About Assistive Technology & TTY Telephones for the Deaf

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that during the years 2000 to 2006, 3.3 percent of all American adults had some degree of hearing impairment. Assistitive technology like TTY telephones helps the deaf function in day-to-day life.

TTY Telephones

• A TTY telephone, or text telephone, allows deaf people to communicate with each other by telephone. Users type messages and read them on a screen instead of speaking and listening.

Telecommunications Relay Service

• The telecommunications relay service allows TTY users to communicate with hearing people that do not have TTY telephones. The TTY user types what he wants to say and an operator reads the words to the hearing person. The hearing person then replies and the operator types the words for the TTY user to read. People can access the relay service by dialing 711.

Closed Captioning

• Closed captioning prints television dialog on the screen so deaf people can read the words. The Federal Communications Commission requires all digital television sets to include closed captioning capabilities and requires most television programming to include closed captions.

Other Devices

• Other assistitive technology for the deaf includes doorbells that signal a flashing light when rung, alarm clocks that flash, and fire alarms/smoke detectors that flash instead of beep. Devices like cell phones with text message capability and pagers that vibrate also assist the deaf.

Accommodations

• The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for deaf employees, like providing them with TTY telephones. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires schools to provided assistitive devices to deaf students.