On Tuesday, Ed Vaizey, the Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, visited one of our supporters, Sign Solutions to learn more about their video relay InterpretersLive! platform.
InterpretersLive! allows Deaf people to access an interpretation service via video link from their desktop, tablet or smartphone and aims to provide them with the same levels of access as hearing people when dealing with communication we encounter every day.
From left; Ed Vaizey, MP for Culture and the Digital Economy; Clare Vale, managing director of Sign Solutions; Sean Nicholson, founder and CEO of Sign Solutions.
Vaizey, who was in Birmingham attending the Conservative party conference, has spent years encouraging phone companies to take action on video relay for deaf people.
His visit to the Sign Solutions head office saw him meet with Sean Nicholson, CEO at Sign Solutions, and see behind the scenes how its InterpretersLive! service works.
Ed Vaizey comments: “It was a pleasure meeting the Sign Solutions team yesterday as well as getting to learn about its InterpretersLive! service.
“I would strongly encourage all businesses to adopt video relay in order to improve the accessibility for Deaf people.”
Sean Nicholson, CEO at Sign Solutions, said: “Over the last few years, the demand for better access for Deaf people has grown and we believe the willingness of large FTSE companies to make their services more accessible is in no small part due to the work that Ed Vaizey has done in encouraging and promoting the use of these services.
“We were therefore delighted to welcome Ed to our head office on Tuesday and hope that his visit will further raise awareness of improving the availability of services for Deaf people.”
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- DCAL: world-class research into deafness, cognition and language
- Action Deafness: “A Deaf-Led Charity” – interpreting & community support services
- Sign Solutions: Instant access to Interpreters, training and BSL translation nationwide
- InterpretersLive: On demand BSL video interpretation
- Lipspeaker UK: specialist lipspeaking support
- BID: Deaf services, including advice and support, interpreting, employment and letters
- Performance Interpreting: BSL interpreting at concerts
- National Deaf Children's Society: The leading charity for deaf children
Sandra Dowe
October 3, 2014
Big future for remote interpreting. Would be good if it were free for all to use.
Hartmut
October 6, 2014
How is this video relay service funded?
In the U.S. it is funded by a surcharge of about 50 cents for each telephone in the monthly bill. The surcharge also pays for a video-modem. There are several companies competing to provide this service.
Sean
October 28, 2014
The service is funded by the companies themselves. It is not an ideal solution as access is limited to those companies that will set up the service. However, it is a step forward generates more business for those companies that are prepared to offer access to their company.