From US News & World Report:
“White House
Adding Sign Language Interpreter for Briefings”
The Biden
administration is adding a sign language interpreter to its daily press
briefings. White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the move during
Monday’s briefing, and an interpreter could be seen on the White House’s
YouTube stream of the event. Psaki said President Joe Biden “is committed to
building an America that is more inclusive, more just and more accessible for
every American, including Americans with disabilities and their families.” It
marks a shift from the Trump administration, which had only sporadic press
briefings and didn’t include an interpreter until late in President Donald
Trump’s term.
Last August,
the National Association of the Deaf joined five deaf individuals in suing
Trump and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, charging the failure to provide an
interpreter undermined the ability of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans to
access key information about the coronavirus pandemic. The next month, a
federal judge ordered the White House to include American Sign Language
interpretation at all televised briefings on the virus. The ruling said the
interpreter could be in the frame physically near the speaker or off-site. It
said the White House was required to make the interpreter feeds accessible
online and on television using a picture-in-picture format.
^ This is
long-overdue and a good sign (pun intended) of things to come. ^
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