund to provide financial support for approved CART requests by paying invoices from CART providers directly.

The Disability Equity Office cannot reimburse a unit or group for services that were not approved and organized by the Disability Equity Office.

Questions?

If you have questions or would like a consultation before starting the request process please contact us via the ADA Initial Contact Form and select “General Question or Consultation” from the Reason for Contact dropdown.