Video Calls and Captions: How Do Deaf People Use the Phone?

What would you do if you needed to order a pizza by phone but your native language is sign language?

In the past, people used a text-based device called a TTY to type messages to a relay operator who would verbally deliver the information to the other party for you. Yet, this method was slow and time-consuming.

Consequently, Video Relay Service (VRS) was developed to address this issue. With VRS, a Deaf user signs to an ASL interpreter over a video call. The interpreter then voices the message to the other party and translates the other party's spoken words back into sign language.

In the United States, this service is managed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is part of the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) established under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

However, because VRS is a service designed for telephone calls, it cannot be used for in-person conversations. For situations like this, such as at a hospital or during a meeting, a different service called VRI (Video Remote Interpreting) is used.

Captions are a crucial means of access for Deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals who do not use sign language. While real-time captioning features powered by speech recognition are now widely available on smartphones and video conferencing apps, recognition errors can occur. Therefore, people may specifically request CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation), where a professional stenographer manually inputs the captions in real time.

Indeed, these technologies in the 21st century help Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals communicate in everyday life.