Areas We Serve · Queens
In this borough the spoken language interpreter and the ASL interpreter usually turn up in the same request.
Why Queens is different
No county in the country speaks more languages than this one, and that changes the shape of a booking. In most places a request reads "we need an ASL interpreter." Here it more often reads "we need ASL, and Mandarin, and Spanish, and the slides translated" — because Flushing, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona are all inside the same catchment.
The venues match the borough. Terrace on the Park and the Queens College Conference Center run multi-track days for rooms that do not share one first language. The Jamaica Performing Arts Center needs a performance interpreted, not a speech relayed. The Queens Museum and the Museum of the Moving Image need captions and description on the media as much as a provider standing in the gallery.
Assembling that is the work. A four-language day is not four separate bookings that landed on one date: the booth teams, the ASL team and the caption feed have to run against one run of show, work from one glossary of the terms the speakers will actually use, and break at the same time as each other. One coordinator holds the whole thing, which is the only arrangement under which the parts stay in step.
Where we work in Queens
The languages asked for change noticeably from one end of the borough to the other, which is the only reason to read the sections below rather than simply send an address — every one of them is inside the on-site radius.
Waterfront offices and studio floors, Astoria Park under the Hell Gate Bridge, and the film and television work clustered around the Museum of the Moving Image.
Neighborhoods we cover
What we provide in Queens
A Queens booking is rarely one line item. Put the signed and the spoken side on the same order and one coordinator schedules them against the same run of show.
American Sign Language, DeafBlind tactile, International Sign, and more than 40 foreign sign languages — the last of which a borough this international genuinely asks for.
Learn more about ASL & Sign Language InterpretingRooms we know here
What separates these is how many languages have to arrive at once and by what route — a booth feed, a screen beside the stage, a label printed in advance. What the space can physically carry sets the ceiling long before anyone reaches the language list.
Multi-track days at venues like Terrace on the Park and the Queens College Conference Center — booths, screen placement, and provider rotation across a long agenda.
Performances interpreted and described at houses like the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, worked through from the script and rehearsed before the run opens.
On-set interpreting for Astoria's studio floors, and the finished cut captioned, subtitled, and given a sign language track before it goes out.
Gallery talks, guided tours, and described visits at institutions like the Queens Museum and the Museum of the Moving Image.
Citi Field and the programming across Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where access has to survive a crowd and the weather.
Queens College and the borough's schools — lectures, orientations, parent evenings, IEP meetings, and graduations, frequently in two languages at once.
Appointments and intake where the patient's first language is not English and the accommodation has to clear both barriers at the same time.
Community board sessions, borough briefings, and public hearings that have to be accessible in ASL and in the languages the neighbourhood actually speaks.
Where Queens bookings land
A banquet hall over Flushing Meadows, a campus conference centre, a restored theatre in Jamaica and a botanical garden — four very different rooms, and four different reasons the language question comes first here.
Weddings, galas and community banquets in a room that looks out over the park. Speeches run bilingual as often as not, so a booking here is usually interpreters and captioning together, not one or the other.
Professional meetings, conferences and seminars on campus. Multi-track agendas need a provider per track and prep materials in advance — a slide deck sent the night before is what keeps technical vocabulary accurate.
Theatre, dance and music in a converted church in downtown Jamaica. Interpreted performances are blocked with the director so the interpreter is lit and placed where the audience can watch both her and the stage.
Guided tours and education programmes that move outdoors between beds and glasshouses. Audio description carries the planting for blind and low-vision visitors; the interpreter walks the route rather than standing at a lectern.
Ballgames, concerts and corporate days in the same building. The accommodations are the same three every time — an interpreter in view of the section, captions on the board, and a coordinator reachable on the day.
Working in Queens
Most requests here start with a list of languages and end with a run of show. Each one is assessed by a person, providers are hand-picked for the setting and the vocabulary, and there is on-call support before, during, and after the assignment.
Client Stories
4.8 · Based on 240 Reviews
Carrie Heitman
"I can not recommend ICS highly enough. Hook & Eye Theater had a wonderful experience working with Shelby and the team at ICS from beginning to end. What an incredible organization serving the theatrical community and beyond."
Frank Starling
"Accessibility is an essential part of inclusion, and Inclusive Communication Services delivered it with excellence at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Their ASL interpreting, CART captioning, and service coordination teams supported our conference stages, networking spaces, and last-minute changes with calm professionalism and deep care."
Christina Dixon
"I had the pleasure of seeing the ICS American Sign Language interpreting team at a conference in San Francisco. Their professionalism and expertise puts them in a league of their own. Shelby and her team set the standard for professionalism, coordination, and accessibility."
Laura Mosteller
"Our company has been using ICS for years at our annual conference. Their kind and clear communication leading up to the event and their prompt arrival each day makes the choice a no-brainer."
Patrick McMullen
"Inclusive Communication Services did an amazing job at Cannes Lions Festival. They treated us with kindness and made sure we had full access to interpreters the whole time. It honestly felt like everything was normal."
Emily Johnson — AADMD
"We have loved working with ICS and appreciate their flexible approach to working with our budget. The services have been game changing for what we are able to provide."
What to expect
These are the windows we commit to, including for the multi-language bookings that take the most assembling.
How booking works
Dates, the venue, the subject matter, and every language in the room — signed and spoken. That last part is what changes the staffing in this borough.
A single named coordinator owns the booking, including the parts that need more than one kind of provider at once.
Interpreters, booth teams, captioners, or describers chosen for the subject and the setting, with prep material sent ahead of the date.
Providers are on site 15 to 30 minutes early with access already sorted, and you keep a day-of number for changes to the run of show.
Frequently asked questions
Get started
Which languages will be signed, which will be spoken, and what has to reach the screen or the page. An itemised plan follows inside a business day, priced language by language rather than as a single total.
