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Fort Wayne airport adds video phone for deaf travelers

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) – A new video phone that allows the deaf to communicate with other deaf people over a video link has been installed at the Fort Wayne International Airport.

The Journal Gazette reports that the phone’s video relay service allows deaf users to communicate by signing directly to another deaf person.

It can also connect deaf callers to American Sign Language-trained translators who translate their signed words into spoken English and relay it to a hearing person on the line.

Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority spokeswoman Jessica Miller says the technology is a welcome addition to the airport.

The video phone’s many uses include allowing deaf travelers to warn family and friends when their flights have been delayed.