Archive for May, 2007
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The LiveJournal blogging platform offers members the ability to do voice posts, and text transcripts are either made by the creator of the podcast or the readers; it’s a community-driven effort and works quite well – many people are willing to do this. Podcasts that are under three minutes are automatically transcribed by SpinVox.
Previously:
Spinvox: voicemail to text service
Casting Words transcripting services
Project ReadOn – free web captions
Speche Communications: real time text streaming
Jott’s potential to transcribe podcasts is unrealized
Earize Text Streaming for Internet Radio
Podcast transcripts for the deaf
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Deafness and hearing loss are a result of varying circumstances. In my case, I contracted Haemophilus influenzae meningitis at age 3.5 years, which destroyed the stereocilia in both my cochleas. The stereocilia are important for hearing since they act as “microphones” and sound filters. Without them, sound doesn’t travel to the brain. In a nutshell, that’s basically why I hear nothing.
Recently, a team of scientists at Stanford University discovered that stem cells have the capacity to regenerate in the inner ear, specifically regrowing the stereocilia. The team has successfully regenerated the cilia in the ears of mice embryos and are planning to try it next on live mice. It’s possible that the technology could be used on humans in the future.
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Casting Words transcripting services are text transcripts made of podcasts and other MP3/MP4 files and are created by humans, not computers. Turnaround time is 3-4 working days and the cost is $0.75 per minute. If you need it done in 24 hours, the rates are $2.50 per minute.
Previously:
Project ReadOn – free web captions
Speche Communications: real time text streaming
Jott’s potential to transcribe podcasts is unrealized
Earize Text Streaming for Internet Radio
Podcast transcripts for the deaf
Listen to this as a podcast:
Yesterday I had a connection at Phoenix SkyHarbor Airport, and noticed a new piece of deaf-friendly technology there. Throughout the airport large screen monitors have been installed, and they display the names of people being paged over the airport intercom system. There are over 30 terminal stations for the intercom system that are fully accessible – these are called Paging Assistance Locations (PALs.) The headsets have adaptors that are compatible with hearing aids and cochlear implants, and for those who don’t have aids or implants, there is a QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen which enables users to send and receive text messages via the paging system.
Previously:
Airport improvements made for deaf travelers
Salt Lake City airport installs video phones for the deaf
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Deaf travelers at airports are obviously oblivious to verbal announcements that come over the intercom. Some of these announcements might contain pernitent information, and should be made accessible to all.
Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan installed new technology into the public address system that allows verbal announcements to be transmitted directly into hearing aids and Cochlear implants that have a special kind of receiver called a hearing loop. Essentially, this is like wifi for hearing aids.
Previously:
Salt Lake City airport installs video phones for the deaf
Listen to this as a podcast:
Editor’s Note: In this post I’ve got some links that are tagged with “(NSFW).” This means they may not be safe for work viewing, depending on how your workplace feels about semi-nudity and images of sex toys.
Last year, I guest-blogged for Regina Lynn, the sex-tech columnist for Wired, while she was on vacation. In one of my posts, I discussed how the fact that deafies can’t tell how loud their sex toys are. This can cause funny and embarrassing moments when they have hearing roommates. I had the Good Vibrations(NSFW) store in San Francisco recommend some quiet toys, such as the Laya(NSFW), the Femblossom(NSFW), the Dolphin(NSFW), and the Wahl 2-Speed Body Massager. I tested the Laya and the Wahl with my hearing roommates, who confirmed that they couldn’t hear the toys between the walls.Regina pointed me to a new kind of vibrator called the Eroscillator(NSFW) and one of its features is that it’s extremely quiet – so quiet “you can hear yourself read,” Regina says.
Now even more options for adult play where deafies can concentrate on their personal fun and not worry about privacy. Always a good thing.
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Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, and before you know it, it’s been ten days since your last post. My apologies. Thanks for hanging in there. I’ll start some new posts today.
In the meantime, I’d been considering moving my websites to a green hosting company for a while. I had some misgivings about doing this as I’ve been with Dreamhost for a while and am pretty happy with them and wasn’t willing to give up their service. Recently, Dreamhost announced they are now a green hosting company. This means that all three of my sites – this blog, my personal blog, and my photography site – are all carbon-neutral, and I can scratch “switch to green hosting” off my to-do list. Thank you, Dreamhost!
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Virginia DeBolt gave Stone Deaf Pilots a positive review on BlogHer. Thanks!
The deaf tech blog is Stone Deaf Pilots. This blog is by Kathryn Hill. It covers deaf technology, assistive technology, and tech-related accessibility issues faced by the deaf and hard of hearing. It’s a fairly recent addition to the blogosphere, but has gained a substantial audience with posts about everything from captionioning, movies, podcasting, text messaging, and video from the perspective of tech needs of the deaf and otherwise disabled. One thread I found particularly interesting was about the unpreparedness of 911 call centers to handle calls from disabled people. Although I’m not deaf, I’m certainly interested in making sure the Internet is accessible to everyone. I find this blog very helpful.
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A Telecommunications Relay Service (also known as TRS, Relay Service, or IP-Relay) is a service that the deaf and hearing impaired use to make and receive phone calls to and from hearing people who do not have TTY/TDD‘s. There are many kinds of Relay calls, such as video relay (which I recently blogged about) and the most common is TTY/Voice – Voice/TTY, or text relay.
Basically, how it works is rather simple; the TTY user calls the Relay operator, who also has a TTY. (Computers and smartphones can also be used in place of a TTY with internet relay services or built-in TTY software.) The TTY user types to the operator; the operator speaks to the hearing caller and “relays” the TTY user’s typed words to them. The hearing caller responds to the operator, who types the voiced words back to the TTY user. Most relay operators (also called “CA’s,” for “communications assistant”) will also type in background sounds to help make the call more personal for the TTY user, such as (person laughing,) (person coughing,) (dog barking,) (sounds angry,) etc. I’ve freaked out hearing callers before by asking, “Are you tired?” when the operator told me that they were yawning, and one time the person I was talking to was talking about my birthday surprise with someone else in the room, and the relay operator typed it all to me. That was funny.
Here’s a diagram of a standard text relay call:
When one person finishes typing/speaking and is indicating it’s the other person’s turn to speak, they say “Go Ahead” (the typing person types “GA”) and when the call ends, both parties say/type “SK” which means “stop keying.”
If a hearing caller wishes to call a TTY user, they can do so by phoning a TRS and giving the operator the number of the TTY user they wish to call. Most internet relay services allow deaf/TTY users to subscribe to a phone number of their own, so hearing callers simply call that number and then they are automatically connected to the TRS operator and the deaf person.
TRS are paid for by telecommunications fees and are a public service. In the United States and Canada, the number 711 automatically connects one with the TRS. Relay services are available in many countries, including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Denmark. TRS cannot be used to call 911 emergency services. Deafies in the US can make international calls, but deafies traveling overseas cannot call US relay services and must use the relay services provided in that country, if available.
A few downsides to using relay services are that the majority of hearing people don’t understand what it is. Usually when hearing people receive a relay call for the first time, they think it is a telemarketer and they hang up, meaning the deaf user has to ask the operator to redial and then wait while the operator explains the call. New frustrations ensue if the hearing person continues to hang up. I once had to call the parts department of a local motorcycle store to get something for my motorcycle and the service counter person hung up on me three times before I gave up and had my boyfriend call them and explain to them what was going on. They finally accepted my call and apologized profusely; they felt so bad that they gave me a 10% discount.
If you are a hearing person and you receive a relay call, it will go something like this: the relay operator will ask you, “This is IP relay anon 9033. Do you know how to use relay?” If you say “no,” they will go on to explain the service to you. The basic spiel is:
You are receiving a call form a person who is using a computer. I will voice what is typed and type everything I hear on your end of the line. You may begin responding when the person pauses or when you hear the words “go ahead.” Please speak slowly and in the first person because you are talking directly to the person. When you are finished speaking and ready for a response, you may pause or say “go ahead.” Relay will begin now.
Relay calls are a bit slower than a standard telephone call, which can be a little frustrating if you are in a hurry, but I suppose it’s just something we have to live with until the technology improves.
Another negative issue with relay calls is that they are often used by spammers/scammers. Many spammers in Nigeria discovered that they could use the relay to make free phone calls to the United States, and since an operator was speaking for them, the hearing caller did not hear the Nigerian accent and had no idea they were speaking to a foreigner; they thought they were speaking with a deaf person and of course, unscrupulous scammers played on the whole “sympathize with a disabled person” angle. More information on relay scams here: Link and link.
Relay services have been around since the early 1990′s, and the service has improved over the years. There is room for growth and improvement. I hope that this post will reach a lot of hearing people so that they will understand what a relay call is, and give deaf people a chance to call them. It’s extremely frustrating for me to receive a call from a potential employer and have them hang up on me because they got connected to the operator and thought they had the wrong number, or try to call the doctor and make an appointment and have the receptionist hang up on me because they don’t understand what the phone call is about.
Previously:
IP Relay
Video Relay
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I started Stone Deaf Pilots for many reasons, the main one being that I wanted a place where both deaf and hearing people could come to learn about deaf technology. With so many different technology options on the market these days, it’s difficult to keep track of them all, and I wanted to provide an organized catalog for them. Technology helps people with disabilities to function more independently. In the case of deaf people, technology helps to bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds. As hearing people find themselves interacting with deaf people more and more these days due to technology, they find themselves asking many questions. I hope this blog can help provide some answers.
Also, since assistive technology is still a very small niche, people who do not use it are unaware of it and the needs of those who use it. Technology has come a long way and those of us with disabilities have far more options today than we did 10-20 years ago, but there is still a need for more assistive technology or improvements on current technology, and a need for the population at large to understand this.
It has been estimated that 28 million Americans suffer from some form of hearing loss. The aging baby boomer generation will reach retirement age in 2010, the number of Americans with hearing loss is expected to rapidly climb and nearly double by the year 2030. As I have blogged previously, the US is not ready to handle the rise in the disabled population, nor are the 911 call centers.
I started this blog in January of this year with my initial post about the Apple iPhone, but I did not formally announce the blog until March 23rd when I went to the CSUN Technology & Disabilities Conference. Since March 23rd, this site has received over 105,000 unique visitors. To all of you reading this, thank you for reading, and thank you for helping to spread the word about this blog. Keep reading, keep telling people about Stone Deaf Pilots, and here’s looking forward to the next 105,000 visitors!
Onward!
