Today we are surrounded by means of communication; mainly digital. Few people still write letters to communicate; Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, SMS, E-mails, etc… have made the postal system one of the last options.
This communicative and digital revolution has changed how we see the world and relate to each other, but it has changed even more for deaf people. Before, deaf people could communicate via phone through a communication device for the deaf or TTD. It was very similar to a modem from that time, as it had a keyboard and a small screen to see what one was typing. The cost of the call was the same as a regular phone call, there was no cost reduction, so few people could afford a chat with friend.
Years later came a device we all know, the mobile phone. With it came text messaging and a rapid growth of E-mailing. Both represented a more direct way of communication for deaf people. However, let’s remember that there is a part of the deaf population whose forte isn’t writing. For them, the true revolution came with the smartphones.
Video calls, instant chat, video messages, video blogs etc. All those things that to us are nothing more than little tools we use from time to time, to deaf people represent a tremendously useful means of communication. New technologies represent endless possibilities to all of us.
Even if it’s highly improbable that designers of texting apps such as Messenger introduced the program’s video conference function for the deaf population, it’s true that said population has been one of the most benefited by it.