APPLE, AT&T PARTNER TO ASSIST DEAF WITH iPHONE 4 AND FACETIME
Filed under: Cell Phones, Mobile Pagers, Video Relay, Videophones
Apple and AT&T have teamed with ZVRS to bring video relay calling for deaf and hard-of-hearing users via the iPhone 4 and its FaceTime video chat functionality. Video relay services allow deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people to communicate with hearing people in real-time, via a sign language interpreter. In addition to hardware, ZVRS makes video relay software for both Macs and PCs. And with the help of Apple and AT&T, it will now bring its latest software — dubbed iZ — to the iPhone 4. / AppleInsider
See Also DEAF CAN COMMUNICATE WITH HEARING CALLERS USING ZVRS ON iPHONE4 / ZVRS
See Also ZVRS, AT&T, AND APPLE CREATED iZ! / Deaf World As Eye See It
- Thanks to DeafWeekly
NVRC News 7/8/10 NAD #4 Ed Bosson on VRS and “Functional Equivalency”
Filed under: ADA Accessibility and Advocacy, Mobile Pagers, Video Relay, Videophones
The Future of VRS: How Can We Achieve Functional Equivalency?
By Cheryl Heppner, 7/9/10
Ed Bosson’s workshop on functional equivalency in video relay services (VRS) brought a good-sized crowd., Not only did he pull them in, but he kept things moving along briskly. He may be among that rare group of presenters who can truly defeat the threat of post-lunch food coma.
At the start of his program, Ed introduced himself. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, he attended the state’s school for the deaf, graduated from Gallaudet University and eventually worked for the Public Utilities Commission in Texas as the state’s Relay Administrator. Ed served three terms as chair of the National Association of State Relay Administrators (NASRA). Considered by many as the true “Father of VRS,” Ed was awarded an honorary doctorate from Gallaudet University.
Fighting for Access
Segueing from his personal history to that of telecommunications, Ed noted that telephone companies had denied accessibility to individuals who are deaf for over 100 years. Then came the age of the TTY. Ed recalled the day his neighbors came over to see his first TTY, a monstrous and heavy beast, and how the noise it produced had caused the neighbor’s children to start crying.
The 1990s were the age when relay services began, as we won the right to telecommunications access in Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Ed was by then serving as state relay administrator, and he visited a number of communities to explain what relay services were all about. He still remembers a visit to a school where he asked one young girl for the phone number of her parents. Then he showed her how to make a relay call to her home. The girl’s mother answered the phone but did not respond. After a pause, the Communications Assistant (CA) typed the background noise she was hearing — “mother crying”.
Defining Functional Equivalency
So what is the “functional equivalency” that the ADA requires of relay services and what does it mean? Ed explained that the government had defined it as the basic service that was available at the time: use of the TTY with text typing. This decision has, over time, made us second class citizens. When Ed was interested in seeing video relay service (VRS) become available, he approached the Texas state public utilities commission about it. He was told that VRS was a Cadillac and only a Chevrolet was needed.
Ed’s personal definition of what functional equivalency should mean is that there should be equal access to the senses such as hearing, seeing, and feeling. When a hearing person makes a phone call to another hearing person, he or she hears inflections and emotions. A relay call should give that same experience. Yet a relay call made by TTY doesn’t offer the “emoticons” that can be had on a computer, and there is no way for a CA to know the emotion behind the text being typed. By contrast, VRS can provide an eye to see the voice inflections and emotions of the person on the other end of the call. He sums up his core argument as “functional equivalency of the senses brings a true communication.”
With new innovation happening constantly, technology for people who can hear never stops advancing. Ed pointed out that each time there is a new development in technology, we face an access barrier again. Last night’s big announcement by ZVRS was an exception. The iPhone4 with video will now allow its users to make VRS calls!
And what does Ed see in the future? He’d like to see communication by hologram. He believes it will be a matter of time and that it will be an amazing breakthrough. Webcams that used to be totally out of reach for the average consumer are now selling for $50 or less, but hologram technology is currently priced in the thousands. Unless our community speaks up, Ed said, we could face the Cadillac vs. Chevy argument again and again. To prevent this, all of us must be advocates and make an effort to share our needs and concerns with the government.
Watch for Part 2!
- Thanks to NVRC, Fairfax
Steve Jobs unveils iPhone 4 — and its video calling feature
See the story:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-apple-20100608,0,5151821.story
- Thanks to LA Times
WGBH’s National Center for Accessible Media and Research in Motion Enable Closed-Captioning Support for BlackBerry® Smartphones
The WGBH – Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) today announced a new version of its popular do-it-yourself caption-authoring tool for digital media, the Media Access Generator, or MAGpie. MAGpie 2.5.0 (Windows), jointly funded by Research in Motion® and NCAM/WGBH, extends the ability of the free software to export TTXT files, which can be used to create closed-captioned videos formatted for playback on BlackBerry® smartphones. As before, authors can continue to write captions once and export them to formats compatible with QuickTime, Windows Media, RealPlayer and Flash.
The updated MAGpie software also includes an option to use MP4Box to automatically combine a TTXT file into a copy of MP4 or 3GP source videos. Captioned videos can then be loaded onto compatible BlackBerry smartphones where users can decode closed captions.
Support for closed-captioned content playback is available on BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry Device Software version 5.0 and newer, including the BlackBerry Storm2™ smartphone, BlackBerry Bold 9700™ smartphone and BlackBerry Curve™ 8530 smartphone models.
Revised MAGpie documentation and additional information is available now from NCAM at (http://ncam.wgbh.org).
About NCAM and WGBH
The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH is a research, development and advocacy entity that works to make existing and emerging technologies accessible to all audiences. NCAM is part of the Media Access Group at WGBH, which also includes The Caption Center (est. 1972), and Descriptive Video Service® (est. 1990). For more information, visit the Media Access Group’s Web site, access.wgbh.org and follow the Media Access Group on Facebook and Twitter (AccessWGBH).
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source of fully one-third of PBS’s prime-time lineup, along with some of public television’s best-known lifestyle shows and children’s programs and many public radio favorites. Podcasts, vodcasts, iPhone apps, and more…WGBH creates content audiences use and value on the air, online, and on the go. Find more information at wgbh.org.
Contact
Mary Watkins
Media Access Group at WGBH
617 300-3700
mary_watkins@wgbh.org
- Thanks to NVRC, Fairfax
Sorenson Video Center App Now Available on App Store
SALT LAKE CITY (March 11, 2010)-Sorenson Communications, the leading provider of Video Relay Service (VRS) for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who use sign language to communicate, today announced its Video Center App is now available on the App Store. The Sorenson Video Center App will empower Sorenson VRS® (SVRS®) users to access their Video Center content, including SignMail® messages and videos, on their iPhone® or and iPod touch® anytime, anywhere, without using an ASL interpreter.
The Video Center is a one-of-a-kind, central location accessed through a Sorenson VP-200® videophone. The Video Center offers deaf individuals access to SignMail – which is similar to a voice message, but recorded in sign language – as well as informational and entertainment videos, all in American Sign Language (ASL). The Video Center App contains a video tutorial to help users get started, as well as provide answers to questions they might have about using the app.
“Our app for iPhone and iPod touch is a great addition to the new technologies we are developing here at Sorenson Communications,” says Mel Walker, Sorenson Communications senior director of Product Development. “Our goal is to extend services and deaf communications with unique offerings that truly benefit the deaf community. With the Video Center App, SignMail messages and other ASL videos become even more accessible.”
The Video Center App is available at no cost from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or atwww.itunes.com/appstore/.
More information is available on the Sorenson Communications VRS website at www.sorensonvrs.com/vcip.
About Sorenson Communications
Sorenson Communications® (www.sorenson.com) is a provider of industry-leading communications services and products. The company’s offerings include Sorenson Video Relay Service® (SVRS®), the highest-quality video interpreting service; the Sorenson VP-200® videophone; and Sorenson IP Relay® (SIPRelay),enabling text-to-speech relay communication.
- Thanks to Sorenson Communications
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