Hearing-Disabled Community Stresses Focus on Hearing Community For VRS Outreach Pilot Program
Advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing community urged the FCC to take a targeted approach to help the hearing population understand the importance of video relay service and IP relay service. They also suggested the use of social media to inform individuals in the deaf and hard of hearing community of advancements in services, they said Friday during a meeting to establish an Internet-based Telecommunications Relay Service National Outreach Program (iTRS-NOP). Participants said they intend the NOP to help reduce the number of telephone hang-ups experienced by people making relay calls.
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Staff from the FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau met with VRS providers and members of organizations for the hearing disabled community following an order to reform the VRS program (CD June 11 p1). The order directs the selection of one or more independent iTRS outreach coordinators and suggests creating a 2- or 3-year pilot program to educate the public on telecom relay services, the commission said on its website (http://fcc.us/1eREc1g).
The purpose of the NOP isn’t just to expand VRS and make sure everyone who needs VRS gets it, but also making sure the public, businesses and government agencies understand what the service is, said Karen Peltz Strauss, deputy CGB chief. The public’s awareness of the availability of relay is still lacking, said Greg Hlibok, FCC Disability Rights Office chief. Various people in the business community hang up thinking it’s a telemarketing call, he said.
To establish the NOP, the FCC Office of the Managing Director must work with the bureau, said Hlibok. Funding will come from the Interstate TRS Fund and the activities are to be overseen by the bureau, he said. The coordinators of the program can’t be affiliated with the iTRS provider, he said.
The FCC is on the right track in targeting different groups, said Claude Stout, executive director of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. However, more focus on the hearing population is necessary, he said. The program must ensure that businesses feel comfortable receiving and making calls to hearing disabled people, he said. “We're all first-class citizens ready to purchase their services. ... If we can’t get in touch with these people, we don’t have access to those opportunities."
Social media is a good way to do outreach, as is attending expos, and events that apply directly to people who use relay is helpful, said Sharon Hayes, director of the Video Relay Services Consumer Association. Outreach also must involve deaf people addressing hearing audiences, she said.
There’s a problem in dealing with financial institutions, said Michael Maddix, Sorenson director-government and regulatory affairs. They regularly refuse relay calls, he said. Trying to communicate with healthcare providers and government agencies also is a problem, he said. Healthcare providers think accepting a call is a violation of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act laws, despite public notices that help clarify the procedure, he said. “The video relay interpreter is not a party to the call.” Agencies routinely tell deaf consumers they need to call the TTY line, which is “antiquated” and “archaic,” he said. Sorrenson provides VRS services.
Outreach should be done strategically, said Andrew Phillips, an attorney for the National Association of the Deaf. “There are some populations who may have less awareness of VRS.” They may live in areas where information isn’t as prevalent and there are people who lose their hearing later in life, he said. “We should think about how the deaf and hard of hearing get information."
Hayes cautioned that it’s not just people in large, urban areas who are hard to reach. Advocates must be mindful of people living out in more rural areas, she said. In North Carolina, 70 percent of deaf people live in rural areas “and it’s sometimes hard to reach those people,” she said.
Some meeting participants bemoaned the $2 million allotted for the program. The budget likely won’t achieve most of what the stakeholders would like it to, said Jeff Rosen, attorney for Convo Relay. “Most of the issues we have are hang-ups from financial institutions,” he said. “It may be our priority to stop hang-ups, given our small budget.” Kelby Brick, vice president-regulatory affairs at VRS provider Purple Communications, agreed that $2 million “is a tiny bit of money.” The commission has taken away money from providers, he said. “I've already seen impacts from this.” It’s important for consumers to know what new developments providers have come up with, he said. The FCC needs to decide up front who the target audience is, he added: “Spreading ourselves too thin will be ineffective.”