Assessing Student's Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT)

Chapter 8 – Assistive Technology for Vision and Hearing
would like to communicate and through a series of tones the message is relayed to the TDD on the
other end of the line. These machines can be basic (nothing but the keyboard, screen, and phone
connection) or complex, with added printer, answering machine, and memory to record general
greetings or even the complete text of the last conversation.
♦ Relay Service-The person who is deaf calls into the relay service using a TDD and gives the relay
operator the number they would like to call. The relay operator dials the given number. When the
phone is answered, using voice telephone equipment, the operator identifies him/herself and explains
how to use the relay system. The operator then verbalizes all the text messages and types all spoken
messages between the two callers. This process also works in reverse when the hearing person wants
to contact the deaf person. This service is offered in each state. The service itself is free, but does not
negate long distance charges.
♦ Relay Service with Voice Over-This option is for an individual with a hearing impaired who has a
clear speaking voice but cannot hear on the phone. The job of the relay operator is to type what the
hearing person says to the person who is deaf or hard of hearing so that the message to respond can
be read on the TDD. The person who is hard of hearing can then use their voice.
♦ Virtual Relay Interpreting (VRI) -This is currently used when it is difficult to get an interpreter to
a remote location. The situation can either be a meeting or a phone call to be interpreted. There
needs to be two computers (Pentium 166Mhz or better) with large monitors, and equipped with
cameras. Both systems need to be connected through analog phone lines and have 28.8 or better
modems. The system enables the person who is deaf to sign to an interpreter at another location.
This enables the person who is deaf to have a phone call interpreted or have a meeting at one
location with the interpreter in another location. This system also enables 2 individuals who sign to
communicate "face-to-face".
♦ Closed Captioning-The text of a TV show or video appears in print at the bottom of the TV screen.
This system rarely shows up on live TV, other than the news. (News shows are pre-scripted.) Most
TV shows are closed captioned. It is called closed captioning because the decoding function is
optional to the user. This is currently included on most television shows. All TV's over 19 inches
sold since 1993 must contain the chip that decodes the captioning signal. There is also a separate
closed captioning decoder box that can be purchased and hooked up to smaller or older televisions.
Open captioning, not an option to the user, is often done to training videos. An example of this is a
foreign movie with subtitles.
♦ CAN-Computer Aided Notetaking-This is usually used in classroom and meeting situations. The
system consists of 2 computers, usually laptops. A typist types a summary of the discussion while
the meeting/class is occurring. Thus the person with the hearing loss can participate.
♦ CART- Computer Aided Real Time Translation-Most often used in classrooms, court or
meetings. Court reporting equipment (portable chord keyboard, and special software) is connected to
a lap top computer. The court reporter transcribes exactly what is said, word for word. The text
shows up on the screen of the laptop for the person with the hearing impairment to read. A disc or
hard copy of the proceedings may then be made available.
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