For Jim Dugas and other deaf students at Bristol Community College, checking in with a professor or calling a friend while on campus can now be done through video phones, which use a webcam to connect to a translator and the person they are calling.
BCC, which has one of the few deaf studies programs around, has four video phones available for anyone — student or not — to use for free. The college celebrated the installation of a phone in the Commonwealth Campus Center on Tuesday as part of Deaf Awareness Week.
“Accessibility is absolutely essential for the success” here, BCC President Jack Sbrega said.
Dugas, a digital photography major from New Bedford, demonstrated how the video phone works by sitting in front of the monitor and connecting with the translating center. Through sign language, Dugas gave the name and number of who he wanted to reach, and watched the monitor to [...]

Original post by Grant Welker