Sorenson Sets New "Hall of Shame" Record
Sorenson Communications has managed to set a new record for appearances
in our "Hall of Shame" with a recent third nomination! Actually, they were
also the previous record holder, with two appearances, so now they've
really established their credentials as the most shameful organization in
the hearing loss community, at least according to our reckoning.
They first appeared in our Hall of
Shame in 2005 when they claimed that their video relay service (VRS)
provides access to hard of hearing folks. (VRS does provide wonderful
access to Deaf folks who sign, but, as we all know, only a fraction of one
percent of folks who are considered hard of hearing sign, so VRS does not
benefit them. We emailed them
to explain that these false claims actually hurt hard of hearing folks by
denying them access to appropriate services and asked them to stop making
these claims. Sorenson chose to not reply to our contact.
Later that same year, Sorenson earned
a second appearance in our Hall of Shame for their ongoing claims that
VRS serves hard of hearing people. We
again contacted them, explained the situation, and asked them to stop
making these false claims. This time they replied with a nice letter
saying they would review their marketing material and remove the offending
phrases.
And it appears that they did - for awhile. But then we started seeing
the same tired old misrepresentations again. We didn't respond for a long
time, but then they ramped up their rhetoric. No longer content to claim
only that VRS provides access to hard of hearing people, they are now
claiming that American Sign Language (ASL) is the NATIVE LANGUAGE of
hard of hearing people! . . . . No, really! . . . . I'm not making
this up! . . . Here's their press release!
Now the really interesting thing is that Sorenson does actually have a
relay service that is appropriate for hard of hearing folks. Their IP
Relay service allows hard of hearing people to use text-based
communication, and that service has a voice carry over option that allows
folks to voice for themselves. Never heard of it, you say? They don't seem
to advertise their IP Relay service nearly as much as they do their VRS
service. Which is puzzling, because everyone on the planet already knows
about VRS, but very few potential IP Relay users know about that service.
That may be due to the fact that Sorenson doesn't make nearly as much
money on an IP Relay call as they do on a VRS call.
It almost seems that they don't care if people use their IP Relay
service or not. Is it possible that they don't actually want people to use
it?
Here's an article I wrote awhile ago that considers this issue. It's not
specific to Sorenson, but raises some interesting issues that apply to
relay providers in general. For example, it looks to me like the actual
cost of VRS services could be several thousand dollars per year per user!
But I digress! Can you tell how much this issue chaps my hide?
If you're as disgusted by Sorenson's claim that ASL is the native language
of hard of hearing people as I am, please
contact me. I think it's
past time that we mount an organized effort to expose Sorenson's
deceptions.
