1) Individuals and organisations wishing to book a sign language interpreter directly may fill in the booking form below. Your request will be forwarded on to all IOCN members.

2) If you are looking for a specific interpreter, skill set or background, you can search individual interpreters on our Interpreter Directory.

3) If you would like to book a team of interpreters for your event or conference, we can provide a bespoke service that includes organising and coordinating an interpreting team.

Please read the following information carefully before engaging our services:

• We are NOT an interpreting agency. We are a network of professionals sharing job requests amongst ourselves. All job requests are forwarded to all IOCN members.

• There is no charge for posting job requests to our members and IOCN does not take a cut for forwarding job requests to our members. The exception to this is when we are asked to organise an interpreting team for an event/conference – this requires paying an interpreting coordinator and so additional fees will apply for this service.

• All working IOCN members are registered with or regulated by a regulatory body. In the unlikely event of a complaint or dispute, IOCN takes no responsibility and all complaints should be directed to the member’s registration body (e.g. NRCPD).

• Contact an interpreter or translator through this site means that you agree to abide by the individual’s terms of business and charges. These terms will be provided to you by the individual at the time of booking. IOCN does not take any responsibility for individual business arrangements made when making a direct booking with a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter or translator. IOCN acts as an introduction platform and does not charge for its services.

• We do NOT allow interpreting agencies to post to our network, unless they are an Agency/Organisation Supporter.
  If you are an interpreting agency, or an organization that deals with booking interpreters, you must join as an Agency/Organization Supporter in order to post jobs to our network. Job requests from interpreting agencies who are not Agency/Organization supporters will be deleted and not forwarded to members.

Please contact admin@interpretersofcolour.net for more info.

What to consider when booking an interpreter?

Try to book an interpreter early as there are increasing demands for the service. The interpreters will require the following information:

• Date

• Time

• Duration

• Venue

• Number of participants

• Type of event.

It is also useful to provide:

• Any preparation materials for the assignment, such as background information

• Any handouts, video or audio clips that will be used on the day.

How many interpreters to book?

Best practice guidelines recommend one interpreter for shorter and basic assignments up to one hour in duration. For longer, more intense or complex assignments, at least two interpreters will be required. All events over 1 hour in duration will require 2 interpreters. Events such as conferences, may require a team of three or more interpreters.

How much can you expect to pay?

There is no standard amount that an interpreter/translator will charge. Interpreters and translators are allowed to set their own prices for their services. It is up to you to decide whether you think the price is reasonable, and whether you want to hire that particular interpreter/translator. You may want to consider more than one interpreter/translator to see what different prices are available and to get quotes.

When you book an interpreter/translator, they should make it clear at the outset how you will be charged and what it will cost. If it is not clear, you should ask your interpreter/translator further questions to make sure you know what the charges will be.

For further guidance on interpreter/translator fees, please see the National Union of British Sign Language Interpreters (NUBSLI): https://www.nubsli.com/guidance/interpreter-fees/