Katie Leclerc and Purple Communications(TM) Debut American Sign Language (ASL) Only Commercial During First ASL Episode of Switched at Birth

Katie Leclerc and Purple Communications(TM) Debut American Sign Language (ASL) Only Commercial During First ASL Episode of Switched at Birth

- Purple Communications and Leclerc to air commercial entirely in ASL.

- The spot will debut during an episode of the ABC Family drama Switched at Birth that is being broadcast entirely in American Sign Language (ASL), a first for a scripted series on mainstream television. It premieres Monday, March 4 at 8:00 PM ET/PT.



ROCKLIN, Calif., March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Katie Leclerc is the new face - and more importantly - the ASL-fluent 'hands' for Purple Communications, a leading provider of video relay service (VRS) and interpreting services for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Leclerc will make her Purple debut in a TV commercial aired entirely in ASL.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130304/SF70279)

"We're delighted to be working with Katie as Purple enters the next generation in delivering communications services to people who are deaf, as well as those who interact with them on the telephone," said Purple Communications CEO and President John Ferron. "We thought the innovation of an all-ASL episode of Switched at Birth - never done before on TV - was the perfect venue to announce our partnership with Katie and reflects the innovative spirit of Purple's new revolutionary products and services in 2013."

Leclerc says, "I am excited to work with Purple and provide a bridge between the hearing and non-hearing worlds. Communications access for all is a philosophy I share with Purple and dramatize on screen through my work on Switched at Birth."

Leclerc learned to sign when she was 17. Together with her sister -- an ASL teacher -- and her father, Leclerc suffers from a genetic inner ear disorder called Meniere's disease, which can cause sporadic hearing loss.

"Being able to communicate is a right that I believe everyone should enjoy, which is why I am excited to educate both hearing and deaf communities about Purple's products and services. Purple brings the two communities together using technology as an equalizer. I look forward to working together with them to ensure that equal communications access is readily available for the more than 36 million deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans, as well as their families, friends and colleagues."



About Purple Communications
Purple Communications provides a high-quality video relay service (VRS) available from multiple platforms - desktop, laptop and smartphone. VRS allows individuals who use sign language to communicate via video conference and a video interpreter (VI). The VI voices/relays the signed conversation in real-time to both deaf and hearing individuals.



Purple's portfolio of solutions spans across telephone captioning services, text relay services, on-site interpreting services and video relay interpreting (VRI) delivering a wide array of options to meet the varied communication needs of businesses and customers, collectively make communicating with both the deaf world and the hearing world accessible to all. For more information, visit www.purple.us.

About Katie Leclerc
Leclerc can currently be seen in the role of Daphne Vasquez on ABC Family's Switched at Birth, which premiered in summer 2011 and will be moving into its third season in 2013. You can read her full biography at http://www.katieleclerc.com/.

About Switched at Birth
Switched at Birth tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother. Meanwhile, Daphne Vasquez, who contracted meningitis and became deaf at an early age, grew up with a single mother in a working-class neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when the families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls.

Official ABC Family Switched at Birth website: www.abcfamily.com/switchedatbirth.



About Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS)
Created by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Telecommunication Relay Service (TRS) is a telephone service that allows persons with hearing or speech disabilities to place and receive telephone calls. There are a variety of types of relay service including video (VRS), text and captioning services. TRS is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories for local and/or long distance calls at no additional cost to the consumer. The Telecommunications Relay Services program is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and providers of such services are compensated for the costs of providing TRS from either a state or a federal fund. For more information related to TRS, visit www.fcc.gov/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.





SOURCE Purple Communications

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130304/SF70279
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Purple Communications

CONTACT: Julie Warren, +1-916-663-6858, julie.warren@purple.us

Web Site: http://www.purple.us


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