SM Cares, TSND launch VRS for PWDs

MANILA, Philippines - George Taylor, chairman of Telecommunications Service Network for the Deaf (TSND), with the help of his sister Kathy Taylor, vocalist for the band Saydie and a PWD advocate, and the SM Cares Program on Disability Affairs launched the Video Relay Service (VRS) at SM North Edsa Global Pinoy Center recently.

George himself is hearing and speech-impaired and wants to help people like him be able to communicate through teleconference sign language interpretation by using the new technology of VRS.

Kathy Taylor said, “The installation of VRS system at the SM Mall of Asia and SM North Edsa is the first ever in the country and is a milestone for SM Cares Program on Disability Affairs and SM Global Pinoy.”

“It will be a free service for all PWDs with speech and hearing impairment when they visit SM. This is part of our campaign for House Bill 5670 which requires the national government to provide full support for the development and implementation of the VRS system in the country. It will help an estimated four million hearing and speech-impaired individuals to communicate more easily,” she added.

VRS enables users who use sign language to communicate via videoconferencing with a remote video interpreter who then relays the signed communication over the video phone or Internet, in real time, to the hearing impaired party.

VRS services have become well-developed in Sweden since 1997 and also in the United States in 2000. This is the first time that the VRS technology is introduced in the Philippines.

The SM Program on Disability Affairs is continuously finding ways and means to make PWDs feel at home in SM malls. In fact, SM has required all its malls to be PWD-friendly, giving PWDs access to all places and staff are always ready to assist them.

It also advocates a change in attitude of the community toward PWDs. SM believes that the greatest barrier for PWDs is the lack of understanding about their special needs.

To know more about the SM Cares Program, visit www.facebook.com/smsupermalls.