New national video relay service offers greater independence to deaf, hard of hearing

OTTAWA–GATINEAU - Canadians who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired now have a new way to communicate thanks to Wednesday’s launch of the new national video relay service (VRS).This made-for-Canada service enhances the ability of Canadian’s whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL) or Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) to conduct calls via video relay service with hearing people through a professional ASL or LSQ interpreter.VRS calls are placed using a high-speed Internet connection through a computer, tablet or smartphone and an operator facilitates the conversation between the two parties by relaying the conversation between sign language...