Abstract Sign language version of the abstract This article rethinks the impact of sign language interpreting services (SLIS) as a social institution. It starts from the observation that “access” for deaf people is tantamount to availability of sign language interpreters, and the often uncritically proposed and largely accepted solution at the institutional level to lack of access seems to be increasing the number of interpreters. Using documented examples from education and health care settings, we raise concerns that arise when SLIS become a prerequisite for public service provision. In doing so, we problematize SLIS as replacing or concealing the need for language-concordant education and public services. We argue that like any social institution, SLIS should be studied and analyzed critically. This includes more scrutiny about how different kinds of “accesses” can be implemented without SLIS, and more awareness of the contextual languaging choices deaf people make beyond the use of interpreters.

中文翻译：

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手语翻译服务

摘要手语版本的摘要本文重新考虑了手语口译服务（SLIS）作为社会机构的影响。它从这样的观察开始，即聋人的“进入”就等于手语口译员的到来，而通常在机构层面上未经批判地提出并得到广泛接受的解决方案，似乎缺乏手语，似乎正在增加口译员的数量。使用来自教育和医疗机构的书面示例，我们提出了当SLIS成为提供公共服务的先决条件时引起的关注。在这样做的过程中，我们将SLIS质疑为替换或隐藏对语言一致的教育和公共服务的需求。我们认为，像任何社会机构一样，SLIS应该进行认真的研究和分析。