The recent “Taste of Technology” event in Austin, Texas on June 26, 2009, sponsored by Relay Texas and attended by 40 people, has broadened my experiences relating to technology-themed issues, and after grabbing the opportunity to listen to a parade of speakers, I learned what might suit Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing people with at least a little experience with talking on the telephone, especially those who do with their loved ones.

Said Shelley Oishi, Sprint’s Business Development Manager (account manager for the state of Texas), “The Taste of Technology is a free event designed for consumers, educators, and general public interested in learning about current trends in technology. Every opinion voiced empowers the future shaping of technology.”

During the event, it became more apparent why I was there, it was to learn and see firsthand how technology has changed for the better benefiting Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people around the world, with the changes made with new technology introduced to us since barriers got torn down from the influence of the Deaf President Now (DPN) movement, resulting in laws being changed from 1989 on.

The “DPN protest heard ’round the world” provided a little push for technology to be invented for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people in the urgency for us to be able to function equally the way hearing people can, providing us equal accessibility.

Since Texas leads all relay efforts nationwide, this event made it all the more memorable for me to attend; they were the first on board the relay service bandwagon since the passage of the ADA.

After satisfying my taste buds eating the “Alto Buffet” luncheon, I put my fork down and watched intently as the speakers came on stage to give their presentations, they came from Sprint, Relay Texas, and Texas’ STAP program, panelists were featured, and the event discussed a wide range of relay services and technology for Deaf and Hard-of Hearing people.

For many years American Sign Language (ASL) is and was what kept the folklore of Deaf culture strong, but technology has indeed become a necessary resource for Deaf people from all walks of life to tap into, I experienced that firsthand getting videophone services, from the first TTY manufactured to the presently cool handheld gadget toys.

There are infinite possibilities, and you are about to be introduced to a definite possibility, an advanced stage of telephone technology for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people.

Deaf people want their loved ones to hear their voices on the phone without feeling like a fool because of uncertainty on whether their loved ones understood them on the phone; they are able to now because of the new technology available now.

But our language is ASL, so why even discuss a “moot point” over allowing our loved ones to hear us on the telephone without causing us to feel out of place?

That is where David B. Strom, the CapTel marketing manager and one of the featured speakers of the event, comes into the picture having helped change some perceptions of mine.

He introduced to the audience a special telephone feature for Deaf people, and for those of us wondering how that feature can help us, they are “CapTel phones,” which is a captioned telephone. There are several kinds, the WebCapTel (internet-based captioned telephone service), WebCapTel On The Go (mobile WebCapTel) and the new CapTel 800i phone.

The CapTel phone products and the services that come with them target specifically the hearing loss market, primarily those with hearing loss and inability to use sign language, or those with hearing loss and ability to speak and be understood by others.

Yes, a captioned telephone!

When we use the words “captioned,” what comes to mind first are televisions and DVDs that are captioned. But make a phone call to a loved one using a captioned telephone?

This is how it works:

CapTel displays word-for-word CAPTIONS of everything your loved ones say during your phone conversations. CapTel users place a call the same way we do on traditional phones that dial. Both parties communicate, one by voice, and the other by captions.

See, most Deaf people can only communicate by voice on the telephone with people they are used to doing the phone conversations with, and usually with only one to three words. CapTel makes it even more possible in addition to giving you the ability to understand their full response in captioned text.

Never mind, this doesn’t take away your ASL skills if you get a CapTel phone, or the beautiful signed cultural language that we live and die with. It just enables your loved ones to hear your voice, even a simple phrase such as “I love you, Son,” while getting an acknowledgement on the captioned response from the loved one that tells you that your “son” understood you clearly saying something so simple.

For what it is worth, as much some of us might feel silly to use our voices, it makes the loved ones happy to hear from us, at least. That is when we should try CapTel technology, and those that use the telephone by voice regularly to loved ones will love this new “CapTel” technology product that Sprint offers.

“Usually it works best for Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing people who are accustomed to functioning without making it totally a visual effort, some do use the verbal spoken languages with their hearing parents, hearing siblings, hearing relatives, and hearing co-workers,” said Strom. “But, it also can work for those who want their loved ones to hear their expressions.”

Now having registered with CapTel, all I need to do is log on, type the phone numbers and make the call.

With me being a native ASL signer, I will just call my son first through videophone to let him know what I am going to do, then call him through CapTel and tell him “You’re still my baby,” and then call him back through videophone and ask him what he thought of hearing my voice!

Seeing my son’s wide smile and wide eyes with his thumbs up is well worth the effort in making a CapTel call!

As long I keep it brief — for others, they can talk all day long if they want.

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2. VRS Hosts Congressional Demo At Capitol Hill
3. Which Airport is Most Deaf-Friendly?
4. Building and Crossing Bridges
5. Deaf Viewpoints: Sorenson VRS on FCC Order, E911 & Real Numbers
6. NASRA 2008 Conference