3. Primary Consideration: Who Chooses the Auxiliary Aid or Service?
When an auxiliary aid or service is requested by someone with a disability, you must provide an opportunity for that person to request the auxiliary aids and services of their choice, and you must give primary consideration to the individual’s choice.6 “Primary consideration” means that the public entity must honor the choice of the individual with a disability, with certain exceptions.7 The individual with a disability is in the best position to determine what type of aid or service will be effective.
The requirement for consultation and primary consideration of the individual’s choice applies to aurally communicated information (i.e., information intended to be heard) as well as information provided in visual formats.
The requesting person’s choice does not have to be followed if:
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the public entity can demonstrate that another equally effective means of communication is available;
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use of the means chosen would result in a fundamental alteration in the service, program, or activity; or
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the means chosen would result in an undue financial and administrative burden.
Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) or Video Interpreting Services (VIS)
VRI or VIS are services where a sign language interpreter appears on a videophone over high-speed Internet lines. Under some circumstances, when used appropriately, video interpreting services can provide immediate, effective access to interpreting services seven days per week, twenty-four hours a day, in a variety of situations including emergencies and unplanned incidents.
On-site interpreter services may still be required in those situations where the use of video interpreting services is otherwise not feasible or does not result in effective communication. For example, using VRI / VIS may be appropriate when doing immediate intake at a hospital while awaiting the arrival of an in-person interpreter, but may not be appropriate in other circumstances, such as when the patient is injured enough to have limited mobility or needs to be moved from room to room.
VRI / VIS is different from Video Relay Services (VRS) which enables persons who use sign language to communicate with voice telephone users through a relay service using video equipment. VRS may only be used when consumers are connecting with one another through a telephone connection.
6 28 C.F.R. Part 35.160(b)(2).
7 See Title II Technical Assistance Manual II-7.1100.
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