Newport helps residents with hearing impairment
Newport Beach is using mobile technology to connect deaf and hard-of-hearing people with municipal services, officials said.
Officials recently placed special computer tablets at City Hall, libraries and other facilities so people who need sign-language interpretation can have an on-demand, real-time remote video conference with interpreters.
The free service also connects hearing, non-Englishspeaking people with spoken interpretation. The city is believed to be among the first in the country to provide such services.
“When I first envisioned the need to connect all residents and visitors with city services, I did not think the city would be leading the way,” Mayor Kevin Muldoon said in a statement.
The city has contracted with Language People Inc., a language-services company, to provide the service. The Murrieta company’s proprietary application is already in use in some public places across the country.
“They’re setting an example for the rest of the country,” Jeff Stroud, a spokesman for Language People, said of Newport Beach’s effort.
Stroud said this kind of service will become more common now that the technology exists to make interpretation easier and more cost-effective.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires public places to provide auxiliary means of communication for people who need it.
But when the law was enacted in 1990, Stroud said, videoconferencing technology didn’t exist. Inperson interpretation was best, and if having an inhouse interpreter presented an undue burden, an organization was exempt.