Library of Congress facillitates accessible communication for staff

To facilitate better communication between employees who are deaf and hard of hearing with their colleagues, the Library of Congress has just installed
New video relay technology,
Using videophones. Library officials claim this system to be superior to older TTY technologies.


According to the article,
“Using the new system, deaf or hard-of-hearing employees are either able to communicate directly with each other or transmit their message in ASL to an interpreter, who in turn relays the message in English to a hearing colleague via a standard phone line.” “

The new system, provided free of charge by Sorenson Communications, will benefit 17 of the library’s employees. Additionally, library officials hope that this model of private/public partnership that they’ve initiated with Sorenson will be emulated by other entities.

For additional information, you may want to also read the
Business Wire press release.