About Us

We are a community advocate group working to address the American Sign Language (ASL), ProTactile (PT) and Trilingual Interpreter Shortage in Washington State. We created this site to share our plans with you and our ideas on how to address the shortage.

Background Info

There is a severe shortage of qualified and certified American Sign Language (ASL), ProTactile (PT), and Trilingual interpreters across Washington State.

• Many Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled and Hard of Hearing (DDBDDHH) community members struggle to get qualified interpreters. We are losing access to doctor’s appointments, work meetings, job interviews, court dates, social service appointments, community events, and more.

• Many DDBDDHH students don’t have qualified interpreters in the classroom, hindering their access to quality education.

• Businesses, organizations, and service providers struggle to find qualified interpreters to meet their needs.

The proviso, SHB 2221, passed, starting July 2024, the proviso will create and fund a stakeholder workgroup to gather data about the ASL, PT and Trilingual interpreter shortage in Washington State. The workgroup will use the data to create a report that recommends policy solutions to the House of Representatives and Senate. The report would also include community-based solutions for Washington State residents. 

Is the interpreter shortage impacting your life? Hold your representatives and senators accountable for finding solutions.

If you want to be a part of this effort, here’s what you can do:

• Share this website

• Reach out to your legislators

• If you know a local organization who would like to support this effort, please connect us!

• Sign up to get updates from us