It makes sense that so many deaf people have adopted SMS as a preferred communications channel around the world. It is text-based, easy to use, affordable and is mobile.
This is according to Dr Pieter Streicher, MD at BulkSMS.com who says, the vibrating function of the handset alerts the user about a message.
“Unlike other technology designed specifically for deaf people, such as teletypewriters, it does not require each party to have bespoke equipment or rely on an expensive, time-intensive and intrusive intermediary to translate messages back and forth,” he adds.
He says the deaf community is simply following the global trend preferring SMS. “Figures released recently by mobile maven Tomi Ahonen show that SMS is the most widely used data application on the planet, with 53% of the total world's population and 78% of the world's mobile phone users texting,” he points out.
Around the world, people are increasingly conversing using SMS, and making fewer and fewer voice calls, particularly in the youth market, states Streicher.
“It is not unusual for people to check their SMS throughout social engagements, and indeed to SMS friends in the same room, whether or not they are hearing or deaf.”
Peck up
The programme manager at South African National Deaf Association (Sanda), Khulekani Trevor Ngcobo, agrees with this opinion.
According to Ngcobo, SMS has definitely improved his communication with both hearing-impaired and hearing communities. “But it has yet to enable the deaf community to better access businesses and services to its full potential.”
Another notable gap is the lack of SMS communication channels to emergency services such as roadside assistance or insurance hotlines, which would be enormously beneficial to the deaf, he says.
According to Ngcobo, who sends about 500 SMS a month, he uses SMS both socially and for business purposes to communicate with people and to get information. He says, thanks to SMS, he has a bigger social and business network and has had text conversations with people who hadn't known he is deaf.
He says that he is seeing business use of SMS increasing, and that account payment reminders and banking services are particularly useful. But there is room for improvement when it comes to businesses engaging with the deaf via SMS.
A lot could be done in terms of handset design to improve the SMS inbox, allowing messages to be searched, better delivery reports and better contact management, says Streicher.
A 2004 research paper, 'Everyone Here Speaks TXT: Deaf people Using SMS in Australia and the Rest of the World', by Mary and Des Power, predicted that SMS has a similar ability to improve communications between deaf communities, and wondered whether this would extend to relationships with hearing people.
Sanda is actively lobbying the mobile service providers to provide deaf-specific services and it is possible to opt for SMS-only pricing packages in SA.
Specifically business users and emergency services could offer more sophisticated SMS-based communication channels which, no doubt, would be rapidly taken up by hearing customers as well, given the popularity of SMS, Sanda says.
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