American Sign Language (ASL) & CART Services In Tucson, AZ

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.

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 Tucson

The Tucson Rodeo Parade is the largest non-motorized parade in the world.
With 350 days of sunshine a year, Tucson is literally the sunniest city in the United States.
Aside from the Amazon Rainforest, Tucson is home to more bird species than any other region on earth.
The University of Arizona allowed female students to study medicine in the 1890s, long before it was common practice to do so.
Though you won’t see him wandering Fourth Ave., Justin Beiber is said to own several acres of land near Marana, AZ.
The Arizona State Museum on the University of Arizona Campus is home to the world’s largest and most well-documented collection of Southwest Indian pottery.
According to the American Lung Association, Tucson has the third cleanest air of all cities nationwide.
Tucson is the northernmost point on the globe where you can find a jaguar. The U of A has photographed a male prowling the Santa Rita Mountains as recently as October 2012.
Tucson is smack in the middle of the world’s largest concentration of saguaro cacti (which is why locals don’t pose for photos with them).
One of Tucson’s favorite day hikes, Tumamoc Hill, is actually home to one of the earliest examples of native agricultural known to man and still functions as an active archaeological dig site today.
Tucson was recognized as a “Top-Ten Digital City” by the magazine “Government Technology” in 2010.
The namesake for the popular residential area immediately east of the U of A campus, Sam Hughes, was a founding member of the 1864 Society of Arizona Pioneers and even designed their first logo. The group later became the Arizona Historical Society and is today a highly-respected academic institution.
The location of the El Con Mall, which has seen a number of renovations and rebuilds over the years, was initially the site of the El Conquistador Hotel—hence the mall’s name and conquistador helmet logo. The hotel opened in 1929 and was finally demolished in 1968, never having managed to turn a profit.
The Mountain View Black Officers’ Club at Fort Huachuca is the only service club left standing in the U.S. built specifically for black service people. It played host to performers like Duke Ellington and Lena Horn and was named one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Buildings by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2013.
The name “Tucson” comes from the name given to Sentinel Peak (“A” Mountain) by the O’odham Tribe, Ts-iuk-shan, which basically meant that it had a base darker than its top. 21. “A” Mountain was said by Spanish settlers and O’odham people to be used as a lookout point by Apache raiders, hence the modern name “Sentinel Peak.”
AARP named Tucson one of ten great places for nature-lovers to retire in 2011. 23. In the 1930s, the Mickey Mouse Club was arguably the Fox Theater’s most popular event, attracting 1500 little Mouseketeers a week at its peak.
The Sunday Evening Forum, another popular Fox event which ran from 1942 to 1984, attracted such big-name speakers as Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy before shutting down. And there may yet be more to come—the Forum was revived in March 2014 with a talk by Sandra Day O’Connor, though successive speakers have yet to appear.
The bus station downtown doesn’t just share a name with Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Linda Ronstadt—it was actually named after her family. The singer was born here in 1946 but moved away in the 1960s to start her musical career.
For just under a year between 1861 and 1862, Tucson was the capital city of the Arizona Territory. Knew that one already? Well did you know that the original Spanish pronunciation of the native word had the city labeled “Tuquison” on some maps?
The first known photograph from Tucson is of more than 100 defendants in front of the first Pima courthouse with the judge that acquitted them of the 1871 murders of more than 100 peaceful Apache people living near Camp Grant. The episode came to be known as the Camp Grant Massacre. Talk about the wild west.
Ancient ovens used to fire the bricks that went into the San Xavier del Bac Mission still stand today as ruins within the city limits.
The Pima Air and Space Museum is the largest privately funded, non-governmental aerospace museum on earth. What does that mean? More than 300 planes—from retired bombers to the smallest biplane in the world, the Starr Bumble Bee.
“Outside Magazine Online” called Tucson the Best City for Road Biking in 2010, citing “800 miles of roll-around bike paths” and “300 miles of well-maintained loops”. A cyclist’s dream.
Fort Lowell Park is actually on the site of the old army fort from which Tucson settlers fought the Apache. Today, the park itself acts as a sort of archaeological preservation layer over an ancient Hohokom residential site.
The underpass that links Fourth Avenue to Congress Street features the portraits of more than 7000 Tucsonans (and even a few of their canine companions) in black-and-white. As photographed in 2009, they are now preserved forever—or at least for a really long time—in tile.
Though the roads saw a seven-mile-per-hour speed limit in 1903, Tucson did not begin issuing driver’s licenses until 1905. Speedway—now a main drag—was in those days a dirt track that was actually used for racing.
Los Morteros, a large boulder that is covered with Native American matates for grinding mesquite beans, and Picture Rocks pictographs can be found within a fifteen-minute drive of the city center.
El Charro Café was called one of the America’s 21 Most Legendary Restaurants by “Gourmet Magazine” in 2008 and founder Tia Monica Flin is said to have accidentally invented the chimichanga during the restaurants 90-plus year tenure.
The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is the largest show of its kind in the United States, and one of the largest gem and mineral shows in the world. The many tents that pop up around town during the month of February, though, are all independently organized and operated (so buyer beware!).
There is a small cavern in Tucson called Peppersauce Cave that is open for free to amateur spelunkers. If you can make it to the end, there’s a guest book there you can read and sign, but the path you’ll have to take is not for the claustrophobic.
The space-aged facility north of Tucson referred to in shorthand as “Biosphere” is actually called the “Biosphere 2.” “Biosphere 1” being the earth itself, of course.
Tucson research companies and the University of Arizona were heavily involved in the Human Genome Project, which was successfully completed in 2003.
Tucson so loves its dark skies for stargazing that the lamps all along Mountain Blvd feature a low-emission sodium light, which accounts for their creepy yellow glow.
The Daily Beast listed Tucson as one of the nation’s 20 Most Creative Cities in 2012.
Popular Congress Street was once called “Maiden Lane,” and not because it was a safe place for young ladies to venture, if you catch my drift.
Lucky Lindy landed here in the Spirit of St. Louis in September of 1927 to commemorate the opening of the new municipal airport on South 6th Avenue, near the site of today’s rodeo grounds.
Arizona may be fifty-first in the nation for education (seriously), but Basis Tucson North and University High School are both regularly featured in US New’s Top Ten High Schools in the country.
The largest and most precise telescope mirrors in the world are made at the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, right underneath Arizona Stadium.
Tucson streets were not paved, nor was the fire department given access to a vehicle that wasn’t horse powered, until 1910. New York, by contrast, saw its first street paved with asphalt in 1872.
In 2011, Tucson was called the “Most Awesome City for Climbers” by Climbing magazine. 49. Forbes online also called Tucson the Best City for Renters in 2011.
The nation’s favorite traveling hippy, Grandpa Woodstock, made his winter home in Tucson for many years. That is, of course, before he found himself a nice, bearded lady and settled down.

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

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 Tucson

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