The Current Rural Sign Language Interpreter Landscape: Examining the Fields' Collective Accountability

Historically overlooked by training entities and professional organizations, rural interpreters are too often unable to attain the necessary and appropriately sequenced training that recognizes existing competencies, accumulates academic credentials, or acquires professional certification (Shaffer, 2013; Trimble, 2014). As educators and practitioners cultivating this vital interpreting workforce demographic, we have contributed to these gaps and are accountable. The Improving Rural Interpreter Skills (IRIS) Project is a $2.1M, five-year interpreter training grant project awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration to the University of Northern Colorado's (UNC) American Sign Language and Interpreting Studies (ASLIS) department, that aims to uncover the current interpreting landscape as experienced by the rural interpreter. This paper will examine this landscape: how we got there, why it is relevant, and as a call to action so we may construct ways we can invest our efforts moving forward. Through its research, qualitative reports, and curated personal testimonies (Hardesty, 2023; Hardesty & Decker, 2022; NDC, 2019; Trimble, 2014; UNC IRIS Project 2022; UNC IRIS Project 2023), the IRIS Project articulates how collectively we have the capacity to recognize the untapped potential of rural deaf communities and support the needs of the interpreters who serve them.