About:

• Columbus Hearing Impaired Program

Schools:

• A.G. Bell School

• Alpine Elementary

• Huy Elementary at Gladstone

• Dominion Middle School

• Northland High School

Student Pictures:

• PreSchool I

• PreSchool II

• Kindergarten

IDEAL Group Technology:

• History of Video Relay Services

• IDEAL Group History

• Online Conferencing

Infrastructure:

• Advanced Technology

• Ohio IT Accessibility Policy

• North America Network Traffic Monitor

News:

• Ohio Department of Education Special Education News

From 1990-1994 Steve Jacobs, President of IDEAL Group Inc., served as Chairman of AT&T Project Freedom.  It was during this time that Steve's engineering group pioneered the development and use of interactive video technology for sign-language communications over telephones.  This technology is, of course, now referred to Video Relay Services (VRS). 

What follows is a link to a video of Project Freedom's first pilot test.  This video captures a gathering of students from Horace Mann Montesory School for the Deaf using ASL to communicate with each other over telephones, for the first time in history. This video also contains video footage of Alexander Graham Bell!

*** First ASL Communication Over Telephones ***

• Although a competitor, Sprint used Project Freedom's Vistium Video System for their first VRS pilot test in Texas.  Here is a 1995 flyer announcing the pilot test:
  http://www.ideal-group.org/initiatives/sprint.jpg

• Here is a GA-SK Newsletter article about Sprint's pilot test:
  http://www.ideal-group.org/initiatives/ga-sk.jpg

• Here is a photo of Reid Huntt (Chairman of the FCC at that time) and Steve Jacobs, Chairman, AT&T Project Freedom demonstrating their video system to FCC Commissioners.
  http://www.ideal-group.org/initiatives/Reid_Huntt.jpg