Direct Video Calling Increases Access for Deaf Citizens

We are pleased to announce that two agencies that routinely interface with the disabilities community -- the US Census Bureau and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) -- will soon be taking up direct video calling technology to allow Deaf citizens to communicate directly with American Sign Language (ASL)-fluent call operators there.

This work responds to President Barack Obama's 2011 executive order calling upon agencies to use technology to improve customer service, and is another step in the right direction. Why? In general, citizens who are deaf reach federal agencies via third-party interpreters who facilitate their conversations by interpreting to those on the other end of the line. But broadband and faster connections have made direct video calling not just possible, but commonplace. With this technology, the result can be a call that is direct, clear, and can allow Americans who are deaf to communicate in American Sign Language. And that’s why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) led the charge in 2014, as the first federal agency to accept direct video calls from the Deaf, so that ASL-speaking Americans could connect with customer service representatives fluent in ASL and communicate with them directly rather than via an interpreter. In June, the Small Business Administration responded to the FCC’s initiative by starting their own direct video communication pilot, which will allow entrepreneurs who are deaf to better access the Small Business Administration’s services. And now, two more agencies have joined this growing effort.