German Deaf People Using Text Communication: Short Message Service, TTY, Relay Services, Fax, and E-mail
By Power, Des; Power, Mary R; Rehling, Bernd; American Annals of the Deaf, Vol. 152, No. 3, pp. 291-301Publication Date: Summer 2007
Review of an online survey of German deaf people using text communication. Seventy-one German deaf people responded to the German-language survey, which was online from May 2005 to March 2006 using Surveymaker (www.surveymaker.com.au). The survey was conducted using the same questions as those in a mail survey examining the use of electronic text communication of members of the Australian Association of the Deaf. The study found that respondents use text communication through Short Message Service (SMS), e-mail, fax, and telephone typewriters (TTY) to communicate within communities of deaf and hearing people. SMS is used most, with more than 96% of respondents having access to a mobile phone. Most use is directed toward sociability; however, there is some instrumental use, such as getting business accomplished, making appointments, and obtaining information. Survey respondents expressed a need for a better relay service, more connectivity among the various technologies, and full interactivity in making calls by any technology. In comparison with respondents to the Australian mail survey, German deaf people could not rely on extensive relay services connecting people with a TTY to hearing telephone subscribers.
Published by: Gallaudet University Press (Website:http://gupress.gallaudet.edu)
Council of American Instructors of the Deaf (Web Site: http://www.caid.org )
Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (Web Site: http://www.ceasd.org )
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J53472
