Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, is seen here beside Randy Dziwenka, an ASL/English translator at one of the province's daily COVID-19 updates. (Government of Alberta)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

listening to the needs of all

Translation for the deaf important to understanding COVID-19 pandemic

Mar 22, 2020 | 11:37 AM

The City of Red Deer is doing its very best to provide accessible information when it conducts its nightly COVID-19 press conferences, the city’s Public Information Officer says.

Nationally and provincially, viewers have become accustomed to not only seeing politicians and health and emergency officials, but also the American Sign Language (ASL) translators by their side.

Those translators are a lifeline for members of the deaf community, who have varying levels of ability to read the English language, and even that only matters when closed captioning is available.

Some have raised the issue with the City of Red Deer, hoping they’ll incorporate it into their Facebook livestreams.

“We recognize there are a variety of needs in our community around communication and information. Whether it is seniors who don’t have access to technology, deaf people, or those with other language translation needs – we are seeking the support of our entire community in helping share information with these individuals,” says Tara Shand with The City of Red Deer.

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Cori Capner, a member of Red Deer’s deaf community, says ASL translation is vital. (Supplied)

“On Friday, we incorporated closed captioning into our video feed and we will continue to do this going forward. This may evolve over time, but right now we have not incorporated ASL into our daily press conferences as some of our technology limitations have inhibited us in doing so at this time.”

Shand says they’ve tried to obtain an ASL translator, but for the time being is imploring the community to do its part in helping share information with their neighbours when necessary. Shand also encourages Red Deerians to continue to follow the guidance of Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Red Deer resident Cori Capner, who has been deaf since she was three months old, wants to emphasize why it’s so important to have ASL translation, especially when a matter of public health is at hand.

“There are varying levels of English savviness in the deaf community; some of us are at the college level, some are more basic, but there are a lot of us who just don’t have the level of English needed to understand certain levels of captioning,” Capner explains. “Not only that, but with interpreters, you’ll see the expressions on their face, as well as their body language, and that all is useful in dissecting the message and its tone.”

Capner, 49, says accessibility for deaf people in Red Deer is much less than in her hometown of Winnipeg, where she moved from a decade ago.

She’s made a determined effort towards advocating for better accessibility in Red Deer, and is also trying to create an official organization to represent deaf people in the community.

Asked what government could do for deaf people in response to COVID-19, she says incorporating video remote interpreting at airports, borders and hospitals would be ideal.

“For example, having an iPad or some sort of tech ready so if needed there could be information provided. That’s one idea,” she says. “Imagine a deaf person coming from another country and not knowing what’s going on, having to physically write in a language not their own. It’s not the most effective.”

Note: A portion of the interviews in this story was conducted using Video Relay Service, in which a translator relays questions to the interviewee via video, then responds on the phone back to us on behalf of the person who is deaf.