How ITU is pioneering telecom accessibility for all

摘要

Few people realize that the telephone was developed as a result of Alexander Graham Bell's experiments with ways to communicate with his deaf wife. The concept of telecommunications for the deaf may sound like an oxymoron ― but telecommunication infrastructure is fundamental to the delivery of services to the deaf or hard-of-hearing. Prototype "deaf sets" for the hard-of-hearing were developed in the 1920s. Later initiatives have included text telephones (or textphones) allowing deaf users to communicate with voice phone users. Text messaging on mobile phones using the short message service (SMS) and Internet relay chat (IRC), which although not developed specifically for the deaf, have proven invaluable tools. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to give people with disabilities a chance to communicate with the world on the same basis as the community at large. And while work on improving access to these technologies is not new, the latest advancements are opening a world of opportunities for communication.