sign language interpreter
Sign language interpreters understand and convert sign language into spoken language and vice versa. They maintain the nuances and the stress of the message in the recipient language.
sign language interpreter sign language interpreters understand and convert sign language into spoken language and vice versa. They maintain the nuances and the stress of the message in the recipient language. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.56 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include screen reader, communication related to hearing impairment, hearing disability, linguistics, grammar.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £39,459 a year for Authors, writers and translators (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3412). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only sign language interpreter, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- English Language
- Foreign Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Administrative
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
What you'd actually do
- Follow ethical codes that protect the confidentiality of information.
- Translate messages simultaneously or consecutively into specified languages, orally or by using hand signs, maintaining message content, context, and style as much as possible.
- Listen to speakers' statements to determine meanings and to prepare translations, using electronic listening systems as necessary.
- Compile terminology and information to be used in translations, including technical terms such as those for legal or medical material.
- Refer to reference materials, such as dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, and computerized terminology banks, as needed to ensure translation accuracy.
- Check translations of technical terms and terminology to ensure that they are accurate and remain consistent throughout translation revisions.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does sign language interpreter do?
Sign language interpreters understand and convert sign language into spoken language and vice versa. They maintain the nuances and the stress of the message in the recipient language.
What skills does sign language interpreter need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include screen reader, communication related to hearing impairment, hearing disability, linguistics, grammar, sign language. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace sign language interpreter?
Our AI-durability model gives sign language interpreter a score of 0.56 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.