BarZ Adventures and CSD Partner to Bring Deaf and Hard of Hearing Friendly Tours

to Venues across the Country 

The agreement creates a sales and marketing partnership to take the Ranger series

of multimedia tour guide devices to venues to encourage ADA compliance

Release date: 6/20/2008

Austin, Texas and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (June 20, 2008) – Following their successful partnering to create an ASL walking tour of downtown Austin, the first GPS tour to be made available in sign language, BarZ Adventures Inc (BarZ) and CSD have entered into an agreement to work together long-term.  The partnership creates a dedicated sales and marketing team to bring deaf and hard of hearing friendly GPS Ranger™ and Zoo Ranger™ video tours to venues across the United States. 

The GPS Ranger and Zoo Ranger are patent-pending, handheld computer devices that deliver on-site interpretation, including compelling video, audio, animation and historical photography based on the location of the user through the power of GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. Utilizing the full-color video capabilities of the systems, tours can be delivered in sign language and captioning to meet the needs of deaf or hard of hearing visitors.  BarZ provides the hardware, software and content development skills, as needed, while CSD uses their expertise in the sales and marketing efforts to address the deaf market and provides interpreters for video tour production. 

“When we were first approached by Bar Z Adventures to supply sign language content for the Austin walking tour, we immediately understood the implications and opportunities this cutting-edge device could offer our deaf and hard of hearing consumers,” said Ben Soukup, CSD chief executive officer. “We are excited to partner with such an innovative organization that clearly understands the need to provide equal access for all people — regardless of their ability to hear — and look forward to developing future sign language tours for venues across America.”    

There has been a hotbed of activity recently regarding interpretation and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The ADA is a landmark civil rights law passed with strong bi-partisan support that creates accessibility requirements and standards for public and private businesses.  The act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, programs and services which has come to be interpreted to include tours, educational and interpretive content available at venues such as theme parks, zoos, and museums. 

“We are thrilled to sign an agreement with CSD, one of the oldest and largest communication access and service providers, to bring Deaf and Hard of Hearing Friendly Tours to venues across the U.S.  BarZ strongly believes that interpretive content and access to tourist venues and attractions, college campuses and city walking tours should be available to all, regardless of disability.  This partnership brings us one step closer to achieving that,” stated Wm. Lee Little, Founder and CEO of BarZ Adventures. 

The Ranger series of multimedia tour guide devices allows venues to meet ADA compliance and offer interpretive content for the deaf or hard of hearing on-demand and as needed, as opposed to venues hiring live sign interpreters, which may or may not be available on short notice.  

ABOUT BARZ ADVENTURES INC
BarZ Adventures Inc, founded in 2005, is an Austin, TX based company combining experts in the fields of computer delivery systems and content development. BarZ Adventures has designed the patent-pending GPS Ranger™ and Zoo Ranger™ systems with large venues and their visitors in mind – its sole mission is to enhance the visitor experience at high visitation tourist locations using modern technology. GPS Ranger tours are currently available at Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Vicksburg National Military Park, Death Valley National Park and Shenandoah National Park, while Zoo Ranger tours are available at the San Francisco Zoo, Dallas Zoo, and Oklahoma City Zoo.  Historic city walking tours are available in Key West, Florida and Austin, Texas, which is also the first tour to be made available in American Sign Language (ASL).  Additional tours are coming soon to Santa Barbara Zoo, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, St. Augustine, Florida and Bermuda.  For more information, log on to www.barzadventures.com, www.gpsranger.com or call (512) 732-0135. 

ABOUT CSD
CSD (aka Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc.) was established in 1975, primarily to provide sign language interpreting services to deaf and hard of hearing adults in South Dakota. Today, CSD employs over 2,000 individuals in offices across the nation, providing a broad continuum of social and human services programs, as well as telecommunications relay services. CSD is a private nonprofit agency dedicated to providing quality services; ensuring public accessibility; and increasing awareness of issues affecting the deaf, hard of hearing and individuals with speech disabilities. For more information, please visit www.c-s-d.org.