The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2024 - 17

other environments where
confidentiality is critical.
Audio Over Wi-Fi: This
type of assistive listening
system lets listeners stream
courtroom audio to their
smartphone or a venueprovided
receiver. If listeners
choose to use a smartphone,
they download and open a free
app on their phone, access the
court's Wi-Fi network, select
an audio channel, and listen
to audio via headphones or
earbuds connected to their
smartphone. If listeners wear
Bluetooth®
enabled hearing
aids or cochlear implants,
they can stream audio from
their smartphone directly to
those devices. To maintain
confidentiality, courtroom
managers may require
listeners to enter passwords to
access audio channels. Some
audio over Wi-Fi systems
feature beacon technology
that triggers audio to play
automatically when a person
enters a space where the
beacon is located and stops
when they leave the space.
Portable Two-Way
Communication: An assistive
listening system featuring
transceivers (a combination
transmitter/receiver) can be
used for assistive listening
and two-way communication.
A presenter wears a
transceiver with a headset and
microphone and the listener
can use either a transceiver
or a receiver to hear the
audio. This type of system
is portable (not installed in
the courtroom), which may
appeal to interpreters looking
to purchase and use their own
equipment in courtrooms and
other environments where
they provide interpreting
services.
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Assistive Listening
Systems Facilitate
Interpreting
Being able to hear is essential
to successful interpreting.
Interpreters need to listen
closely to a speaker or
presenter, hear what they're
saying, summarize the
message, and speak it in the
preferred language of their
clients/listeners. Assistive
listening systems can help
interpreters hear clearly and
minimize distractions. This
may be especially important
when conversation is moving
quickly, more than one
person is speaking, speakers
have accents, or there is new
or unfamiliar terminology.
Assistive listening systems
also facilitate the delivery
of an interpreter's words to
listeners. Infrared and audio
over Wi-Fi-based assistive
listening systems have more
than one audio channel,
meaning the systems can be
used for assistive listening
or to deliver interpreting.
Listeners select the channel
to support their needs.
Interpreting Remotely
and Inside the Courtroom
An interpreter may be in a
booth or space outside the
courtroom listening to a
presenter who is speaking
inside the courtroom. The
interpreter hears what the
presenter is saying and relays
the message in the preferred
language of their listeners via a
microphone. Listeners borrow
an assistive listening receiver
from the courtroom manager
or use their own smartphone
as a receiver (if an audio over
Wi-Fi system is available),
select the interpreting
channel for their language,
and hear the interpreter.
Multiple channels mean
more than one interpreter
could be speaking live
to listeners in different
languages. Interpreters
may be in multiple separate
rooms listening to courtroom
presenters and relaying
content in their respective
languages to listeners.
However, having multiple
interpreters in one space,
or even just one interpreter
providing whispered
interpreting to a client in a
courtroom, is often a more
likely scenario and can make
it challenging for interpreters
and listeners to hear clearly.
This is where a portable twoway
communication system
can help.
This type of all-in-one
group communication system
uses paired transceiver
units to send and receive
audio. An interpreter pairs
their transceiver unit-
the " leader " unit-to
the presenter's unit (the
presenter might be the
presiding judge, a witness on
the stand, a lawyer presenting
closing arguments, etc.) and
to the transceiver units of
others in the group (i.e., the
individuals for whom they're
interpreting).
The system delivers audio
directly from the presenter
to the leader or interpreter.
The interpreter hears the
audio in their headset and
relays the content to the
group by speaking into the
integrated microphone. The
group hears the interpreter
through headphones attached
to their transceiver units.
In this way, interpreters
and their listeners/clients
can block background
noise and distractions and
hear only what they wish.
The interpreter hears the
American Translators Association 17
According to the
National Institute
on Deafness
and Other
Communication
Disorders,
approximately
13% of people
in the U.S. aged
12 or older have
hearing loss in
both ears.
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The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2024

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