Text Phones for the Deaf

There are approximately 70 million deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people worldwide.

A telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) is an electronic device for text communication via a telephone line, used when one or more of the parties has hearing or speech difficulties. The typical TDD is a device about the size of a small laptop computer with a QWERTY keyboard and small screen that uses LEDs or an LCD screen to display typed text electronically. A new development called the captioned telephone, now utilizes voice recognition. Newer text based communication methods, such as short message service (SMS), Internet relay chat (IRC), and instant messaging have also been adopted by the deaf as an alternative or adjunct to TDD.

Unfortunately using a home phone or cell phone that enabled the hearing impaired to communicate was not an option until recently.

There are also corded phones, or home phones, that offer text messaging, some of them may also contain other features that can be profitable by the hearing impaired or completely deaf. Such as:

Sending and Recieving SMS text messages - If ever you have trouble hearing someone during a telephone conversation you can switch to SMS messaging. This will allow you to send instant messages via the phone line by typing small lines of text. There is also Textphone which allows you to have a complete discussion via your phone line through text.

2-Way Record - If ever you have missed out on some parts of your conversation some answering machines are able to record the entire conversation. You can then go back to it anytime as to make sure you did not miss out on some important details during the conversation.

Amplify Button - This is used to increase the volume of the conversation by a considerable amount, making it a lot easier to make out what the other person is saying. There are also some phones that allow you to increase the volume of your speech so that the person you are talking to can hear you better.

Call Indicator Light - The call indicator light will brightly flash when there is an incoming call. If for some reason the ringer is off or you can not hear it due to being deaf or hearing impaired, this can greatly help. In most cases the indicator light will flash very fast making it easy to perceive.

Headsets - Having headsets installed on a phone system will direct the sounds straight to your ear therefore making it all that much clearer. It will also cut out other noises there may be in the background enabling you to properly concentrate on what it is the other person is saying.

Hearing Aid Friendly - Hearing aid friendly means that the phone includes an Inductive coupler. Inductive couplers are built into to most BT phones to help people using Analogue hearing aids to hear better on the phone by reducing or cutting out background noise. It is usually a good idea to ask the person who supplies your hearing aid for advice on this. Most hearing aids with a 'T' setting will work with an inductive coupler.

Private Playback - Private Playback will allow you to listen to your messages via the phones handset, this may be easier then listening through the machines loudspeaker.

Nokia 9000il Communicator smart phone was one of the first to have real-time-text exchange as a function. Not only is this option good for the deaf and hearing impaired but it also provides a silent method of communication in a silent environment such as a library or during a meeting.

In addition to voice calls, the communicator enables the user to send and receive faxes, e-mail and short messages, as well as access Internet services and corporate and public databases.

The communicator can be connected to a PC either via infrared or cable (included in the sales package) for file transfer or to store backup data stored on the communicator.

There are several benefits of the BlackBerry for the deaf and hard of hearing. Most deaf users often go for the cheaper Hiptop or Sidekick because of instant messaging and better color screen. But today's BlackBerries are now much better and more consumer-friendly.

Most BlackBerries no longer provide paging included but you can still get paging services from a third party. The modern service today is called a voicemail box that automatically has voice-to-text. This allows people calling you to call your voicemail and leave a message, then you simply read a transcription of your voicemails on the screen.

K-NFB Reading Technology Inc. A Baltimore maker of reading software for text to speech devices launched in 2005, has just released the "smallest text-to-speech reading device in history."

K-NFB Reading Technology said the technology would be deployed on the Nokia N82 mobile phone, allowing users to take pictures of text and convert the image to audible speech.

While blind users would be able to hear the contents of the document, users with learning disabilities can enlarge, read, track, and highlight printed materials using the phone's large display, according to the National Federation of the Blind. The technology has been deployed on digital assistants in the past, but this would be the first time it is integrated into a cell phone, according to the company.

On February, 11 Spice Corp Ltd, an Indian telecoms Corporation, launched the Braille Phone for the revolutionary price of $20.

The Braille Phone has basic phone call functionality, Braille input, speech output and no screen.

There is an open letter to Nokia, Google, the Open Handset Alliance and to other companies, organisations, politicians and persons from the r&d sector. Mobile technology could be a great chance for the many blind and visually impaired people around the world but it must be accessible and affordable.

The open letter informs about screen reader software for the mobile platforms S60 and Android, satellite navigation for blind pedestrians, mobile access to map data, mobile web access, self-help, commonalities of blindness and illiteracy, accessibility, corporate responsibility, suggestions for Nokia's PR and the importance of free software and affordable cell phones for the many blind people from developing or newly industrializing countries.

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mary

June 13, 2009 - 19:10

Subject: help

i have recently become deaf and am 33 year's old i also have learned that their is nothing that can be done to help me eaither so i will not be getting my hearing back. i am looking for a phone that i can read when someone call's and it speak's back to them what it is that i am typing to say,, is thier any thing out thier to help me out i also want it small enouf that if i need to plug it into the pay phone i can take it with me to the hospital's with me ,, if you can help please contact me at my e-mail adress i ty lll mary

norma

April 16, 2009 - 21:29

Subject:

How does it work? Does someone sit and listen and then type the conversation?' Does it work like the caption on my TV?

qwertcorp.com

April 01, 2009 - 18:50

Subject: text only cell plan

Qwertcorp.com offers an unlimited text only plan for $19.99 per month. great value! no voice.

debbie

March 31, 2009 - 19:53

Subject: Text phones

with your suggestion of text messaging, I am going to get a trac phone for that purpose. I could text him on the trac fone and he could call me back with the answer. trac fones cost around $10 and then you buy minutes until they run out. I hadn't thought of this until someone mentioned texting. We have caller id set up on our direct tv service. so I could call and he would know to go read the text. glad I found this site. If you wanted to converse you could text with your cell phone and they could respond on the house phone. Hope this helps.

JOY

March 29, 2009 - 16:48

Subject:

Both my parents are 87, and are very hard of hearing even with the use of hearing aids. My brother, who lives in Oregon saw something on TV that allows them to have a conversation, but he didn't get the company name, and hasn't seen the commercial since. Apparently the calling parties conversation is displayed in writing, then the person can respond by speaking into the phone, in turn having a conversation. Has anyone aeen this type of phone??? Please let me know if you have or if something similar is on the market. Thank you

Barbara

March 27, 2009 - 09:46

Subject: hearing loss

My mother is 76 years and she has severe hearing loss as she now uses 2 hearing aids. I have been trying to find a captioned or text phone with cord or cordless where she can read incoming calls and answer over the phone reciever. My mother is not a computer whiz, she needs something that is simple to understand and simple to use. Amplified phones do not get it at all, at least not for my mother. I would be interested in hearing anything along the lines I have decribed and I would like to know the cost.

Beverly

March 27, 2009 - 09:33

Subject: Dad can't hear

My Dad is 85 years and almost completely deaf. Even with 2 hearing aids he still reads lips. I am currently with Verizon and looking for a text cell phone that he can talk into and have answers to the conversation come over the reciever. This would have to be a simple to operate phone as my Dad has no experience with cell phones. Any ideas? Thanks

Brandie

March 16, 2009 - 23:13

Subject: For Linda who inquired about a reasonable monthly service to add her hearing impaired husband.

Linda,

Change to T-Mobile. Your husband can also just get his own contract. I purchased a sidekick for $50.00 and pay only $29.99 a month for unlimited text messages, internet, email, etc. I do not have the phone turned on to receive incoming calls, it receives texts and emails only. Hope this helps.

Wendy

March 10, 2009 - 20:27

Subject: Answering Office Phone

My daughter recently got a job working in an office where she possible will have to answer some of the phone calls. The company is willing to get whatever is needed for her to do the job.
She has a severe - profound hearing loss. She wears one hearing aid.
I have seen the phone that has the text on it, but how will she be able to type it back to the caller who isn't deaf?

Renee

February 28, 2009 - 19:40

Subject: Hearing impaired

I am hearing and my husband is hearing impaired. Since having children my husband insisted that I have a cell phone. We have a very conservative plan and it works fine for now -- However the children are older now and more involved in activities so it would be nice if my husband and I could communicate via texting as we get split between children activities. We have looked at several cell phone packages for this purpose. The cost of adding a second cell phone for my husband and texting would run us around $75 more per month than my cell phone plan now. Any advice?!? - Or is this new information something that would be mire cost effective for us? --

LINDA

February 21, 2009 - 15:44

Subject: Stanley

I have the same problem as Stanley--I have seen a commercial for such a phone but did not catch the url and do not remember what station I saw the advertisement on. Please helpl

chris

February 11, 2009 - 20:10

Subject: Stanley's problem

My mother has the same problem. She wants to be able to READ someone's conversation but she wants to speak into the phone rather than type what she wants to say. Is there a phone like this?

Bill

February 07, 2009 - 21:33

Subject: captioned phone

i am totally deaf and would like to know if there are affordable cell and home phones that are captioned? i make all kinds of errors typing.

jack

February 03, 2009 - 10:14

Subject: can"t hear

i have the same problem as stanley above has

STANLEY

February 02, 2009 - 20:38

Subject: CAPTIONED OR TEXT PHONES WITH CORD OR CORDLESS