ADA25: #15 of 25 -- VRS: Banks

NAD     July 15, 2015 in ASL 19 Subscribers Subscribe


717 Views
1 Stars
0 E-mailed
697 Visits
0 Comments
0 Bookmarks

[Video description can be found below. If you use a screen reader and need to access the caption file transcript, go to "More..." and click on "Transcript"]

Everyone has a bank account right? NAD Attorney Anna Bitencourt shares how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers Video Relay Services (VRS) when calling a bank. View the entire #ADA25 series at Link .

Video begins with an off white vintage background. Three black and white photos appear. First photo shows a group of people marching, one holds a NAD poster. Second photo shows another group of people marching, one holds a poster "We Shall Overcome." Third photo shows President Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act. Text appears "ADA25 -- Americans with Disabilities Act". Video flashes to white then to Anna Bitencourt inside NAD Headquarters. On bottom left corner, "#ADA25" appears as a light watermark. On bottom right corner, the NAD logo appears, also as a light watermark.

ANNA: We all love VRS relay, right? You can call anytime, anywhere, and use ASL. But what if the person you are calling refuses to accept your VRS call? We've noticed that while most businesses accept VRS calls, many banks refuse! That is against the law and the NAD has taken action. For example, a few years ago, we noticed many deaf and hard of hearing people were having problems with Wells Fargo refusing to accept VRS. We gathered their stories and filed a complaint with the DOJ. The DOJ responded right away and spent many years investigating Wells Fargo and found three main problems: Wells Fargo banks rejected VRS calls from deaf and hard of hearing customers. Bank ATMS did not have Braille and were not accessible to blind individuals. Many Wells Fargo offices did not have access ramps for people in wheelchairs. That's not right! Finally, the DOJ and Wells Fargo reached a settlement. Wells Fargo agreed to accept VRS calls. The good news is that we got Wells Fargo's attention! If you call a bank and they won't accept your call because it's VRS, please contact us. We can't sue every time, but do let us know about it!

Video fades to a gradient background with dark blue to light blue, a grey National Association of the Deaf (NAD) logo is centered. White text below the logo appears, "A production of the National Association of the Deaf (copyright) 2015 All Rights Reserved" with four teal social media icons, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

...Read More