Listen to Show 56

New 10-digit phone numbers are now available for Deaf and hard of hearing consumers who use video phone technology. Why is this such a big deal? Listen to this interview with Kelby Brick of GoAmerica to find out.

Also, Ron Graham tells us some exciting news about the digitization of the National Library Service.

Web sites mentioned in this episode include:

Disaboom survey
www.disaboom.com/Community/Organizations/Polls

J.C. Hutchin's Obsidian video featuring your host
http://jchutchins.net/site/2008/07/19/obsidian-episode-17-voices-from-th...

Information on the new 10-digit phone numbers and how to get one
www.GoAmerica.com/10digit
www.HOVRS.com

GoAmerica
www.GoAmerica.com

National Library Service
www.loc.gov/nls

NLS digital pilot site
https://www.nlstalkingbooks.org/dtb/

Access Ability Blog
http://accessability.blogspot.com

TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS

Disability411, Show number 56

Hello and welcome to the Disability411 podcast. I'm your host, Beth Case. Before we get to today's interview I just have a couple pieces of business to cover. First off, we have a new URL. Our old one still works if you're used to disability4.jinkle.com, that will still work. But, if you have a tendency to forget the “jinkle” part, you can now go to disability-411.com. You know, someday I'd like to be able to get disability411.com, but unfortunately that's been bought a site farmer, you know people who just buy up a bunch of names and then try to sell them for very large prices. So, until such day that I can actually get the disability411.com URL, just stick a dash in there. Disability-411.come and you can get to us. A lot easier to remember. And of course, like I said, the old site will still work.

The other thing is that I've set up this other service. It's free so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm really, honestly, not sure how useful it will be. But if you're just dying to hear the latest episode of Disability411 and you don't have an Internet connection or you're not at your computer, you can now just call this phone number and listen to the latest episode. That number is 712-318-9949. Now, that would be a long distance call if you don't have free long distance, so be aware of that. And like I said, I'm just not sure how useful this would be. It didn't cost me anything to set it up, so I thought I would give it a try. But I'd really love to hear from any of you, pros or cons, is this something you would use or not? I can set it up as a 1-800 number, toll free number, if there was a lot of desire for this service. So, you know, if it's something that you would really like to have, let me know and if I get enough people responding that they think this would be really useful but the long distance call is an issue, then I'll get the toll-free number. So just let me know what you think about that.

One more piece of sort of business that I want to talk about before we get to the interview, is that Disaboom is conducting what they believe is the first political survey of people with disabilities. And they are asking that you go by Friday, August 22, which is very soon or will be past by the time you listen to this, but if you are listening to this in time, go to www.disaboom.com/Community/Organizations/Polls. And of course, I will have this in our show notes and you know, go fill out the survey, have your voice be heard. As I've said before, you can't complain about the political process if you don't partake in it. So go there, give your opinions and let your voice be heard.

One other just kind of fun thing, is, long-time listeners will remember I did an interview with J.C. Hutchins who is one of my favorite authors. He is the author of the 7th Son trilogy which you can listen to for free as a free audio book delivered by podcast. Now, he created this really vivid world and it has fans who just did not want to let go of his creations. So he's been airing a companion podcast, called Obsidian, and he asked several other authors if they would write a story that takes place in his 7th Son universe. And what happens during part of the story, and I promise there's no spoilers here, is that a bomb goes off and it throws the entire nation into a blackout for a couple of weeks and there's a lot of rioting and a lot of things that happen during this blackout. So he asked these other authors if they would write a story about what happens during the blackout. In addition to asking these other authors, he opened it up to the public and he asked his listeners if they would like to contribute either an audio file or a video file, pretending like they were a victim of the blackouts, that they were living through the blackouts and what experiences were they having. Well, being the huge fan and huge ham that I am, I submitted a video that was sent out on his podcast feed. If you would like to see what I did, then just visit our shownotes on our new website, disability-411.com, and I will have a link to my video so you can check that out. Just something kind of fun.

Ok, now let's get to today's interview. This is the interview that unfortunately did not record correctly. I planned to play this last week and of course, that didn't happen. And I would like to thank my interviewee, Kelby Brick, so much for his patience and willingness to set up another time so I could record this information. I think this is just such exciting news, I had to get with him as soon as possible, re-record the interview and get it out to all of you.

Now, Kelby himself is Deaf and I just wanted to explain that because the voice you're going to hear is female, while Kelby is male. The voice you're going to hear is his interpreter. So, without any further delay, let's hear from Kelby.

(music)

Beth Case: Well, today I have with me, Kelby Brick. Kelby, thank you so much for joining today.

Kelby Brick: It's my pleasure to be here with you this morning.

Beth: Well, before we get into the topic of today's interview, would you just introduce yourself, let out audience know who you are and what you do?

Kelby: Certainly. I'm Kelby Brick, I'm the Vice President here at GoAmerica, the country's largest text relay service provider, the largest provider of community services and the second largest provider of video relay services. Our variety of fields of service allows us to focus on communication access for Deaf and hard of hearing people and breaking down communication barriers.

Beth: Now, I have you here today because I want to talk about the new 10-digit phone numbers that are available for Deaf consumers. But in order for everyone to understand why this is such a big deal, can you give us an overview about how telecommunications has worked up til now for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing?

Kelby: Certainly, I'd be happy to do that. 10-digit numbering is milestone in the civil rights history for Deaf and hard of hearing people. Generally speaking, relay system worked, up until today, Deaf people would call either on the TTY or through a computer using webcams, typing, and then connecting to a center, to a third party, to an operator. That operator would then connect the voice end of that call and the third-party operator would translate between the Deaf person and the hearing person using either sign language or typing of either text.

Beth: Ok, so let me just kind of walk through this. I'm a hearing person and a Deaf person wants to call me. They have to either use a TTY, which is a way of typing a message, or a video camera on their computer. They would call some central office location where there'd be an operator. They would have to type to he operator, then the operator would call me and I would be hearing the operator's voice. I would talk back , the operator would have to type – that's pretty tedious.

Kelby: Exactly. Exactly. The typing process itself, I'd say the best typist would be about 60 words a minute. Normal conversation speech is about 240 words per minute. That's a big difference right there. The process is extremely tedious. And a painful process as well.

Beth: Now that I know that with the new video relay services that that's really improved and there's a lot of Deaf people that really love that. And, if they're calling me, it seems to work pretty well. They use their video camera, they call into a central location where there are interpreters, and the interpreter calls me. There's still a person in the middle, but it's really pretty easy. The problem is, what if I want to call a Deaf person

Kelby: I n the past, up until today, if you wanted to call me for example, you'd have to call the third party, you'd have to know the right phone number of that third party call center provider, give that third party provider my Internet address, which nobody can remember, nobody can understand, their Internet protocol number, they have a series of dots with lots of numbers, and many, many people just did not get it. They have a dynamic IP address which means it changes quite often, so they have to remember when it changed and how it changed. And it's next to impossible for you to just pick up the phone and call me. You have to depend on the Deaf person to initiate that phone call.

Beth: And I would have to know that I was calling a Deaf person. And I'd have to go, if I didn't know you personally and just wanted to call you for whatever reason, I'd have to know you were Deaf, I'd have to know which relay service you were working with, call them, know your IP address, I mean, I'm surprised anyone gets any phone call at all that way.

Kelby: Many people still don't. It's a very frustrating process. Health care providers, businesses, cannot reach out to their Deaf customers or patients. It's very frustrating and a frustrating process for all.

Beth: Ok, so now that we understand how difficult has been, what's this new development with the new 10-digit phone numbers. What is it and why does it make a difference?

Kelby: GoAmerica led the national effort, working with some other groups to get the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, to authorize a new central system, and that system is then able to assign local 10-digit phone numbers to the Deaf users. And that's automatically tied to a third party provider. Now, at the end of the day, how that works, I'm going to give you my regular, local 10-digit phone number. You're not going to necessarily know that I'm a Deaf individual. You're going to dial that 10-digit phone number automatically, just like you call anyone else, the system then, that third party system will recognize that phone number as belonging to a Deaf individual, automatically pull that number to the relay service provider to make that connection. The process is virtually seamless.

Beth: That's pretty amazing. So now, with this new 10-digit phone number system, I can just call a phone number. It looks just like any other phone number in my area code, or in your area code, where you're living, call you and it will automatically know that I'm a hearing person calling a Deaf person and route me to a relay service that will then be able to call your video phone.

Kelby: Yesterday, I was able to receive a phone call from my mechanic and the process was very easy. I put down on the form where I could be contacted, I put down my regular local 10-digit phone number. Before, I had to explain I am Deaf, you have to call this other number and tell them my IP address. All I did was put down a regular 10-digit phone number and my mechanic called me right back and told me my car was ready and it was amazing! It was very exciting.

Beth: This just came to mind, I hadn't really thought of this before, but do you have an answering machine on your video phone? What if you're not there when someone calls?

Kelby: That's an excellent question. We are now in the process of setting up video email. It is possible, there are ways for Deaf individuals to receive a video message if they're not there. Some providers already have that, some don't. We do that currently. We do have video email.

Beth: That's just really cool. I had never thought about that before and when you were just talking about your mechanic calling and I was like “What if you weren't there when he called?” That's just really cool.

Kelby: If I'm not there, I receive an email on my cell phone or an SMS message on my cell phone informing me that I have missed a call and then I will receive a link, and I can go to the Internet, pull that up and watch the video of the message I just missed.

Beth: That's better than my answering machine.

Kelby: (laughs) It's exciting!

Beth: Yeah! (laughs) I want that! Ok, now let's suppose that I'm Deaf and I'm wanting to call another Deaf person. Certainly, I don't need to go through the central calling system, I don't need an interpreter. How does the system know, or does it know, that I'm another Deaf person?

Kelby: This is an amazing aspect of the system. It's sophisticated enough to identify a video or voice end point. How the system works is, if it recognizes that one of the end users is a voice or video user, it will automatically pull in the relay service provider, like GoAmerica. However, if the system recognizes that both end systems are video ends, video end points and no third party call system is required, there's an automatic direct connection to the other video end point.

Beth: That's just so amazing. I mean, seriously, I can't believe technology does this.

Kelby: It's very sophisticated. When I want to call my wife, I can call directly using my 10-digit phone number, actually, using her 10-digit phone number. And hearing people, I have hearing members of my family, they call me using my 10-digit phone number. We've been using this now for just a very short time now.

Beth: This is just so cool. Now, this is relatively new, it's only, was approved a couple of months ago. And now that we've got everybody excited and interesting in this, how do they get a phone number?

Kelby: Excellent question. They can get more information on how this works by going to www.GoAmerica.com/10digit. They can get more information on the process, how to get a phone number. Also, look on our website HandsOnVRS for more information on how to get a 10-digit phone number. We call it a purple number. And the we b site address is HOVRS.com.

Beth: Ok, I have to ask. Why do you call it a “purple number”?

Kelby: Our company promotes being purple. And it's part of being part of a community and breaking down community barriers. We've labeled that the value of being purple. We [provide a purple service. It's a value commitment to the community at large. Instead of explaining what we provide: we provide a 10-digit number, we provide a long, long list of services. We say it's a 10-digit number and it's a purple number.

Beth: That's just kinda cool, I like that. I hadn't heard of bing purple before, but I like it. Well, is there anything you'd like to add before we wrap up this interview?

Kelby: People can obtain more information on a variety of services on our website at www.GoAmerica.com. We are a publicly owned company with stock on the stock exchange. Our call letters are GOAM.

Beth: Fantastic. Kelby, thank you so much for talking with me. This is such exciting news and I can't wait to share it with our listeners.

Kelby: Thank you so much for your time and inviting me I look forward to the new system rolling out soon. We already started testing it and it's been an excellent experience for all. It's going to enhance our lives like never before. Thank you very much.

Beth: Thank you.

(music)

Beth: I know it may seem like having a 10-digit phone number is not that big a deal, but I'm hoping this interview shows what a really big deal is it for people who are Deaf and hard of hearing who use things like video phones in order to use the telephone. This really is a huge technological advancement. So if you know someone who is Deaf who uses a video phone, make sure they know about this and get them to go to the web site and get their own phone number.

Before we wrap up today, I have another submission from Ron Graham that I would like to play for you.

(music)

Ron Graham: Hi, this is Ron Graham from the Access Ability blog. Today I'd like to talk to you about the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Disabled, and more particularly, their digitization process. Hereafter, I'm going to refer to the National Library Service simply as the NLS. Most people in the disability support service fields will probably be familiar with the NLS. In the past, they're provided 4-track cassette tapes recorded at half speed as modified formats of talking books to protect access to only a target population on a special playback device.

Well, several years ago we leaped into this digital age and they've been working on moving into this digital age and making digital copies of the books. Now the NLS does have a pilot site for their downloadable books and magazines. That site lets the users download them and play them back on special devices. Right now there are only three devices in the world that play back these book. The Victor Reader Stream, the LevelStar Icon, and the Braille Plus Mobile Manager from the American Printing House for the Blind. At a later date, the NLS will provide a digital player, but right now they're just digitizing the books collection. So any users who want to participate in using these will have to have their own player.

The NLS is funded through the Library of Congress and right now they have a targeted projection of six years to complete the digitization process. The great news is in June of 2008, the House of Representatives passed a bill increasing the amount of funding. They had asked for $12.5 million, but it was increased to an amount that would allow the six-year time line to be cut in half to only three years. Right now it's in the process of being handled by a Senate subcommittee and if they approve it, it will be forwarded on to the desk of the President.

The books provided by the NLS are not only for blind or visually impaired readers, but are great for anybody, such as someone who has dyslexia who would do better reading auditorily. The markup on the language of the digital files allows for bookmarking, so if there's a quotation in a book for research or for reading for a college assignment, you can bookmark it, you can come back to it, you can pull this out. IT;s just the power of the digital age has finally aught up to the NLS program.

If you know anybody who;s using the NLS program and not aware of the digital aspect, encourage them to look this up on the web. The NLS website is www.loc.gov/nls. There's a link there to tell more about the digitalization program, the pilot site of the downloadable books and magazines. I've been using it for four months and have caught up on a lot of reading I've been missing out on because I quit using the cassettes as a way to read. I got tired of the bulk and the inconvenience in an age where I saw everything else going digital except this library program. But now this new digital age is awesome, letting users download books and taking up no more space than the space taken up by their player. It's really encouraging to see this come along. So, if you know of anybody who could benefit from this program, pass it along. There's a downloadable form to apply for the library program.

The NLS site is the national aspect but is buoyed by every state's talking book library program. And there are links on the NLS site to get you to your state library program. So go to the NLS homepage and check out the digital program. Find what you need there. There is a lot coming and it's going to get better.

That's it for this episode. This is Ron Graham from the Access Ability blog. You can find us on the web at accessability.blogspot.com. See you next time!

(music)

Beth: Thanks, Ron. Great to hear from you as always. And don't forget, if you'd like to contribute something to the Disability411 podcast, just email me at disability411@jinkle.com and let's talk about some ideas. There's lots of other ways you can volunteer. Just check out our website at disability-411.com to see some other ideas about how you can get involved.

So until next time, thanks for listening and this has been Beth Case with the Disability411 podcast.

(music)

The Disability411 Podcast is protected by the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license, which means you can share our podcast, you just can't make any money off of it. Visit our website at disability-411.com to find show notes, past shows, and transcripts of all the episodes, as well as useful links, blogs and much more. Email us at disability411@jinkle.com. Music by the Brobdingnagian Bards is used with permission.