RNID back text messaging to boost deaf people's communications

15/05/09

Technology should be used to allow deaf people to make more rapid and efficient communications with emergency services, a leading charity has claimed.

According to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), text messages would be a good way to connect the deaf with vital emergency lines since many are unable to use telephones.

Guido Gybels, director of technology at the charity, commented that the idea is not perfect, but is certainly a step in the right direction.

Mr Gybels told BBC News: 'Quite clearly access to the emergency services can be a matter of life and death.

'We hope to create a solution so that people with hearing impairments are on an equal footing with the rest of society.'

The newspaper reports that technology can already be used to contact the Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade in the form of BT Typetalk, a service run by the RNID.

Meanwhile, the charity organisation's Noise Action Week begins on Monday (May 18th) and is aimed at raising awareness of the challenges facing deaf people.

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