Colorado: Interpreters for the Deaf
Interpreters for the Deaf, a 2006 sunrise report of The Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform, points out that the Americans With Disabilities (ADA) Act mandates using qualified interpreters in places of public accommodation. Colorado does regulate interpreters for the deaf in both legal and educational (K-12) settings. The Colorado Association for the Deaf, which submitted the sunrise application, provided examples of harm from the use of unregulated interpreters in other settings. Despite this, the report concludes that "the harm that has been identified through research as well as an analysis of the submissions of harm by interested stakeholders cannot be definitively attributed to interpreters, regardless of their competency levels. As a result, regulation is not justified."
