Viable Becomes Top Sponsor for 2009 Deaf Seniors of America Conference

Deaf-owned company provides week-long interpreting and support services and videophone access to 2,000 deaf seniors in Las Vegas in light of conference committee's loss of $170,000 due to bank closure.

Rockville, MD (PRWEB) June 21, 2009 -- Viable, a deaf-owned provider of video relay services (VRS), has been named the top sponsor of the 2009 Deaf Seniors of America (DSA) Conference, taking place June 19-26, 2009 in Las Vegas. Viable will provide an unprecedented 500+ hours of interpreting services in addition to cash and other in-kind support to DSA, which lost more than $170,000 when the Silver State Bank collapsed in 2008.

Viable provides VRS through its ViableVRS brand, which allows sign language users to make and receive phone calls 24/7 by videoconferencing with an interpreter trained to relay phone conversations. VRS is popular with deaf seniors who use the service to communicate with healthcare providers and to stay in close touch with children and grandchildren. ViableVRS is also available in Spanish.

DSA is a membership organization of deaf individuals aged 50 and above and is dedicated to enhancing the experience of aging through advocacy and providing information and resources. More than 2,000 attendees are expected for this year's conference, which will feature educational workshops, entertainment, side trips to landmarks, and social events.

Viable will provide tactile interpreting and support services for deafblind attendees, interpreting services for close-vision attendees, and voice interpreting for general audiences. Viable will also equip a 24/7 videophone lounge with multiple units of the VPAD available for use. The VPAD is a WiFi videophone developed by Viable that is portable and offers a touchscreen interface.

"Viable wholeheartedly supports the mission of DSA. Many of its members are heroes of the deaf community who helped to make it strong during their long professional careers and many years of volunteer service," said John T.C. Yeh, who is a DSA member and the president and co-founder of Viable. "It is my pleasure to sponsor DSA at the top conference level and to provide our technologies and services to those who need it most."

Also in 2009 Viable has committed to top sponsorship levels for the Telecommunications of the Deaf, Inc. (TDI) Conference from July 30-August 1 in Washington, DC and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Conference taking place August 1-6 in Philadelphia. Viable will also be the exclusive telecommunications provider at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics to be held September 5-15 in Taipei, Taiwan.

More information on the DSA Conference is available at http://www.dsa2009.us/ and attendees are welcome to visit Viable at its premier booth space all week at the exhibition hall.

About Viable, Inc.

Viable develops videophones and provides next-generation video relay services for deaf and hard of hearing persons, opening them to a world of communication possibilities. Founded in 2006, Viable is a private, deaf-owned company, and many employees are deaf and hard of hearing and are personally vested in the innovation and development of the company's products and services. Visit www.viable.net for further information.

About Telecommunications Relay Services

Mandated by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, telecommunications relay services (TRS) enables individuals with hearing or speech disabilities to achieve functional equivalence by accessing telephone systems to place or receive calls through an intermediary known as a relay operator or relay interpreter. Emergent IP technology has given rise to video-based solutions, which are known as video relay services (VRS). VRS options include using a webcam or a videophone to connect to a video relay interpreter, and allow deaf and hard of hearing callers for whom sign language is native to fully achieve the ideal of functional equivalence.

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