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Cellular Options for the Deaf and Profoundly Hearing Impaired
By Christina Mulberry
Despite what many in the hearing community may think, cell phones can be a very useful means of communication for the deaf. Of course for this segment of the population, features other than voice calling are more typically used. When it comes to cellular communication, text messaging and VCO attachments are the most viable options for the deaf community at this time. On the horizon however, will be a third option, and that is the use of two-way real-time video which will allow sign language with a cellular connection. - Text Messaging Text messaging obviously allows users to send and receive text messages almost instaneously. In fact, for many people under the age of 30 within the general population, the use of text messaging is preferrable to voice calls anyway. Text messaging provides all of the same advantages to both the hearing and deaf community. Luckily, many carriers do provide data only plans that allow such users to pay only for data usage versus the voice plan that they may be unable to make use of for calling. - VCO Phones A cell phone with a VCO (voice carry over) attachment allows a call to be routed through a VCO service. The caller speaks into their handset normally and when the receiver of the call responds, the service types the response for the caller to see. For many people, this is quicker and more natural than typing a text message on a cell phone key pad. Clearly, the deaf person would also need to feel comfortable speaking. -- Two-way Real-time Video In some countries data speeds are higher than in the US and the capability of using a cellular connection for sign language between a caller and receiver is already possible. However, in the US data speeds are slower and to date, such service has not been available. It's anticipated that the absence of this service will change within the next year or two. New software has been developed by a team out of the University of Washington which will allow this two-way real-time video. The product, called MobileASL, is currently being pilot tested and promoted with cell phone manufacturers. It's possible that by 2010, sign language capable cell phones will be on the market. Certainly, the ability to use sign language over a cellular connection will go a long way in improving communication for the deaf population. In the meantime, text messaging with data only plans and VCO phones remain the best options. To read more about developments with MobileASL see the link below.
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Science Daily
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This intel was contributed by mulberry
mulberry
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May, 2012
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