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Inclusion
Modern mobile telecommunication has emerged in a timespan of 25 years, with a drastic growth over the past 10 years. Most of us wonder how we once managed without it. It has changed our perspective on communication, at every level of society. It is one of the major revolutions of our time.
Yet, the communities of deaf people, the heard of hearing, speech impaired and their relatives have been excluded for the larger extent. The current means do not support their everyday needs of mobile telecommunication.
One of the most common questions asked by people not familiar with this topic is why real-time, character-by-character text-based communication (also known as “interactive text” or “conversational text”) is needed in a world where email, SMS, instant messaging and other text communication methods are readily available.
Together, that means that conversation can be more natural, significantly faster, and more productive. For deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people it can make a tremendous positive difference to the way that they communicate on a daily basis. Deaf people need to communicate with the rest of the world, just like anyone else. As long as hearing people need and use voice telephony, deaf and speech-impaired people will need conversational Real-Time Text.
The RTT Service is not just compelling for speech and hearing impaired users, but can also enable freedom of communication with hearing friends, family and work colleagues. As we progress into a next-generation world of mobile and IP-enabled communication, Real-Time Text will be made available on an exploding range of devices. In collaboration with the RTT Alliance, telecom service providers and government departments will create and benefit from an environment where Real-Time Text becomes part of everyday communication. | 