Sprint Teams with United Cerebral Palsy on Communications-Accessibility-for-All Initiative

Sprint Teams with United Cerebral Palsy on Communications-Accessibility-for-All Initiative

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sprint, a leader in communications accessibility for all, announced today plans to collaborate with United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) to raise awareness for Sprint's speech-to-speech (STS) services and increase their usage among individuals with Cerebral Palsy.

Sprint and UCP will jointly promote products and services of Sprint Relay while furthering UCP's efforts to advance the accessibility for people with a wide spectrum of disabilities. Sprint offers a portfolio of unique devices and services enabling people with hearing and speech disabilities to communicate with others, increasing their ability to live independently.

Sprint Relay and UCP share a common vision: "technology can be harnessed to open up the world to individuals with disabilities," said Stephen Bennett, President & CEO of United Cerebral Palsy. "UCP is excited to be teaming with Sprint Relay to help raise awareness of the services they provide that can really make an incredible difference in the day-to-day lives of so many people."

Sprint Traditional Relay Services allows relay users who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, or speech-disabled to use a Text Telephone (TTY) to type their conversation to a Relay Operator. The Relay Operator then reads the message to a hearing person and types back the response. Sprint also offers STS that allows persons with a speech disability to make telephone calls using their own voice (or an assistive voice device). STS Operators are specially trained in understanding a variety of speech disorders, which enables them to repeat what the caller says in a manner that makes the caller's words clear and understandable to the other party. No special equipment is required. For more information about STS, go to www.sprintsts.com

Sprint Relay will work with UCP National and State Chapters in the 30 states where Sprint provides relay service, the federal government relay service and relay service in New Zealand to promote the STS through different channels.

"Sprint has always been committed to making communication possible for all of our customers, including those with speech disabilities. Sprint Relay delivers on this promise through our new collaboration with United Cerebral Palsy that is a recognized advocate serving 170,000 clients and families every day. We look forward to working together to raise awareness about Speech-to-Speech Services available," said Mike Ellis, Sprint Relay Director.

Sprint has long been a leader in accessibility for all and has been the nation's premier provider of Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) for the past 22 years. Currently, Sprint is the TRS provider in 30 states and the TRS provider for the federal government, as well as New Zealand.

Sprint was recently recognized as the only winnerin the 2013 Disability Matters Marketplace category, which recognizes excellence in marketing products and services that meet the needs of the disability community. This recognition stems from the company's innovative accessibility-themed Sprint ID packs, which were developed in collaboration with Apps4Android and the U.S. Department of Education.

For more information about Sprint's commitment to people with disabilities, visit the Accessibility for All page on sprint.com.

About Sprint Relay

Sprint is the largest and most technologically advanced TRS provider in the nation with more than 20 years of experience providing relay services to persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, or have a speech disability to communicate with hearing persons on the phone. Sprint's experience in this field ensures Sprint Relay users receive quality service regardless of the type of relay service they are using. Sprint's relay service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with no restrictions on the number of calls placed or the length of calls. For more information, visit www.sprintrelay.com.

About United Cerebral Palsy

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) educates, advocates and provides support services through an affiliate network to ensure a life without limits for people with a spectrum of disabilities. Together with nearly 100 affiliates, UCP has a mission to advance the independence, productivity and full citizenship of people with disabilities by supporting more than 176,000 children and adults every day. One person at a time, one family at a time, UCP works to enact real change—to revolutionize care, raise standards of living and create opportunities—impacting the lives of millions living with disabilities. For more than 60 years, UCP has worked to ensure the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in every facet of society. Together, with parents and caregivers, UCP will continue to push for the social, legal and technological changes that increase accessibility and independence, allowing people with disabilities to dream their own dreams for the next 60 years and beyond. For more information, please visit www.ucp.org.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 55 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2013 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, during the last five years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

Sprint
Mark Bonavia, 913-269-0436
mark.bonavia@sprint.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America Kansas

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