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Vendors & Service Providers

Harvard University explores requests for reasonable accommodations from individuals with disabilities. We encourage that you build accessibility in on the front-end, in both practice and budget planning, as you would catering, AV or other event needs. Please find below a listing of vendors that may be useful in your office’s exploration of an individual’s reasonable accommodation request.

Note that it is the responsibility of each individual school, department or event sponsor to be responsive to all requests as well as to pay for the cost of the accommodations provided to an individual/general audience at their event or program. No cost is passed onto the requesting individual and cost should not be a factor when deciding whether or not to accommodate.

For further questions or consultation during this process, our office may be reached at disabilityservices@harvard.edu.

ASL and CART

In order to streamline the process to request services, the following referral agencies can respond to interpreter and CART requests for Harvard affiliates and guests who are Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing. The agencies identified below offer remote services for ASL or CART. Remote may be a helpful option to consider for the implementation of last minute requests.  Please let University Disability Services know if additional assistance is needed as you explore these resources.

Partners Interpreting:

Hands in Motion:

ASL Services:

        1. Contact the agency to request service. They will guide you through the request process and answer any questions you may have.
        2. Be prepared to answer whether parking, mileage or transportation will be paid for the service provider, by your office.
        3. Please ensure that you are aware of the details of the cancellation policy of the agency.
        4. After services are provided, the agency will send the invoice directly to you or your designee. Kindly look over all invoices for accuracy and forward to the appropriate office within your school for payment processing.  Should you have any questions about an invoice please feel free to contact the agency directly.

        Audio Description

        Audio description, also referred to as a video description is an additional narration track intended primarily for blind and visually impaired consumers of visual media (including television and film, dance, opera, and visual art).

        • For an internal listing of providers with Harvard experience, please contact disabilityservices@harvard.edu
        • Please note: there is an associated cost for hiring service providers.

        Captioning

        UDS and HUIT offer guidance to schools and departments looking to add captioning to video resources.

        While there are numerous captioning vendors available, the following have been evaluated by the University. Below are selected available vendors. More information on exploring and hiring service providers may be found on the HUIT Online Accessibility website.

        Vendor

        Cost

        Accuracy

        Turn-around time

        Suitable use cases

        How to

        3Play Media

        (High) Harvard negotiated pricing

        very high (99%+)

        Standard: 48 hours

        Premium: 24 hours

        Preferred Vendor.

        Use for videos that need high degree of accuracy, such as for a student who needs captioning for a course lecture or videos to be made public. Offers a wide range of services and formats.

        Instructions: 3Play

        Rev

        $1/min

        Very high (99%+)

        24 hour turnaround if video is 20 minutes or less.

        Used for videos that need high accuracy, such as for a student who needs captioning for a course lecture or videos to be made public.

        Instructions: Rev

        Cielo24

        On per minute basis

        Very high (99%+)

        24 or 48 hours

        Combination. Can be integrated with video platforms.

        Instructions: Cielo24

         

        Live Captioning

        Live Captioning or Realtime captioning may be provided at a live event and is displayed as lines of text across the event video screen and/or via the event livestream. There are several vendors that may be contacted for Live Captioning Services:

        Please note: there is an associated cost for hiring service providers.

        Equipment Loan or Rental

        Equipment Loan

        UDS has two wheelchairs available for loan to the Harvard Community. Additional equipment and software may be availalbe for loan through the UDS Lab.

        Harvard Art Museums, HMNH, and the Harvard Information Center also have wheelchairs available for visitor use on-site, on a first-come first-served basis.

        Equipment Rental

        There are a number of equipment rental companies in the local area. Wheelchairs, walkers, scooters, and other equipment may be rented from local vendors that provide short term loans for a cost.

        Belmont Medical Supply
        http://www.belmontmedical.com/
        185 Belmont Street, Belmont, MA 02478
        617-484-3888

        Boston Orthopedic & Respiratory Equipment
        http://www.bostonorthoresp.com/
        175 Main Street, Charlestown, MA
        617-337-5133 or (800) 854-6370