Translation Services

Foreign Language Interpretation

The Dane County Department of Human Services is committed to making sure that services and information are made available to all customers including those with limited English proficiency and individuals who may have physical, hearing, speech, or visual impairments that require special accommodations.

Interpreters for non-English speaking Dane County residents are provided when necessary for interviews, investigations, or appeals. If a foreign language interpreter is needed, we will seek the assistance of the Department of Human Services staff who can provide the necessary translation. If an adequate staff interpreter is not available, we may contact an appropriate area advocacy organization or another available resource.

Individuals who need interpreter services for non-agency needs may be referred to area advocacy organizations, such as Centro Hispano available at (608) 255-3018 or Refugee Services of Wisconsin available at (414) 270-4702, or given a list of available foreign language interpreters.

Sign Language Interpretation

There are two methods of sign language interpretation:

1. Interpreting
   Interpreting is largely used by people who are deaf, whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL).
2. Transliterating
   Transliterating is a form of English signing and is used largely by people whose first language is English (i.e., became deaf later in life, or who were mainstreamed into a regular public school setting).

Dane County recognizes that it is the responsibility of each consumer to request needed and/or preferred accommodation services in a timely manner. County department staff will acknowledge stated preferences on accommodation requests. The County seeks to provide requested services through a mixture of program and structural modifications as appropriate to each individual situation. County departments shall provide requested accommodations by first making all possible programmatic modifications prior to considering structural changes.

The accommodations services portion of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is designed to ensure that there are timely accommodation and communication services between service providers and consumers with physical, hearing speech, or visual impairments. It is the goal of Dane County to provide reasonable, reliable, timely, qualified, and efficient accommodation services to its residents.