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| Created by Yu luck, Noun Project |
By Konstantina Vagenas, NCSC
At the onset of the pandemic, courts pivoted overnight to virtual hearings to comply with health and safety guidelines. Court interpreters were required to provide their services remotely via court-approved and licensed videoconferencing platforms. Among these, WebEx and Zoom were the most common. The major challenge in these proceedings was the absence of an integrated, simultaneous interpretation channel, which interpreters overcame by adding an additional audio device, usually a personal mobile phone—a suboptimal solution. Within a few weeks, the court interpreting world was abuzz with the advantages offered by Zoom’s embedded simultaneous court interpreting channels. Like characters in Star Trek, interpreters were being “beamed up” to virtual courtrooms.
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But WebEx was not to be outdone. After listening to courts around the country and a spate of beta testing, Cisco WebEx recently launched a Simultaneous Interpretation feature within its videoconferencing platform that is similar to the Zoom functionality. This new feature allows the court to implement different language channels as needed. Once assigned the “interpreting role” within the platform, virtual interpreters can alter the language direction of the interpretation to meet the audience’s needs. Thus, if the court wishes to address a limited English proficient (LEP) individual, the direction of interpretation goes from English to the foreign language. If the LEP individual needs to provide virtual courtroom testimony, the interpreters can change course with a click of a button so that the court receives interpretation into English. Those Klingon Dictionaries are now so retro!
Techniques usually found in the courtroom -- such as “handing over” the reins to a colleague after 20-30 minutes of intense, non-stop interpreting -- are also possible via easy controls within the court interpreter’s assigned role in the platform. A volume slide feature allows for the LEP individual or the court to listen in to either or both languages, adjusting the volume of either language, going from either 100% of the virtual courtroom’s English or foreign language to a combination of audio in both languages, with the user able to emphasize one or the other via the volume controls. The addition of this WebEx Simultaneous Interpreting feature allows for interpretation in separate audio channels so that interpretation may be simultaneous without the need to add additional audio devices.
What’s next on the event horizon? Will users (parties, interpreters, counsel, and the court) eventually be able to navigate remote hearings via small screen mobile devices or manage myriad other technical issues that have come to our attention during the pandemic? Will it be a Star Trek “universal translator”? Or perhaps even a hologram reminiscent of that on the Starship Enterprise lies in our future?
It remains to be seen how the new WebEx features will accommodate virtual interpreting issues, regardless of platforms. What we do know is that this development is yet another in the string of technological silver linings for the courts, born of the pandemic and ultimately helping provide a voice to LEP court users. Live long, and prosper!
To find out more about how to enable and use the simultaneous interpretation features, check out the information released by WebEx and Zoom.
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