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The FCC Just Approved a Landmark New Way for Deaf People to Communicate

posted by janrinok on Monday December 19 2016, @02:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the shouting-is-not-the-answer dept.

charon writes:

The Federal Communications Commission last week approved one of the most important advances in communications technology for deaf and hard of hearing people in decades, in one of the agency's final acts under the leadership of outgoing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

In a move that's being hailed by accessibility advocates and leaders in the deaf and hard of hearing community as a historic step forward, the five-member FCC unanimously adopted rules to facilitate the transition from outdated, analog teletype (TTY) devices to a new, internet-based, real-time text messaging standard (RTT) compatible with the latest smart phones.

As a result of the FCC's action, the nation's wireless carriers and device manufacturers will be required to support RTT functionality, which allows real-time text messaging—without the need to hit "send"—in which the recipient can instantly see letters, characters and words as they are being typed.

[...] This innovation will facilitate more natural, conversation-friendly communication for deaf and hard of hearing people—without the need for separate, specialized hardware. It will also allow 911 operators to receive incomplete messages during an emergency, potentially saving lives. RTT technology is expected to be inter-operable across wireless networks and devices, creating the potential for unprecedented ease of communication between deaf and hearing people.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 19 2016, @02:51PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 19 2016, @02:51PM (#443141)
    I remember the old Unix talk(1) [wikipedia.org] program had real-time text since at least the 1970s, although it was originally limited to communication between local users logged into the same machine. And it’s only now that we’re getting this kind of functionality again?

  • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Monday December 19 2016, @03:18PM

    by Magic Oddball (3847) on Monday December 19 2016, @03:18PM (#443150) Journal

    "ICQ" also popularized the same "real-time typing" technology back in the late 1990s. It was fun to play with, but it made reading the conversation logs afterward a serious PITA.