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community as a historic step forward, the five-member FCC unanimously adopted rules to facilitate the transition from outdated, analog teletype (TTY) devices to a new, internet-based, real-time text messaging standard (RTT) compatible with the latest smart phones.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.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday December 19 2016, @03:53PM
I'm wondering if somehow the "streaming" of characters as you type is easier to compromise / makes it easier for our 3 lettered overlords to spy on us in real time.
Could be financial, this would make it easier for network operators to freeze out in-line 3rd party translation services and TTS STT services, oh what a shame we picked a protocol that doesn't interoperate well with startup cloud services, I guess we'll have to keep all the money as a monopoly provider instead of sharing it. Its not impossible of course, merely makes it harder and gives the incumbent a financial advantage.