Inclusion Isn’t Just About the Interpreter
Sometimes, access is treated as the finish line rather than the starting point.
I've noticed how often organisations assume that booking an interpreter automatically creates inclusion.
An interpreter is arranged.
The meeting goes ahead.
The box is ticked.
And everyone assumes the problem has been solved.
But communication access and inclusion are not the same thing.
Interpreters make communication possible.
They do not automatically create participation.
They do not automatically create belonging.
And they cannot compensate for systems that were never designed to include Deaf people fully.
True inclusion lives in the decisions that happen around access.
It lives in whether information is shared in advance.
Whether side conversations are made accessible.
Whether Deaf people have time and space to contribute fully.
Whether leadership, expertise, and participation are genuinely valued.
An interpreter can translate words.
They cannot translate organisational culture.
They cannot remove power imbalances.
And they cannot create inclusion on behalf of everyone else in the room.
This creates a common misunderstanding.
Access becomes visible.
Inclusion becomes assumed.
The result is that organisations celebrate the presence of an interpreter while overlooking the barriers that still remain.
The issue is not whether interpreters matter.
They do.
The issue is what happens when access becomes the only thing organisations think about.
Because access opens the door.
Inclusion determines whether someone is welcomed inside.
Booking an interpreter is important.
But inclusion begins where the booking ends.
