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 Omaha, NE

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 Omaha

• Notorious “Goodfellas” gangster Henry Hill was sent to live in Omaha for the rest of his life as an “average schnook” after entering the witness protection program.
• Since 2010, Omaha has been home to the “Tattoo League,” a fantasy football league that requires the last place finisher to get a tattoo chosen by the league’s winner each year. Past loser tattoos have features unicorns, Care Bears and Justin Bieber.
• Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning famously loves yelling “Omaha” at the line of scrimmage. The popular sports blog Deadspin determined using “Omaha” almost always signaled the snap was coming on the next “hut,” except a few occasions a game, which frequently led to defenses jumping offsides.
• In Omaha, as in all of Nebraska, it is illegal for anyone with gonorrhea to marry.
• Fu Manchu, an orangutan at the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, was known to climb through air vents and pick locks with a piece of metal wiring he kept hidden.
• The Counting Crows’ 1993 album “August and Everything After” features a song titled “Omaha.” According to lead singer Adam Duritz, the song isn’t about the city itself, but “how circular life is, how it turns people over the way the seasons turn over.”
• Bar owners are also legally required to be brewing soup while they’re selling beer.
• There’s a good chance you know that Marlon Brando was born and raised in Omaha. You might not know that his mother, Jocelyn Brando, gave acting lessons to another famous Nebraskan actor, Henry Fonda, at the Omaha Community Playhouse.
• In Nebraska, a parent can be arrested if their child burps in church. In Omaha, the law applies to sneezing too.
• Johnny Carson also got his start in Omaha. Carson moved to Norfolk, Nebraska at age eight, and started his broadcasting career at Omaha’s WOW radio and television network in 1950.
•  In Omaha, it’s also illegal for barbers to shave a man’s chest.
• President Gerald Ford was born in Omaha, but his mother moved him to Oak Park, Illinois when he was just sixteen days old.
• After completing meal at the Alpine Inn, you’re encouraged to toss your leftovers and bones out back for feral cats and raccoons to munch on out back.
• Omaha also claims the “TV Dinner” as its own. Swanson popularized the concept in the early 1950s.
• Brother Sebastian’s Steakhouse and Winery is designed to look like a monastery. A Gregorian chant plays as you enter, waiters dress like monks and the restaurant features a chapel and a library.
• Lovingly known as the “Omaha Broom Man,” the late Rev. Livingston Wills started selling brooms door-to-door around Omaha in the 1950s. Wills continued selling brooms around the city for 55 years, well into his 80s, despite being almost completely blind.
• Omaha-born musician Elliott Smith passed away in 2003, but still has a massive, loyal fanbase. These days fans pay tribute to the celebrated songwriter at a Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles mural that was featured on the cover of his 2000 album “Figure 8.”
• Not to be confused with John Goodman of “The Big Lebowski” fame, Omahan Johnny Goodman was the last amateur to win the PGA Tour’s US Open all the way back in 1933.
• Late in World War II, Japan sent exploding hydrogen balloons to the United States via jetstream. Almost all of them landed (harmlessly) along the West Coast, but one bomb made it all the way to Omaha’s Dundee neighborhood before exploding benignly in 1945. Today, a plaque marks the spot, with the words “A Japanese Balloon Bomb Exploded Here.”
• According to local legend, the corned beef, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and sauerkraut sandwich known as the Reuben was invented in Omaha by a Lithuanian-born grocer named Reuben Kulakofsky.
• Nebraska, alongside Maine, is one of two states that splits electoral votes for congressional districts.
• Warren Buffett got his business start purchasing pinball machines and putting them in barber shops.
• Buffett is famously the owner of the conglomerate company Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Berkshire Hathaway probably owns a product you’ve used today, considering the company has whole or significant ownership of Heinz, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, Mars Inc., GEICO, Coca-Cola, and IBM.
• If you bought into Berkshire Hathaway bright and early, you, sir or madam, are probably a very rich person. Now worth over $200,000 a share, in 1962 Buffett bought into the then-textile firm for $7 a share.
• Omaha boasts two football players who went on to win the Heisman Trophy: University of Nebraska RB/WR Johnny Rodgers, who won the trophy in 1972, and University of Nebraska option QB Eric Crouch, who home the trophy in 2001.
• With 8,500 South Sudanese residents, Omaha has the largest Sudanese refugee population in the United States. In total there are an estimated 30,000 South Sudanese refugees currently living in America.
• Omaha’s ConAgra Food headquarters is home to a 6-foot tall bronze statue of Chef Boyardee, who was indeed a real person. Ettore “Hector” Boiardi started as a restaurateur in Cleveland, Ohio. After starting his own company, he was commissioned to provide rations during World War II.
• Omaha’s Borsheim’s Fine Jewelry is the largest jewelry store in the country, and holds more than 100,000 jewelry pieces and watches.
• Actor Nick Nolte grew up in Omaha, where he was the kicker for Westside High School’s football team.
• Eighty feet tall and occupying 1.5 acres, Henry Doorly Zoo’s Lied Jungle is the world’s largest indoor rainforest exhibit.
• Henry Doorly Zoo is also Nebraska’s number one paid tourist destination, having attracted more than 25 million visitors over the years. That’s about the same amount of people that live in all of Texas, and about 14 times the amount of people that live in the state of Nebraska.
• Speaking of the Doorly Zoo, it made headlines in 2012 after two gorillas settled a disagreement the old fashioned way: tossing punches. Motuba, a 27-year-old silverback, ended up needing jaw surgery.
• You have Omaha to thank (or not) for “Top 40” radio. Omahan and broadcasting magnate Todd Storz pioneered the format at the Omaha station KOWH during the early 1950s.
• You could argue that “Cowboy” Jim James Dahlman might have benefited from terms limits. He served as Omaha’s mayor from 1906 to 1918 and then again between 1921 to 1930, at which point he died as he had lived: in office.
• Omaha’s first postmaster, Alfred D. Jones, appointed in 1854, didn’t have an actual post office. Instead, he ran the post office out of his hat, where he kept the town’s letters.
• If you’re from Omaha, you probably know its Fred Astaire’s home town. You might now know that his dad was a brewer and moved to the area to work at the Storz Brewing Company.
• On August 25th, 1951, early in his anti-communist crusade, Joseph McCarthy gave a speech to a crowd of nearly 500 Omahans. The Lincoln Star claimed that McCarthy stated he was “alone is the savior of human freedom,” and called the visit “madness” on its editorial page.
• You can thank Omaha for easy baking. Cake mix was developed in Omaha at Nebraska Consolidated Mills, which would later be known as ConAgra Foods
• With the Sapp Brothers water tower, Omaha is home to the world’s largest coffee pot—although we’re pretty sure there’s no actual coffee in it.
• Earlier this year, the Omaha bar Grane made waves in the whiskey world, becoming the first drinking establishment to use a dispensing machine for whiskey tasting.
• Omaha’s Doorly Zoo is one of only fourteen zoos in North America to display okapi. There are roughly 10,000 okapi left in the wild, and during the 19th century, they were widely thought to be extinct.
• You might know that the Oscar-nominated director Alexander Payne of “Nebraska” and “Sideways” fame is from Omaha, but you might not know that the usually highbrow director helped write the 2007 Adam Sandler comedy “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.”
• With Morrison Stadium, Omaha’s Creighton University is the only university in the country with a stadium used exclusively for soccer.
• Creighton alumni and current Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver holds the NBA record for most consecutive games with a three pointer. His amazing 127 game streak ended in March 2014.
• Held in Omaha in 1898, the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a massive, six month-long world’s fair. Two of the biggest attractions were a speech by President William McKinley and a Wild West show from Buffalo Bill Cody. Over 2.5 million people attended.
• Also regarding the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition: a whopping 21 temporary buildings, many of them on-the-cheap recreations of Greek and Roman temples, were constructed to house the exposition’s over 4,000 exhibits.
• Native Omahan and professional etiquette Letitia Baldrige, known as the “Doyenne of Decorum,” helped get the Kennedy family’s manners up to par following John F. Kennedy Democratic primary victory in 1960. Baldrige took the job despite being a registered Republican.
• According to the Weather Channel, Omaha is the fifth coldest major city in America.

Reference Sources: Movoto

Omaha 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 Omaha today a language interpreter can be a very underestimated professional in the world today. There are over 100 languages spoken in the Omaha Metro area alone. Many of us know one language, and we specialize in one field of study. Our Omaha 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 Omaha

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 Omaha

When it comes to communicating with hard-of-hearing or deaf audiences, there are a few reasons you might want to opt for a Omaha 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 Omaha 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.