Accommodations for Hearing and Vision Impaired

The Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission (SNHPC) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) provides accommodations to serve persons with disabilities in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and related federal and state laws and regulations which forbid discrimination against those who have disabilities. As a recipient of federal aid, the SNHPC MPO takes steps to affirm and reasonably accommodate disabled individuals as necessary to ensure full access to the SNHPC’s programs and services.

The SNHPC MPO provides reasonable accommodations to disabled and or impaired individuals who wish to participate in meetings, public engagement activities, or other programs or services of the MPO. Providing access is not limited to physical disabilities and includes accommodations for the hearing and vision impaired. The MPO directs hearing and vision impaired individuals to Relay New Hampshire. Relay New Hampshire offers direct assistance to impaired individuals for their communication with anyone over the phone or the internet. The instructions for most types of accommodation are simple, dial 711 on a phone.

The most common types of accommodations provided by Relay New Hampshire are as follows:

  • Text Telephone/Teletypewriter (TTY) – Allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing or who have a speech disability to communicate with anyone by phone. The Relay agent reads aloud the message typed to the other party and types the other party’s voiced message.
  • Voice Carry Over (VCO) – Allows people who are deaf or hard of hearing to talk and read captions during phone calls. A Relay agent serves as the “ears” and types all the words that are spoken on to an impaired person’s VCO phone or text telephone/teletypewriter (TTY).
  • Hearing Carry Over (HCO) – Allows persons with speech disabilities to listen and type on your phone calls. Impaired individuals type text on a TTY device or VCO/HCO phone and the relay agent reads the words aloud to the other party.
  • TeleBraille – Allows persons who are deaf, blind, or deaf with low vision to use a TeleBraille device or TTY with a large visual display to make relay calls. This service allows the impaired individual to read the phone conversation in braille or in a large font size at a desired transmission speed. The relay agent reads aloud the message typed from the impaired individual to the other party, and then types what the other party says to the impaired individual.
  • Speech to Speech (STS) – Allows people with a speech disability or those who use an assistive voice device to call anyone on the phone. A relay agent ensures that the impaired person will be heard and understood and there is no need for special equipment.

Full instructions for accommodation are available in the linked text at the beginning of each of the descriptions above. The instructions webpage for each accommodation includes an informative video which demonstrates how the relay service works for all parties involved. If you have a request that cannot be accommodated by Relay New Hampshire, please contact the SNHPC MPO's Title VI/ADA Coordinator at 603-669-4664, or by e-mail at lmoore@snhpc.org with your request.

The SNHPC MPO encourages the public to report any facility, program, or activity which is administered by SNHPC that appears inaccessible. If you feel that you have been denied access or discriminated against by the SNHPC MPO’s programs, services, or activities, you may file a complaint. The ADA Complaint Procedures detail the process for submitting your complaint. A written complaint using the ADA Complaint Form may be filed with the MPO's Title VI/ADA Coordinator in person, by mail, or by e-mail to lmoore@snhpc.org within one hundred eighty (180) days following the date of the alleged discriminatory action or denial of access.