ASL – Virtual Discussion Session related to VRS Review (Day 1, Part 2) – 2 of 4
Video Transcript
Eileen: Hello and welcome. Before I begin, I acknowledge that I'm joining this call from the traditional ancestral unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations. I recognize that others have joined virtually from different locations and therefore are in different traditional indigenous territories. I invite you to take a moment to reflect in gratitude and pay tribute to the elders wherever you are.
Thank you, again, for joining today. My name is Eileen. My pronouns are she/her/elle. I'm a woman with long brown hair, and I'm wearing a red-colored shirt. I will be your facilitator for this session. We have three commissioners with us today who will each introduce themselves. I will give Patrick a moment to spotlight Alicia, and Alicia we’ll have you introduce yourself.
Alicia: Thank you, Eileen. Hello. My name is Alicia. I’m a woman with long dark hair. I’m wearing a gray jacket, and I am joining you from Montreal. I look forward to our discussion.
Eileen: Thank you, Alicia. We’ll let Patrick spotlight Nirmala.
Nirmala: Hello. My name is Nirmala, and I am a woman of South Asian descent. I'm wearing a pink top today. I have long dark hair, and I'm speaking to you from Calgary, Alberta.
Eileen: Thank you, Nirmala, and we’ll have Patrick highlight Joanne.
Joanne: Hello. My name is Joanne, and I am a white woman with short blondish hair, red glasses, and I'm wearing a dark shirt with a red shawl because it’s a little bit chilly where I am in Saskatchewan. I live just north of Saskatoon. Thank you.
Eileen: Thank you, Joanne. I will now invite Andre to introduce yourself.
Andre Thibeault: Hello, I am a man. I have, my hair like a pepper color, and I have a shirt on. It’s a lilac shirt with long sleeves, and I also have a mustache, and I live in Gatineau.
Eileen: Thank you and welcome. Josiane.
Josiane Marcoux: Hello, my name is Josiane. I am in Laval, close to Montreal in Quebec. I'm wearing a black sweater. I have glasses, and my hair goes to my shoulders.
Eileen: Thank you so much, Josiane.
All right. We have three questions that we would like to cover today, as well as time at the end for additional comments that you might have. The first question is about your experience using VRS, the second will be about your experience with VRS customer service, and the third will be your experience using VRS to contact 911. So, the first question around your experience using VRS, we’d like to know what aspects or features of the service have worked well for you, any challenges you might be having, and any suggestions for improvement. Perhaps we’ll start maybe with Andre on the first question and we’ll maybe have Josiane go first on the second question to make it fair. So, Andre first, then Josiane. Your experience using VRS.
Andre Thibeault: I am deaf and blind, so I cannot see the signs. I express myself with signs. I obtain the messages in a tactile format. I tried already before to use the VRS service. For example, I try to order a pizza with it, but it was impossible. It was impossible for me to order that pizza, unfortunately. So, I sent a message to CAV. I told them I needed to be able to express myself in sign languages, and then the interpreter said, well, this needs to be interpreted with a tactile keyboard in order to get the response to you, but, unfortunately, it was impossible. This demand was refused, and so I find that the regulations should be, the regulation from the 2014 policy should be, should be respected for people like me, but I am really sorry because I am deaf and I am blind, and for me it’s not possible to read whatever is put on the screen. To improve the service, I would suggest, well, for users, I think that the company that provides the service is called Glbal, and this is a company that provides accessibility for people who are both deaf and blind. How does it work? I would express myself in sign language and then interpret it into English, or rather it’s a special kind of interpretation where you can follow along and read in large letters. There’s a large font that they use or in Braille. Sometimes there’s a Braille option. There’s a Braille keyboard. The interpreter did not understand what Mr. Andre said. The interpreter excuses herself but she is unable to follow what Andre is expressing. Just one moment. Lyne is taking over. For people who are deaf and blind there are two applications to use. Either you use a kind of subtitling tool where either the interpreter, the interpreter can respond on your behalf and they use larger fonts for people who have trouble seeing, and then with SRV, the text is often very small, so we should have the option to change the size of the font or to put more contrast so it’s easier to read because the interpreter will be typing to us and we need those big contrasting letters to be able to read, but it’s very difficult for people who are deaf and blind, so we can express ourselves in sign language, the interpreter sees us, and they can speak on our behalf, but when they want to respond, we can't see them. So, what’s necessary, what we really need, is, also such a system would also be helpful for people who are illiterate, a system that avoids using text, and other people who have problems communicating. So, we have to, I would ask that you adjust the service. If we want to make an appointment, for example, and you have someone who can't read or write who wants to make an appointment, they can, or that person can call using VRS and use the interpreter, and then the response can be transcribed, and then someone can interpret for us with using tactile sign language like we’re doing right now. Without all these steps, we can't use the service because we're not always allowed to receive information using a Braille keyboard. That’s not always an option.
Eileen: Thank you, Andre. Do any of the commissioners have clarifying questions before we move over to Josiane? A clarifying question from Alicia. If Patrick could spotlight Alicia?
Alicia: Thank you. There is something I wanted to clarify. Have you shared these concerns with the VRS service provider, and if you have, what response did you receive? How did they respond to your concerns?
Andre Thibeault: If there is time, you can come back to me afterwards because my colleague, Josiane, hasn't gotten the chance to speak. Would you like me to answer now?
Eileen: We will make the time.
Andre Thibeault: All right. Can you just repeat the question then, please, quickly?
Alicia: Yes, of course. Have you shared these concerns with the VRS service provider, and if you have, what was their response? How did they respond?
Andre Thibeault: Yes. I have notified CAV of this issue. Yes, yes, of course, of course, of course, of course. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Of course. And they refuse to listen to my request. They said that they are, they follow communication standards that were established in 2014. It’s the one standard, 1547, it's a procedures for the CAV that were established in 2014, and in these regulations, it said that people who have problems with hearing or speaking, the service is not for them. It’s only for people who are deaf and who use sign language, but since I am both, I am deaf, but I don't use traditional sign language. I have to use tactile sign language, so the system isn't made for me, and I've brought this up with CAV. Yes, yes, I’ve shared that with them, and that was their response.
Alicia: Thank you very much for your answer. Thank you for your response.
Eileen: Thank you. We are going to move over to Josiane. Before we do, I want to clarify timing. We can extend the call on our end here. Are you, Josiane, and your interpreter and Andre and your interpreter, available to stay a little bit longer if we have to go over?
Yes, Mr. Thibeault and his interpreter are available, and Madam Marcoux also is available. Yes.
Eileen: Okay. So, Josiane, we would love your feedback on experience using VRS and your suggestions for improvement.
Josiane Marcoux: I've been using VRS since 2005, and I've had a good experience with it. It works. However, there is a lack of communication, or it’s hard for me sometimes because I can't see. I can't see the sign language of the interpreter, and so communication can be difficult, and people who are both deaf and blind have specific needs. We can't see the interpreter on the screen, and I have a machine that lets me read in Braille and people can send me information on that Braille keyboard and I can then respond this way to them, but it takes time to go back and forth, so this technique that I use works, and it’s a great technology for people who are both deaf and blind. Different categories have different needs. You have people who are deaf, people who are just hard of hearing, people who are deaf and blind. Everyone has their own needs, and so, the Braille keyboard I use works very well for me but each of these groups will have its own needs for adaptation. Sometimes it works like a chat room and when someone is speaking it comes up on my Braille keyboard, I respond, it goes back and forth like a chat. We type back and forth, and that’s something we can do on the computer, and I like to respond using my Braille keyboard. That’s my preferred form of communication. So, when I have communication needs, I do my best. I try to, you know, do everything with the Braille keyboard but that’s not always available. It’s not everyone who’s able to use the system on the other side, and I don’t always have a tactile interpreter next to me. When I receive a message or get a message on my answering machine, I have to ask someone to interpret it for me, to either use tactile sign language or something like that, but if there’s no one around, it becomes a problem. I would like to be 100% independent in this area, but I can’t be. That’s the problem from my point of view. Thank you.
Eileen: Commissioners, do you have any clarifying questions? Nirmala?
Nirmala: Yes, hi. I’m sorry, I just had a quick question for Andre. Josiane, thank you so much for your comments. There was a follow-up question I did want to ask Andre, and I'm sure one of the commissioners may want to follow up with Josiane about what she had just said. I wanted to just get clarification before we move too far into the conversation. You had mentioned that people who are blind need tactile sign language, but I'm wondering how that can be addressed through VRS, because you also say that a Braille keyboard isn't always an option. So, what would the solution be with VRS? Do you know -- do you have any suggestions?
Andre Thibeault: Yes. Well, I use tactile sign language for the most part, but, so, someone will be interpreting into tactile sign language for me, but that person needs to be able to read, and so if this person can read the chat, or sometimes I can read from the chat if the font is at least 48 points. The size is at least a 48. But, if the interpreter is typing, they can't follow along with sign language or speak in sign language, so the tactile interpreter next to me needs to follow the sign language and be typing and we need to be sure that there is good contrast between the background and the sign language interpreter. These are all things that are necessary for accessibility. This is what they already do in the United States, but in Canada it’s not available, and they tell us it’s not possible because we’re still stuck with that 2014 regulation, so if you have someone who is illiterate or only speaks one language or only French or only English, they don't speak both official languages or they can't read one of the official languages, they also fall into the same problems, so it might be useful to have a communication facilitator, and I would prefer, I prefer VRS to other services, but say that I want a call at 2:00, I have to schedule that. The facilitator comes to my house, and they make the call, or they help me make the call and then I express myself in sign languages, just like I'm doing right now. I express myself in sign language, and then the person, the facilitator, the interpreter does like we’re doing today, so I have the person here with me. Here with me today I have someone who is also deaf but they help facilitate my communication, and they help me with tactile sign language so that I can communicate with the interpreter doing sign language on the screen through VRS. At the moment, the person next to me isn't doing anything. They’re just following along in the conversation. I'm responding, and then when you respond, when you answer me they will communicate with me using tactile sign language, so these are the kinds of services that already exist that aren’t a part of VRS.
Eileen: Nirmala?
Nirmala: Yes, that was very helpful. Thank you very much.
Eileen: Thanks for the question, Nirmala, and thank you for your answer, Andre. Any other questions from the commissioners on the user experience with VRS that you’ve heard from Andre and Josiane? Okay, if not, then we’re going to move on to asking about experience with VRS customer. Andre, yes?
Interpreter: Just a moment, Mr. Andre raised his hand. Go ahead, Mr. Andre.
Andre Thibeault: Yes, I just wanted to add, on behalf of the Usher Syndrome Association, I work with them, and so I’m here to communicate not only my own personal experience, our own personal experience, but I'm also sharing with you the concerns of my members, and I will also share the questions you ask me and the information you give me with the members of this organization. I'm here on their behalf as a spokesperson.
Eileen: Yes, much appreciated, and thank you for the clarification.
Andre Thibeault: Yes. There are a lot of people, a lot of people who left me with comments to share with you. In terms of the mobile application, the VRS the mobile app, there are radio buttons and to choose the language you want, whether it’s ASL or LSQ, and you really need to push on the radio button to choose your language, but the button is very small, and since we have trouble seeing, sometimes you push the wrong button and you pick ASL when you meant to pick LSQ, so that’s something that could be improved. The interface so that the buttons are bigger and easier to use, but also you could use colors that are more contrasting or have an option to adjust the colors. Right now, it’s either white or black, black with white writing, but some people who are entirely blind who have some visual capacity, it’s easier for them to see with different contrasting colors, so the option to change those colors would be great and having bigger buttons would also be great so that when people aren't making errors when they go to choose their language.
When I make a call using VRS, sometimes the person isn't there and you leave a message, but when the person picks up, or when the person answers, our phone doesn't buzz to tell us that we're getting a call, so it’s always, okay, am I going to leave a message and wait for a call back, am I just going to try and call again, will I leave them another message, and we don't get enough warning that our phone is ringing. It doesn't vibrate when we get a message, so if you call someone on your iPhone, or someone calls you back, normally your phone vibrates on a normal call, a normal iPhone, and you can say, oh, someone’s calling me, I can pick it up, or there’s a light that lights up, and if that happens I know, okay, I need to pick up the phone, or sometimes I can use a little device that I keep on me that’s like a smoke alarm that will buzz in my pocket to let me know the phone is ringing. That’s how smoke alarm works. So, it would be really great if we had a better vibratory signal for when there is an incoming call. Some deaf people can read very well and see very well and they are entrepreneurs and they do very well, but they do have no idea of ASL, and sometimes it would be necessary that the interpreter could change to English, could speak in English but also can change into LSQ because right now you hear French or LSQ or you hear ASL and English, but it would be really great if you have, for example, business people. Sometimes those people need to talk to English speaking people, so you need to have options that you have an interpreter who is able to interpret from LSQ into English. The Purple company in the U.S., they are able do that. There you have options. You can also choose Spanish, for example, and I believe that this should be authorized. We don't have that option yet.
So, in fact, there should be these two choices. One second if the gentleman doesn't see me, I am going to continue. It is difficult to see the interpreters sometimes because right like right now, the interpreter has a shirt on with sleeves to the elbow. There shouldn't be -- there should be like a round -- a round sweater at the neck without any jewelry because that would be easier for me. Also, if you have a person of black race, then it would be better if that person maybe have a white shirt. It’s easier for some users if there is some contrast, and also it would be good to ask the interpreters to adjust their speed because there are people, there are interpreters who speak at high speed, and this is very difficult for somebody who cannot really see anything to adjust, and so the interpreter needs to take her time and use the sign language at a pace which is comfortable for us, and so I think that it’s important to take into consideration the clues, the protocol, and also the speed, and when it comes to customer service, when they call the 800 number, so very often calls are lost. If you place a call, oops, then there is no call anymore. If you lose the connection, lots of complaints came up, and even if you call this number, and if you try to explain the problem, even then you lose connection. These are problems and these are also some of the solutions I would like to add. Now we are going to change interpreters.
Eileen: Thank you. We will let the interpreters transition. Anything further questions from the commissioners? Yes, Nirmala? We’ll let Patrick spotlight you, Nirmala.
Nirmala: Sure. One second here. I'm just, I have a question for you, Andre, because this issue that you’ve raised about phones not notifying people, not vibrating when there is a call, and when not flashing or anything has come up several times. We’re aware that this is something that other people have mentioned. The technology as far as we know does actually exist in Canada for those notifications, and so that begs the question, why don't more people know about it? So, my question to you is whether you think that updates and improvements to the system overall are well communicated to users.
Andre Thibeault: That is correct. I know that in Canada, and I'm aware of it that the application exists, but the system needs to be updated. I believe the system is called, there is some updates for WISE, and there is also now VRS Canada for the deaf people in Canada and the deafened people or having a speech disability and also a visual disability. They have more options because the screen can be in a different color. So, but, unfortunately the font is too small and the color is not there. It is the same thing for the laptop, for the screen, as the problem on the phone, the font is way too small, and also we should be able to choose the color. We like to have the background to be able to visible and this is not available for blind people. I know that there are some applications, that there are some adjustments which were made, and that you could have a screen in a certain color and also that the font can be bigger, but I don’t know.
Nirmala: So, may I ask, then, are you aware when the system has been improved, when improvements are made for users? Are you aware of those improvements easily or do you have to go searching for them? How easily are those updates communicated to users?
Andre Thibeault: Well, I used to get the messages in e-mail, but now I don't receive these messages anymore. These internet messages. So, you have to read the newsletters, but I do not receive any of those newsletters and sometimes I miss the update, and I would like to receive all this information because this is important. I used to get the updates but now I don't anymore.
Nirmala: Thank you very much.
Andre Thibeault: Maybe we should suggest to the deaf and blind people to have the possibility to have access to be able to contact a place just like in English. ACCSM access. I think it’s 265. So, I don't know if it is possible to have access and to be able to contact these people and improve the accessibility for deaf and blind people, but this is my proposition. This is my suggestion to contact the different companies to improve this service.
Eileen: Okay, thank you. I’d like to move on to a discussion around VRS customer service. So, specifically hearing positive and negative parts of experience with VRS customer service, as well as suggestions for improvement, and let’s start with Josiane.
Josiane Marcoux: For service very often, the adaptive communication practices are missing. The objective here would have to have adaptive communication tools like Braille because many of the members are blind and it is, people need the Braille keyboard and this is really the only efficient way to communicate, and this technique should be available, and so we need to create this means of communication so that there will be more messages sent and we would get more information. This is my suggestion.
Eileen: Thank you. Any clarifying questions from the commissioners? Then we’ll move over to Andre.
Andre Thibeault: For customer service, I told you that I already tried a proposed Braille keyboard, but unfortunately this was refused. So, for VRS services, I was refused when I asked this question to that contact person, and this is important for sign language interpreting. I'm expressing myself with LSQ, but it is very important for me that it is also possible to interpret LSQ into English. There are quite a few issues for people who are blind and then you have blind people who are also deaf. The problems are different, and it is important that our suggestions and our comments are taken serious, especially for all the categories of people because some people are blind and have different problems other than the people who are deaf and not blind. I try so often to contact service, the customer service department but they refuse this tactile Braille keyboard to me.
Josiane Marcoux: If I can add something, with the calls often I am blocked. I am waiting for a return call, but it takes a very long time. This is not a good thing. I am not autonomous. I cannot place my calls when I need to place them. I have to wait until somebody calls me back and it is stress for me. I always need a facilitator, and I really I would like to be autonomous. I am a full-time employee, and I depend on a tactile interpreter or the replacement of this interpreter or I need to get messages, and I don't have that much time often to wait. Then there is not always the service available with CAV Canada. Often I have a tactile interpreter, and then I have somebody else who sends messages by e-mail, and then I look at the e-mail, the e-mail needs to be responded, so I like actually better to be contacted by e-mail because with virtual relay service, with Braille keyboard, and then you have the extra staff with the interpreter so it would be good to have the written option, and it is important to have a simultaneous communication that way. For us that's important. Thank you.
Eileen: Questions from the commissioners? Yes, go ahead, Joanne.
Joanne: Thank you. I’d like to get a better picture of how, what your needs are for communication. Josiane has mentioned that she is a full-time employee, and I wonder, Andre, what your situation is. You know, do you have a family? Do you have a need to use communication for work, education, contact with friends and family. I'm just trying to get a picture of how you use the services.
Josiane Marcoux: May I respond? I would like to add that I am using adaptive transportation means because I am also a full-time employee. This is sometimes a problem, you know, I need to call and there's a problem. There is nobody with a Braille keyboard who can help me out. I feel very alone. Very often the departments are closed. I need to wait. I need to have an adaptation. I think that really these services need to be adapted because then it would be less stressful for me for the adapted transportation means, which I am using everyday. There should be a better way of communicating. It needs to be adapted.
Eileen: Thank you. Josiane. Andre, I believe Joanne was interested in what your uses are of the VRS in terms of your situation, work, family, other kinds of communication, education.
Joanne: I think Andre has given me a very good picture of just how critical some of the communication needs are because one can imagine situations where you could get caught with not having a ride home or something like that. It’s very disturbing. So, Josiane, in your situation, what is the intensity, if you like, of your needs of communication for work, home, education, et cetera
Josiane Marcoux: Yes, I’ve understood the question. In my daily life, I have needs just like everyone else. When I go to work I have professional needs, and I may need to call on services. I have health needs. I often use e-mail to handle these problems and to get my needs met, and I would prefer to use, to communicate in my first language, and I think it would be more enriching, but in terms of accessing transport with accommodations I have to call someone to get picked up, and it creates a lot of frustration. I wind up waiting here and there, and people often don't understand what I'm trying to communicate, and sometimes I don't even know why I'm waiting, why I'm waiting. Other people might know, or they might have some means of knowing but they have no means of communicating that to me, so people wind up just saying the same thing to me over and over, and when I need support in doing something, I need that support. When I have to go to the doctor, I have to wait for someone to help me call the doctor to make the appointment. I have to wait for someone to help me communicate all of this information, and that just creates delay after delay, and it feels like it’s impossible, and there are a lot of other people like me who need these therapies. Or, for example, say that there is someone who finds themself in a situation and they have someone, okay, I would like to communicate something to someone. I have something important to say to this person. I, you know, I would like to be able to express myself freely and clearly with my doctor to talk about my health, but this is a daily issue for me. Every day I face obstacles, blocks, and there are solutions that are possible, but I really feel like I'm behind the people around me. Thank you.
Eileen: Joanne, did that answer your questions?
Joanne: Yes.
Eileen: Yes, okay, thank you.
The other area we wanted to explore is experience using VRS to contact 911. So, if you or you have feedback from people who have used VRS to contact 911, what was the experience like and how can we improve it? Andre?
Andre Thibeault: Yes, I just want to let you know that I don't have personal experience with this, but when I spoke with my members, they didn't have this experience, either, of calling 911, so I can’t respond directly to your question. Neither I nor any of our members have an experience calling 911 using this service, so I think that it wouldn't be possible for my members or for people like us to use the service to call 911. Thank you.
Eileen: Josiane?
Josiane Marcoux: The same for me. I don't have personal experience with it, but there is no possibility to do it using a Braille keyboard, so I don't think it would be possible, so same for me.
Eileen: Are there any other areas or anything else you’d like to discuss about the VRS user experience that would you like the CRTC to take into consideration?
Andre?
Andre Thibeault: Yes. As you know, in our discussion today, we’re talking about VRS, but we are also here today to share with you about our lives. There are many different systems. There’s SRT, and it’s a system you can use where you write what you want to say and then there’s an agent that reads it our loud and they do the call on your behalf, so that’s called SRT, and then that was the old system and it worked well, but what didn't work about it was that the service provider stopped offering the service, and so now we have VRS, which is the new system, but they haven't added the text feature, and in 2019, I could still see a little bit but since then, I can't see anymore, even that little bit, and with SRT, or sorry, with the MRS, I was able to do it, but I can't see well enough to do it anymore, and then there’s SIP, which is also a kind of communication with an active keyboard, and with that system I call you and it writes out for me what you say and then I type back my answer, so it’s a, but you use the computer to do it, so it’s not VRS. It’s a texting service over the computer, and so you write, you write, you write, but when you get to the bottom of the page, it jumps back up to the top. The system doesn't work very well. You have to hit the letter three times to get an upper case and so the text entry wasn't very easy, and then while the person is responding to you, the text is coming up at the top and you have to hit the space bar so that the text rolls down on the screen so that you could see everything that’s being written back and forth, so I wound up stopping using the system because I couldn’t make it work anymore. It was too much to type and then to wait for the answer and the answer wasn't coming through. Then, thirdly, finally, we got VRS. This is the third system. Based on the law and the protocols from 2014, we are not able to use the VRS service as deaf and blind people, and VRS today, my normal everyday life I don't have any access to communication. I don't have access to VRS or to other systems that don't work for me anymore, and so I'm always dependent on the people around me. Can you call this person for me? Can you call that person for me? It really reduces my independence, and I’m able to do things for myself. I can do it. I can do it, but because these three different technological systems that I’ve used over the course of my life don’t work for me or aren’t accessible for me it makes me less independent. So, just imagine that I was alone at home and I fall down and I injure myself. How, what would I do to call 911? I have no way to do it. I have no means for communication. If I fall down in my kitchen, how would people know that I need help? So, I think that you, the representatives of the CRTC, please, listen to what we have to say to you, and please make the systems more accessible for deaf people, for deaf and blind people. We have the right, I have the right, to be independent. I am capable of making phone calls. I am capable of either if I have someone doing tactile sign language next to me or using a Braille keyboard or having some kind of accommodation. I just want to be able to communicate by myself if something happens to me at home, and at the moment that’s not possible. I just want to know, will it stay that way for a long time? For forever? I just hope that you think about this and that you wake up to this issue, and it’s not just a problem for me. All across Canada, people have this need. Not just Andre Thibeault. Everyone who lives in Canada should have access and equal equitable access to communication. People who are deaf and blind don't have it for the moment, but in the policy, in Canadian policy, it says that we should expand access to everyone, to deaf people, to deaf-blind people, but it works for deaf people but not for deaf-blind people. There are some companies that offer such services. The company is called Text in Realtime. It’s an English language service, and that already exists, and it works, but I would just ask you to think about the future. Thank you so much for listening to my concerns. Now we’re going to change interpreters.
Eileen: Thank four sharing that, Andre. Josiane, do you have any final things to add?
Josiane Marcoux: Yes. I do have a comment I would like to make. As I was saying earlier, there are different categories. There are people who are hard of hearing, deaf people, deaf-blind people, and they all have their own specific needs. For deaf-blind people, we have other issues compared to deaf people, so our needs need to be understood. We need to understand the different needs of all of these groups. These needs need to be reflected in the accommodations that are made for the different categories of people. We all have our needs, so we, the people, the deaf-blind people, we have specific needs that need to be met, and we have to focus on this equity, and because we are living with these frustrations day-to-day, it’s a big problem for us. Our needs in terms of these services are not being met, and it would help the entire community, and we deaf-blind people, we need special accommodations so that we can have equal access to communication.
Eileen: Thank you, Josiane. To the commissioners, any final comments or questions? I'm seeing all of the heads saying no more questions and very much showing appreciation for all of the contributions that Andre and Josiane have made here today with great gratitude for sharing so passionately, and it’s wonderful to have this opportunity to get this kind of feedback.
So, moving on to next steps then. Again, thank you, Josiane and Andre, for sharing everything you shared today. The CRTC will be adding videos to the CRTC's YouTube channel after this video is captioned, and Andre, I see you have a question.
Andre Thibeault: Yes. I just wanted to know, what should we do next? What comes after this meeting? What comes next?
Eileen: Exactly. That's what I'm about to explain. So, this video, which has been recorded, in English, in French, ASL, LSQ, as well as transcriptions are being done in English and in French, all of this will be pulled together and we’ll be putting this on the CRTC's YouTube channel, and a new phase will be introduced into the VRS review so that you as interveners can comment on the videos, allowing you the opportunity to comment on the content of the videos, so clarifications to the interpretation of what you had communicated here today. So, you will be notified once these videos are complete and available.
So, that concludes today's session. Thank you so much for your time, your contributions, your patience with all of the technical challenges, and we appreciate you. Thank you.
I believe Patrick will stop the recording.
This video is the recording of a virtual discussion session that took place on January 24, 2023 between three CRTC Commissioners, and participants Josiane Marcoux and André Thibeault.
The purpose of the virtual discussion sessions was to ensure VRS users have a fulsome opportunity to communicate their experience with using the service with CRTC Commissioners. The discussions focused on the lived experiences of people who use VRS with the objective of understanding their needs, how the service is and is not meeting those needs, and how it can be improved.
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