Blog – Sorenson VRS [FCC]

May 30, 2007 in Communication, Community, Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Interpreter, Video Relay Service

Blog – Sorenson VRS [FCC]

Hey people, i need your help. 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Website: http://www.vrsca.org/vrsrate.php
to check the videos out.

What You Can Do Now:1. Send an email to the FCC.
[ Kevin.martin@fcc.gov ]

You can write your own message or just copy and paste the text below”insert your own name: Dear Chairman Martin, Commissioners Adelstein, Copps, McDowell, and Tate:

I am a deaf person and I use Video Relay Service (VRS) to communicate. I was appalled to learn that the FCC staff is intent on drastically cutting the VRS rate, and effectively cutting VRS availability for the deaf. Instead of seeking to limit the number of deaf people with VRS access, the FCC should do everything in its power to make VRS available to more deaf people.

I, along with other Deaf individuals, use these services in both my work and personal life. It is an important way in which I/we communicate with both hearing and deaf individuals. I urge you to do everything you can to make VRS service available to the many deaf people who currently do not have access to this vital, life-changing service.

The VRS rate should encourage the VRS providers to:

* Serve more deaf people, not discourage them from reaching out to more deaf people
* Provide interpreter training programs so that there will be an adequate number of qualified interpreters for VRS and the local Deaf communities
* Provide service and technology improvements, such as the development of new videophone equipment, fulfilling the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandate of functionally equivalent telecommunications services

I, along with other deaf individuals, their families and coworkers, depend on VRS and other relay services.

Please stop any VRS program cuts and fulfill the mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide deaf people with functionally equivalent telecommunications services.
Sincerely,

[Insert Your Name Here]

2. Write a Letter to the FCC.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
445 Twelfth Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

Do it now as you can to tell your friends and family.

Please support at video relay services!

:: Magazine Selects Postal Service Public-Sector Employer of the Year – News Blaze ::

May 15, 2007 in Career, Communication, Deaf, Employment, Hard of Hearing, News, Sign Language, Video Relay Service

Magazine Selects Postal Service Public-Sector Employer of the Year

The nation’s first and only career-guidance and recruitment magazine for people with disabilities who are at undergraduate, graduate or professional levels has named the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Public-Sector Employer of the Year.

In its current issue (Spring 2007), Careers & the disABLED magazine says the Postal Service received the award “for its progressive efforts to recruit, hire, and promote people with disabilities” and was selected as one of the top five employers for whom readers would most like to work or believe is progressive in the hiring of people with disabilities.

“The Postal Service is committed to fostering a business culture that provides an inclusive work environment for all employees,” says Susan M. LaChance, USPS vice president, employee development and diversity. “The diversity of employees – their backgrounds, education, perspectives, talents, and skills – plays an integral role in achieving this goal.”

The Postal Service has many programs designed to ensure that all employees have an equal opportunity to compete in every aspect of employment. Careers & the disABLED magazine highlighted one in particular, Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Video Relay Service (VRS). These video interpreting services enable employees who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to communicate with supervisors, co-workers and others in real time as an alternative to on-site interpreters or text-based telephone systems. The VRI and VRS systems are now available to more than 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing postal employees.

Source: U.S. Postal Service

:: MyFox Austin | Teen Charged in False Bomb Threat at Texas School for the Deaf ::

May 4, 2007 in Deaf, News, Video Relay Service

Teen Charged in False Bomb Threat at Texas School for the Deaf

05/04/2007 —

A teenager is charged with making a false report in the bomb threat at the Texas School for the Deaf.

18-year-old Daniel Summers wrote a confession to calling in the threat on April 19th, using the Texas Relay Service.  After the threat, the boy’s dorm was evacuated, but no bomb was found.

According to an arrest warrant, Summers used the name “Corey” when he made the call because it’s someone he knows and doesn’t like.

He’s also accused of calling in a bomb threat to the Temple Daily Telegram around the same time.