Stephanie Zito and Lore Kinast, Technical Assistance Specialists at the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC), will present at AHEAD 2020: Equity and Excellence, a national online conference featuring experts on access in higher education.
Their presentation on July 21, How do I Pin the Interpreter? Can we Use Automatic Captions Instead? FAQ’s for Online Accessibility and Deaf Students, addresses the most frequently asked questions of the NDC | Help Team since the pandemic began. They will offer innovative strategies for colleges and universities to ensure effective communication access for deaf students in online learning environments.
Challenges include how to assimilate sign language interpreters, speech-to-text professionals, and other service providers into online platforms, accommodation changes for online classes versus in-person classes, concerns about face masks, providing captioned media, faculty awareness, and more. Participants in their interactive session will also receive NDC resources designed to support working with a variety of deaf students and their communication needs.
Stephanie Zito, MS, NIC, coordinates the NDC | Help Team and has extensive experience as a professional sign language interpreter and trained C-Print captionist. She is the current president of the National Association of Interpreters in Education (NAIE).
Lore Kinast, MA, has a background coordinating services for deaf students at several colleges and universities, bringing real-world expertise to her work at NDC. Currently pursuing her doctorate degree, she is also co-chair of AHEAD’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Knowledge and Practice Community.
Comprehensive pandemic-related tips and resources can be found at NDC’s COVID-19 Information hub, including a summary of all of the FAQs received by the NDC | Help Team.
