Writing Without Sound - How to 抖阴社区 Deaf and Hard of Hearing Characters

Because we live in a world geared towards the hearing, many d/Deaf and hard of hearing people rely on a variety of technology to assist us in everyday tasks that may easily escape the notice of a hearing author.  This chapter's purpose is to give you an introduction to some of those technologies. 

Let's start with household items.  Many of the things in our homes are sound-based.  Alarm clocks, doorbells, phones, television, fire alarms, etc.  When you're deaf, you need to rely on another sense in place of hearing for this information.  Usually, that is going to be either sight or touch.

Shaking alarm clocks: What the name says. Alarm clocks that vibrate.  Can be plates you put under your pillow or wrist bands or other kinds. 

Flashing doorbells: There are many versions of these but almost all have some kind of light emitting component that can be either installed in each room or transported around the house.

Flashing fire alarms: Think about the fire alarms in schools.  They flash as well as make a loud noise.  There are similar ones that can be bought for private homes.

Closed-Captioning - Closed captioning is a vital tool for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people to watch television and movies. It is different from subtitles in that subtitles assume that the viewer can hear while closed captions assume that they cannot. Therefore, closed captions will also include text descriptions of other noises such as [door slams] or *suspenseful music*

Telecommunications relay service aka Relay phone: These services come in a lot of different types and have evolved as technology and the internet has.

1) TTY to voice/voice to TTY -  Really outdated. Basically, the d/Deaf/hoh person types their message which is relayed to a Relay Operator who then speaks on the call. I have never even seen one of these used anymore.

2) Voice carry over - Used by d/Deaf/hoh who speak.  In this case, an operator will type out the responses from the other end of the call for the d/Deaf/hoh person. This allows a person who is hard of hearing or deaf but can speak to use their voice while receiving responses from a person who is hearing via the operator's typed text. 

A captioned telephone is a hybrid communication method that enables people who are hard of hearing or d/Deaf to speak directly to another party on a telephone call. Typically, a that displays real-time captions of what the hearing party speaks during a conversation. The captions are displayed on a screen embedded in the telephone base. A captioned telephone can also function exactly like a VCO by switching the device to VCO mode, for example, to communicate with an HCO user directly, without a relay. Captioned telephone services can be provided in traditional telephone environments as well as in VOIP environments.

Captions are created by a communications assistant using a computer with voice recognition software. The communications assistant listens to and revoices the hearing party's side of the conversation into the microphone of a headset. A voice recognition program creates the captions and they are sent out to the captioned telephone where they are read by the user.

Web-based captioned telephone: Web-based captioned telephone enables telephone calls to be placed with captions, by utilizing the World Wide Web browser window of a computer or smartphone. It is similar to a traditional captioned phone call except the user's own telephone equipment is used, whilst the captions are viewed online instead of in the captioned telephone display screen.

IP relay service or Web-based text relay services:  IP relay services are similar to other relay services. They replace the telephone line and TDD/TTY devices with computer/smartphone software.  They need an internet connection to use.

Video Relay Service: Basically an "in your computer" interpreter.  It uses a webcam or videophone and relay operator to voice the d/Deaf/hoh (or nonverbal hearing) person's signing to a hearing person and sign the hearing person's words to the d/Deaf/hoh or nonverbal hearing person.  VRS has one limitation in that it cannot be used by people in the same room.  That's where this last one comes in.

Video Remote Interpreting: Works like VTS but allows d/Deaf/hoh or nonverbal hearing people who use sign language to communicate with hearing people in the same room. Can be used in business meetings, doctor appointments, minor surgical procedures, and court proceedings.

Will update with more...