Contact us by email at interpreting@alsglobal.net or via phone at 1-800-951-5020 for a free estimate on our ASL and CART services.

Trusted CART & ASL Services in Hartford, CT

American Language Services has been helping businesses and other entities reach the deaf and hard of hearing community for more than 35 years. While in-person interpreting, at one time, was the only option, recent technological advances opened the door to other options. Since we offer full-service Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), this article will be comparing Virtual American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting with Communication Access Real-Time Translation (AKA- Closed Captioning & Real Time Subtitling) known as CART.

 Please note that according to the American Disability Act (ADA) that deaf and hard of hearing community have the legal right to receive full access through the use of ASL and or CART services. The ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and providing ASL interpreters for deaf individuals complies with federal law and promotes equal accessibility.

Some interesting Facts About the City of Hartford

• Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford’s population was 124,775, making it Connecticut’s third-largest city after the coastal cities of Bridgeport and New Haven. Census Bureau estimates since then have indicated Hartford’s subsequent fall to fourth place statewide as a result of sustained population growth in the coastal city of Stamford.
• Nicknamed the “Insurance Capital of the World”, Hartford houses many insurance company headquarters, and insurance remains the region’s major industry. Founded in 1635, Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States. Hartford is home to the nation’s oldest public art museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum; the oldest publicly funded park, Bushnell Park; the oldest continuously published newspaper, The Hartford Courant; the second-oldest secondary school, Hartford Public; Trinity College, an elite, private liberal arts college, and the Mark Twain House where the author wrote his most famous works and raised his family, among other historically significant attractions.
• Following the American Civil War, Hartford was the richest city in the United States for several decades. Today, Hartford is one of the poorest cities in the nation with 3 out of every 10 families living below the poverty line. In sharp contrast, the Hartford metropolitan area is ranked 32nd of 318 metropolitan areas in total economic production and 7th out of 280 metropolitan statistical areas in per capita income. Highlighting the socio-economic disparity between Hartford and its suburbs, 83% of Hartford’s jobs are filled by commuters from neighboring towns who earn over $80,000, while 75% of Hartford residents who commute to work in other towns earn just $40,000.
• In 1636, the Rev. Thomas Hooker and a group of around 100 Puritans established a settlement along the Connecticut River. They named their new home after Hertford, England, the birthplace of Hooker’s assistant, the Rev. Samuel Stone.
• Back in 2006, the City of Hartford launched an advertising campaign to entice young people to move downtown. One of the promotions included a highway billboard that read: “Come to Hartford. I Swear, It’s Fun.”
• Founded in 1842, the Wadsworth Atheneum is America’s oldest public art museum. Originally home to just 79 paintings, today it houses more than 50,000 works of art.
• Inside Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall, you’ll find a 187-by-40-foot Art Deco oil painting. It is the largest hand-painted ceiling mural of its type in the United States.
• Jenna Dewan Tatum and Twilight scribe Stephenie Meyer were born in Hartford, while Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak spent most of her childhood in a Hartford suburb.
• The Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1997. But 19 years after their departure from Connecticut, the team still rakes in cash. According to the website Hartford Business, Whalers gear is currently Reebok’s top-selling of any defunct hockey team.
• In other sports news: The Hartford Yard Goats, a brand new minor league baseball team, is set to begin play April 7. The team’s mascots are two grinning goats named Chompers and Chew Chew.
• Want to see a taxidermized calf with two complete heads? How about an 18-foot Egyptian crocodile? Painter Joseph Steward opened his Museum of Natural and Other Curiosities on the Old State House’s top floor in 1797.
• The first magazine exclusively for kids was published in Hartford in 1789 under the title “The Children’s Magazine” [PDF].
• The Hartford Courant, founded in 1764, is the country’s oldest continuously published newspaper. A humble Virginia farmer by the name of George Washington placed an advertisement in it in 1796 for some land for rent on his Mount Vernon estate.
• Pedro Segarra, the former mayor of Hartford, became the nation’s first legally married gay mayor when he wed his partner of 14 years, Charlie Ortiz, in 2012. When he was elected in 2010, he was only America’s second openly gay mayor.
• Thirty years before the Salem witch trials, hysteria swept through Hartford. Eleven women and men were executed, beginning with Alice Young. Her hanging in Hartford on May 26, 1647, was the first witchcraft execution to occur in America.
• The first time a President of the United States ever rode in an automobile was on August 22, 1902, when President Theodore Roosevelt took one for a spin through the streets of Hartford.
• During his 17 years in Hartford, Mark Twain published some of his most famous works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• Playwright Edward Albee’s Hartford-based alma mater, Trinity College, was the first college in America to have open admissions without regard to religious beliefs.
• John M. Browning of Hartford invented the automatic pistol in 1896.
• Nitrous oxide—more commonly known as laughing gas—was first put to work as an anesthetic for dentistry in 1844 by Hartford resident Horace Wells.
• A fire swept through the tent at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was stopped in Hartford, on July 6, 1944, killing 168 people—mostly women and children. Because the big-top was water-proofed with paraffin wax and gasoline, the flames spread rapidly. A Time magazine article dated July 17 reported that doctors, dentists, and jewelers helped identify victims by their fillings, scars, rings and watches. It was one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States.
• Hartford was the setting for the Amy Brenneman series Judging Amy, which aired on CBS from 1999-2005. Unfortunately for Hartford, the show was actually filmed in Pasadena, California.
• The Federal Café (or The Fed as it’s known to locals) has been on the corner of Union and Church Streets since 1934. It’s the oldest bar in the city.
• From the front, the A. Everett Austin House appears to be a stunning mansion. Viewed from the side, however, it quickly becomes apparent that the “mansion” is little more than a facade and the 85-foot-long building is just 18 feet deep. Its owner, Arthur Everett Austin—a former director of the aforementioned Wadsworth Atheneum—built the residence in the 1930s and hosted countless parties there. (Prominent guests included Gertrude Stein and Salvador Dali.)
• “Hartford is where I learned to grow up,” Katharine Hepburn revealed in 1988. “It is where I will come home to.” She did, in 2003: The Oscar winner’s remains are buried in the Hepburn family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery.
• The Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford is the city’s oldest historic site and was the only cemetery there from the 1640s to the early 1800s. The burying ground accepted anyone who died in Hartford, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnic background, economic status, or religious faith. Thomas Hooker, founder of Hartford, is buried here.
• Next to the state capitol is Bushnell Park. The 50-acre oasis is the oldest publicly funded park in the United States. According to Yankee magazine, Bushnell Park boasts the largest turkey oak tree in New England. Its trunk is nearly 17 feet around.
• Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, moved to Hartford in 1873 and remained there until her death in 1896. Her home is a National Historic Landmark.

Reference Sources: MentalFloss, Kiddle Encyclopedia

Hartford ASL & CART Language Interpreters

American Language Services is known for our high-quality, In-person and Virtual interpreters, as well as the outstanding client services we provide. We work in 200+ languages including Legal and Medical Certified and Qualified.  ASL and CART are the fastest growing languages in Hartford today a language interpreter can be a very underestimated professional in the world today. There are over 100 languages spoken in the Hartford Metro area alone. Many of us know one language, and we specialize in one field of study. Our Hartford Interpreters are fluent in English and at least one other language, and they are knowledgeable in a wide range of specialized fields including legal, medical, technical, manufacturing, and engineering.

A brief history of ASL Interpreting in Hartford

Most people know that ASL stands for American Sign Language. But not everyone knows that it is a distinct language—not simply an offshoot of American English. Though its beginnings are murky, many believe that ASL originated from a merger of French Sign Language (SLF) and local U.S. sign languages. While ASL and SLF are distinct languages, there are still some similarities between their signs.

What actually is ASL?   ASL a complete, natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages with grammar however that differs from English. ASL is expressed by movements of the hands and face.  ASL is a language completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language, with its own rules for pronunciation, word formation, and word order.  Because of the physical nature of ASL, a two-person team of ASL interpreters is required for assignments longer than 1 hour in duration.

The National Center for Health Statistics claims that 28 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss, though only between two and eight percent of them are natural ASL speakers.  Helping these select individuals translate the audible into the understandable is the job of an ASL interpreter.  If you have ever been to a play, a concert or watched a government briefing, you have probably seen an ASL interpreter signing just out of view.  An interesting side note is that Statista estimates that there are currently around 60,000 active ASL interpreters in the USA.

The Benefits of ASL Interpreting in Hartford

When it comes to communicating with hard-of-hearing or deaf audiences, there are a few reasons you might want to opt for a Hartford ASL interpreter over CART services. These include:

• A More Personal Connection: A real person has several advantages over a computer screen. First, human interpreters have an easier time conveying emotion. Second, they are better equipped to point out speakers and assist with pronunciation issues. Finally, an interpreter gives a deaf or hard of hearing person a chance to bond with another person.
• Enhanced Speed: Skilled interpreters can hold pace with even the fastest speakers. Lack of delay makes it easier for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to keep up with the conversation.
• Cost Effective:  While costs range by the type of ASL you need (Legal, medical, business, etc.) and when the assignment is scheduled, the cost off ASL, across the board, is less money than CART.

What Is CART?

While the majority of people know what American Sign Language is, the same cannot be said for Communication Access Real-Time Translation. Often referred to as CART, this communication method for the deaf and hard of hearing is best described as subtitling for live discussions. Unlike ASL, which relies on a professional interpreter, CART services are provided by a well-trained stenographer or transcriptionist. They transcribe anything said and then broadcast the resulting text to a phone, computer, or TV screen.

CART is often seen as a cost-effective and efficient way to ensure everybody can follow along. While often used to help deaf students in the classroom, CART captioning benefits anyone that can read.  Much like ASL interpreting, it can be done both onsite with a physical transcriptionist or remotely with an offsite one.

Why You Should Consider CART for the Hartford Market

Communication Access Real-Time Translation is growing in popularity due to the following characteristics:

• It Serves a Wider Array of Deaf People: If you do a little math, you will realize that 65 percent of hard-of-hearing people in the USA do not speak ASL fluently. CART makes it so these people can join in on the conversation as well.
• CART Makes It Scalable: While people in the front rows can easily make out what an interpreter is signing, it gets harder as the distance increases. Since captions can be beamed to multiple screens simultaneously, they do not have to factor speaker distance into the equation.
• The Text Provides a Written Record: Having a transcript of everything your professor said would be a godsend come finals. Having a record of a meeting can also provide clarity to all those involved as well. The physical nature of CART recording makes that possible. This ability is one reason so many college students opt for CART over traditional ASL interpreting. 

About American Language Services

Founded in 1985, American Language Services was there to help pioneer the rise in remote ASL interpreting options. Our dedication to quality and client satisfaction in interpreting allowed us to shift from a one-woman agency into one of the most successful language agencies in the world. Our language experts provide ASL & CART interpreting services to people all around the world. Because of our 24/7 availability, you’ll never have to worry about us not being available, on off times, for an assignment.

AML-Global has some of the most impressive linguistic talents in the world. These highly skilled language professionals are recruited, screened, and tested to ensure high-quality work.

Contact us by email at interpreting@alsglobal.net or via phone at 1-800-951-5020 for a free estimate on our ASL and CART services.

ASL Interpreting or CART in Hartford: Which One Better Suits Your Needs?