It’s a classic New York experience. You’re riding the subway to work, and suddenly the train stops. The lights go off, and you seem to be trapped between stations in a tunnel. For many New Yorkers, hardened over years of bad weather, prevalent trash and cohabitation with rats, this is just another recurring event that’s made less nerve-wracking by experience. But for Jarrod Musano, being stuck on a southbound 6 train that had lost power, there was little relief. Musano was born deaf, and the audio-only announcements were of no help. Musano couldn’t see anything in the darkness, and had to rely on gauging the amount of panic in his surroundings.
“I knew if it were serious, people would be moving quickly,” he recalled of the incident. Musano’s experience reflects one of many ways people who have disabilities and, more specifically, who are hard of hearing, have difficulty when using public transportation. Musano is the CEO of Convo, a company that was founded in 2009 and connects people with sign language interpreters on demand. Today, the company is announcing a partnership with the New York Transit Authority, New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that brings its service to area airports, trains and other major transit hubs. This includes the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) subway system, the Long Island Rail Road and NJTransit.
Through this partnership, QR codes will be placed at various locations across those systems, and scanning them will launch Convo’s web app through a browser. The user will be asked to grant access to their microphone and camera, and they’ll then be connected to a real-time sign language interpreter on their devices. This, of course, requires that people have mobile phones or tablets with working internet connections, which might not always be reliable. It’s worth noting, though, that the MTA has been adding Wi-Fi coverage to subway stations across its network. Plus, many of these QR codes are placed at customer service booths, which have gadgets on hand that could provide access.
Convo and its partners had been conducting pilot tests at Penn Station, Times Square and the Port Authority terminal for months, and said in a press release that in general, users reported “feelings of empowerment, inclusion and newfound confidence in interacting with transit staff.” The company added that 44 out of 47 users were able to successfully access the service during the pilot.
There are a number of reasons using a sign language interpreter would be more effective and efficient than, say, typing messages on your phone and handing them to another person to read. First, for many deaf individuals, sign language is their native language, and it would be more intuitive to express themselves that way than to type in English. Sign language also has different syntax than English. A sign language interpreter can also help translate as a deaf person is signing and also while a person with hearing is speaking, which can reduce frustration and time spent handing a phone back and forth. It can feel comforting and reassuring to have an interpreter available that understands what you’re communicating, and since they are likely to be fairly familiar with the situation, the interpreter could also help share information they already know from context and experience.
I went to look for these QR codes when I was at Moynihan Train Hall (an extension of Penn Station) this weekend, and once I spotted the first one at a ticketing counter at the LIRR service area, I started noticing them all over. I counted five of the little green squares in total, and after scanning one, I was brought to Convo’s page on my browser, which displayed an explanation and tips for better service. I didn’t want to waste an interpreter’s time, so I stopped after that.
I do have to point out that as a T-Mobile user, I frequently lose my signal in Moynihan Train Hall and have to use the station’s public Wi-Fi, which in my experience has unreliable speeds.
That’s one of the challenges Convo will have to contend with and work on as the service reaches more people. “As we deploy this out to the MTA, we’re going to learn the types of behaviors, the types of requests, the types of challenges that we’re going to face,” Musano said when I asked if languages other than American Sign Language would be supported. For now, ASL is the default, though Convo wouldn’t have to stretch too hard to find interpreters for British Sign Language and others. In fact, Convo already works with major networks in countries like Australia and the UK, with Musano saying it has partnerships with British Airlines, Aer Lingus, the British railway and more.
Convo’s service in the New York and New Jersey transit systems is free, and its app Convo Now provides 20 free minutes per month to all users who need sign language interpreters.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/new-york-metro-transit-systems-add-on-demand-sign-language-interpreters-152034505.html?src=rss
