Reflecting on Mark Applin and Signly’s session about consent, ownership and Deaf-led accountability A man appears on screen and delivers a confident presentation about artificial intelligence, sign language and professional accountability. He looks and sounds like Mark Applin. The audience has little reason to question whether it is really him. Then, near the end of the presentation, the speaker reveals that he is not Mark at all. He is an avatar called Apps. His appearance a

Reflecting on Jeanette Nicholson, Liz McClounie and James Etheridge’s session about AMPED, mentorship and early-career development A newly qualified interpreter finishes their training programme with a certificate, knowledge of professional theory and a set of developing interpreting skills. Then the structure around them disappears. There is no tutor watching the next assignment, no scheduled class in which to discuss what happened and no automatic opportunity to practise th

Reflecting on Dr Robyn Dean’s research challenging the often-cited 20-minute rule Two interpreters are working together during a conference. After approximately 20 minutes, they switch roles. The timing feels familiar. Many interpreters were taught that concentration and performance begin to decline after around 20 minutes of simultaneous interpreting. The changeover is therefore treated as a way to protect quality, manage fatigue and share the workload. The same explanation

Reflecting on Dr Joseph Musabyimana and Ibrahim Ndagijimana’s session about Rwanda’s interpreting community What happens when a community needs interpreters, but the formal structures normally associated with a profession are still being developed? There may be no established training route, national register or consistent system of professional standards. The number of experienced practitioners may be small, while the need for communication access stretches across education,

Reflecting on The Interpreter’s Nook with Magnhild Røed Michalsen and Hilde Henrud Where do interpreters and translators go when they want to talk honestly about their work? Not necessarily to report a serious concern, complete a formal course or ask someone for a definite answer. Sometimes we simply need somewhere to discuss a decision, compare experiences, share a resource or ask whether other people are dealing with the same issue. Some professionals have strong local netw

The final session may have ended, the recordings may have closed and the certificates may have been sent, but the conversations from The Together Conference 2026 are far from finished. This year’s theme, Pick It Up, Pass It On, began with a simple idea. None of us becomes the professional we are alone. We learn from tutors, colleagues, Deaf communities, research, experience, mistakes, feedback and the people who have supported us along the way. We then pass those things on, s

CPD and CEUs at Together Conference 2025: What You Need to Know If you're joining us at The Together Conference 2025, there’s good news:...

Deaf interpreters have long relied on human support—whether feed interpreters or live captioners—to carry out their work effectively,...

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the world in countless ways, and for sign language interpreters, it was a time of unprecedented...

For sign language interpreters, working between languages is only part of the challenge. Culture plays an equally significant role,...