Sorenson Showcase:
Texas Adopts EnVision for Video Interpreting for the Deaf

The Problem

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires states to provide telecommunications services for their Deaf residents which are “functionally equivalent” to services enjoyed by Hearing people. Typewriter-like machines called TTYs give the Deaf cheap, private communication over telephone lines, and allow them to use TTY relay services, where hybrid speech-text conversations are assisted by an operator who serves as a go-between. But TTY communication is impersonal and cumbersome, and many Deaf people prefer to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) rather than typed English.

The Solution

The State of Texas recently launched a new service that provides relay services in the form of video interpreting, eliminating TTYs from the equation. The state’s equipment assistance program provides a way for eligible consumers to acquire conferencing equipment for their homes—free of charge. The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TCDHH) accomplished this by approving new vendors to supply conferencing products, and raising reimbursement amounts to offset the relative cost difference between TTYs and conferencing endpoints.

To use the service, a Deaf person places an Internet video call to a CSD operator. Because the caller and operator can see each other clearly, they can use ASL to communicate. The operator then telephones the Hearing party. Once both calls are established, the parties communicate with each other through the operator--the Deaf person by signing and the Hearing person by speaking.

"It's a wonderful service because sign language is the natural language for many Deaf people," says Ed Bosson, who heads Relay Texas. "There is a very strong Deaf community here in Texas, and a very understanding Public Utilities Commission." Bosson, who is Deaf, was key in implementing the program.Interpreting for the TVIS is provided by Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), which already provides both onsite interpreting and TTY relay. CSD's interpreters use Sorenson EnVision for their interpreting. The product is ideal for the program because the system maintains video quality even at very low data rates. The signed content is easy to understand and interpret.

Three critical changes have finally made video relay feasible. First, the rise of the Internet and broadband connectivity facilitate IP conferencing. Second, Sorenson EnVision's high-quality video conferencing makes Internet interpreting possible. Finally, the TVIS's equipment assistance program ensures that the Deaf have access to both the service and the technology that drives it.

Analysts expect that the Texas program will provide a template for all video relay programs to come. From a Deaf perspective, though, the relay program is almost a pretense for another application: person-to-person calls in sign language. Face-to-face calling is a dream come true for Deaf people everywhere, bringing a sense of normalcy to a process that has always been awkward and unnatural. Finally, Deaf people can call other Deaf people and sign to them; they now have true "functional equivalence."

"It's a wonderful service because sign language is the natural language for many Deaf people."

Ed Bosson
Relay Texas
Texas Public Utility Commission
Austin, Texas

The ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 mandated that telecommunications companies, with the support of federal and state agencies, provide Deaf Americans with telecommunications services that are "functionally equivalent to those provided for individuals without hearing or speech disabilities." The FCC recently revised its service definitions to include video relay services.

What's New?

If you don't know me, or don't know me well, you can get a pretty good picture of who I am and what I do from snooping around in this site.

How I pay the bills:
DriveTime
Eclectic Interactive

What I do for fun:
Equinox
Spirit of Phoenix