Expo help in sign language a swipe away

• Source: Global Times
• [09:40 June 09 2010]
• Comments

By Cecily Ni

An electronic card system that allows users of sign language to access remote video assistance at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai has been little-used due to limited promotion, an official with the Expo Coordination Bureau said Tuesday.

The electronic cards can be swiped at more than 70 information screens spread across the Expo Park. The user will then be linked via video to an assistant, who can communicate in sign language.

"We have eight such professionals providing information for visitors with hearing and speech difficulties throughout the park's operating hours, but few people know about the service," said Zhou Wenjie, deputy director of the visitor service department of the Expo Coordination Bureau.

The cards are available free of charge from three China Telecom offices in the Expo Park, two of which are on the Pudong side and one in Puxi.

Ying Yanmin, a member of staff at one of the offices along the Expo Axis, said they had given out no more than 30 of the cards since the Expo opened on May 1.

"Most of the people we give cards to learned about the service through the Shanghai Disabled Persons' Federation. Almost all users are local Shanghai people," Ying told the Global Times Tuesday.

Expo organizers said they hope wider coverage of the service could help people with hearing or speech difficulties have a better Expo experience.