Deaf Access Solutions

What Deaf Access Solutions does

Deaf Access Solutions is a Bethesda, Maryland-based communication access services provider that delivers sign language interpretation, video remote interpreting (VRI), real-time captioning (CART and RCC), ASL training, and consulting services to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Founded by Karl Kosiorek, a nationally certified interpreter with over 30 years of industry experience, DAS serves healthcare providers, legal services, educational institutions, corporate and government employers, the DeafBlind community, and community/social service organizations through a national service delivery network anchored in the Metro DC area.

The company's core operational technology is its proprietary i-Terp Portal suite, which comprises separate web-based portals for clients, requestors, freelance interpreters, staff interpreters, mobile interpreters, office staff, and CART writers to coordinate end-to-end service fulfillment. The portal layer is supplemented by integrations with Zoom for Government, Microsoft Teams, and Webex for virtual interpreting and captioning delivery. DAS reports a near-100% service request fill rate supported by a pre-screened pool of nationally RID-certified interpreters with an average of 15+ years of experience.

DAS generates revenue primarily through professional services fees billed per assignment or hourly for onsite interpretation, per minute for Relay Conference Captioning, and in 30 or 60-minute increments for CART, with workshop and consulting fees layered on top. Go-to-market is sales-led, relying on direct outreach, referrals, online presence, and a dedicated coordination team of approximately ten full-time coordinators across multiple time zones. The company is privately held by Karl Kosiorek with no external funding, no parent company affiliation, and corporate memberships in RID, NAD, and regional RID chapters that anchor its professional credibility.

Name

Deaf Access Solutions

Legal name

Deaf Access Solutions Inc.

Website

https://deafaccess.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Deaf Access Solutions is a Bethesda, Maryland-based private interpreting agency providing sign language interpretation, video remote interpreting, CART real-time captioning, RCC, ASL training, and consulting to healthcare, legal, education, corporate, government, and DeafBlind clients nationwide via a proprietary i-Terp coordination portal.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sign Language Interpretation Services

NAICS

Translation and Interpretation Services (54193), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Deaf/Hard of Hearing & Vision Services (Audiology, Interpreting, Orientation & Mobility) (EDAJAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Note-Taking, Interpreting & Communication Access Services (EDALAGAD), Assistive Hearing & Communication Access (Captioning, Hearing Support, Transcription) (EDAFAKAC), Sign Language Learning Programs (ASL/BSL, etc.) (EDAMAFAM)

Keywords

• Sign language interpretation
• Video remote interpreting
• Real-time captioning
• Communication access services
• Deaf accessibility services

Headquarters

HQ city

Bethesda

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sign Language Interpreting Services: Provides nationally certified American Sign Language interpreters for various settings including healthcare, legal, educational, corporate, and community environments. Revenue generated through service fees per assignment or hourly rates.
2. Video Remote Interpreting (VRI): Remote video-based sign language interpretation services delivered via video conferencing technology, providing cost-effective alternative to on-site interpretation.
3. CART Services (Communication Access Real-Time Translation): Real-time captioning services where CART writers type spoken content at 180 words per minute, available both onsite and remotely, billed typically in 30 or 60-minute increments.
4. Relay Conference Captioning (RCC): Remote conference captioning services for virtual meetings, webinars, and large-scale conferences. Billed per minute with certified captioners following NCRA professional standards.
5. ASL Teaching and Workshops: Provides ASL instruction, Deaf Culture workshops, interpreter training, and professional development workshops for organizations and workplaces.
6. Consulting Services: Subject matter expertise consulting on sign language interpreting practices, interpreter screening, working with interpreters, and Deaf culture awareness.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Deaf Access Solutions provides communication access services for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals through nationally certified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and CART writers. The company delivers onsite sign language interpretation, Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), Communication Access Real-Time Translation (CART), and Relay Conference Captioning (RCC), supplemented by ASL teaching/workshops and consulting services, coordinated through a proprietary i-Terp Portal platform.

Product overview

Deaf Access Solutions (DAS) is a communication accessibility services provider offering a unified platform of services for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. The core offerings include Sign Language Interpretation (both in-person and Video Remote Interpreting/VRI), CART (Computer Assisted Realtime Transcription) for real-time captioning, and Relay Conference Captioning (RCC) for remote captioning. These are complemented by Teaching ASL & Workshops for training and Consulting Services for organizational guidance. All interpreting services are delivered through DAS's i-Terp Portals platform, which provides separate web-based portals for clients, requestors, interpreters, and CART writers to manage service scheduling and coordination.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sign Language Interpretation Nationally certified American Sign Language interpreters providing communication access for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals across healthcare, legal, educational, corporate, and community settings. Interpreters have an average of 15+ years of experience and are pre-screened.
• Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) Remote video-based sign language interpretation delivered via video conferencing technology, connecting qualified interpreters with Deaf individuals and hearing parties in real time as a cost-effective alternative to on-site interpretation.
• CART (Computer Assisted Realtime Transcription) Real-time captioning where CART writers type approximately 180 words per minute to instantaneously translate spoken English into text, available both onsite and remotely and typically billed in 30- or 60-minute increments.
• Relay Conference Captioning (RCC) Remote conference captioning for virtual meetings, webinars, and large-scale conferences delivered by certified captioners (NCRA/NVRA) using steno machines, billed per minute.
• Teaching ASL & Workshops ASL instruction, Deaf Culture workshops, interpreter training, and professional development workshops for organizations and workplaces. Includes quarterly workshops offering CEUs for interpreters.
• Consulting Services Subject matter expertise consulting on sign language interpreting practices, interpreter screening, working with interpreters, and Deaf culture awareness for organizations building accessibility programs.
• i-Terp Portals Suite of web-based portals (Client Portal, Requestor Portal, External Request Form, Freelance Interpreter Portal, Staff Interpreter Portal, Mobile Interpreter Portal, Office Portal, CART Writer Portal) that enable end-to-end service management from request to fulfillment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 100% service request fill rate
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.

• Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID)coreOthersDAS is a corporate member of RID. All DAS interpreters hold national certification through RID. The company adheres to RID's Code of Professional Conduct and professional standards.
• National Association of the Deaf (NAD)coreOthersDAS is a corporate member of NAD, demonstrating commitment to deaf community advocacy and the organization's mission of protecting and promoting the rights of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
• Potomac Chapter of RIDregionalOthersDAS is a corporate member of the Potomac Chapter of RID, the local professional chapter serving DC, Maryland, and Virginia interpreting professionals.
• Virginia Chapter of RIDregionalOthersDAS is a corporate member of the Virginia Chapter of RID, the regional professional chapter supporting interpreting standards and professional development in Virginia.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Purple Communications: National VRS/interpreting provider with significant Deaf-community ties and a product portfolio spanning VRS, VRI, and onsite interpreting; comparable to DAS because both sell sign language interpreting and VRI to Deaf and hard-of-hearing end-users and corporate/government buyers.
• ZVRS (Z Videophone Relay Service): Top-tier VRS provider that also offers VRI and on-demand interpreting for businesses and government; competes with DAS in the VRI/interpreting layer of the same Deaf-access market, with much larger scale and FCC-funded revenue.
• CyraCom: Major healthcare-focused interpretation services provider offering phone, video, and ASL interpretation; a peer because it competes for the same healthcare buyer as DAS and offers sign-language interpretation through video channels.
• Sorenson Communications: U.S. market leader in Video Relay Service (VRS) and the largest provider of ASL interpreting and communication access services; directly comparable because it serves the same Deaf and hard-of-hearing customer base across interpreting, VRS, and VRI, though it operates at vastly greater scale funded by the federal TRS program.
• Convo Communications: Deaf-owned VRS and virtual interpreting provider serving the same Deaf consumer market with both relay and interpreting/ASL services; relevant peer for DAS because of overlapping interpretation/VRI offerings and shared community-led positioning.
• LanguageLine Solutions: Largest U.S. provider of spoken-language interpretation and translation (including ASL via video) to healthcare, legal, and government clients; comparable to DAS as a turnkey outsourced communication-access vendor, though broader in language scope and modality.
• Stratus Video / AMN Healthcare Language Services: Large healthcare interpretation platform (formerly Stratus Video) offering VRI and in-person interpreters across many languages including ASL; comparable to DAS because both compete for hospital, clinic, and health-system contracts for spoken and sign language interpretation.

Direct peers

• Access ASL: Regional/onsite ASL interpreting agency serving healthcare, education, and corporate clients with a similar product mix (onsite, VRI, CART) to DAS; direct peer because of nearly identical service lines, customer verticals, and freelance pool model.
• InDemand Interpreting (AMN Healthcare): Healthcare-focused VRI provider whose core product (on-demand video sign language and spoken-language interpretation for hospitals and clinics) directly overlaps with DAS's healthcare customer segment and VRI delivery model.

Regional players

• Veritext Legal Solutions: National court reporting and real-time captioning provider whose CART/realtime services overlap with DAS's CART and RCC offerings and which sells into the same legal and conference end-markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DASterps
• Facebookfacebook.com/DeafAccess
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/das-deaf-access-solutions-
• Instagraminstagram.com/deafaccess

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Deaf Access Solutions