Deaf people in Spain can communicate by telephone through a new video-interpretation service.

This service can be used via videophone, video camera connected to the internet, 3G mobile and a web application available at "www.svisual.org" or you can access the service on a computer with a webcam and broadband connection.

Deaf people in Spain can communicate by telephone through a new video-interpretation service.

The SVisual system, funded by the Plan Avanza, is a service that allows communication between the deaf and hearing with the intervention of video-interpretation for sign language.

This service can be used via videophone, video camera connected to the internet, 3G mobile and a web application available at "www.svisual.org" or you can access the service on a computer with a webcam and broadband connection.

During the presentation of this project, the ministers of Industry, Tourism and Trade Miguel Sebastian, and Health and Social Policy, Trinidad Jimenez, stressed the importance of this instrument which eliminates communication barriers which this group has in their daily life.

"Communication is not a privilege, not a fad, but a right for everyone," stressed the Minister of Health, who explained that this system means deaf people can share information from home and without being accompanied by an interpreter.

The video service in sign language interpretation, funded with 340 million euros from the Ministry of Industry, will open new professional and personal opportunities for deaf people, says Sebastian, who has assured that the Government wants to make new technologies one of the features of the new sustainable economic model.

"Spain has taken a major technological leap, achieving convergence with Europe and become the fourth European virtual community with more than 25 million Internet users," he added.

The president of the Confederation of the Deaf (CNSE), Luis Canyon, has opined that "communication is an indispensable necessity for everyone, especially for those who feel excluded by their disability," and has therefore requested access to telephone services at affordable prices. This is a powerful tool for communication, which extends to the rest of society," said the head of this organization.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Telefonica of Spain, Guillermo Ansaldo, recalled that one million deaf people in Spain are "users and customers, who have their rights as citizens and consumers."




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