ADULTS WHO ARE HARD OF HEARING OR DEAF WANTED FOR AN ONLINE SURVEY ABOUT VOICE TELECOMMUNICATIONS USE

The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access at Gallaudet University is conducting an online survey to learn about the experiences of adults who are hard of hearing, deaf or have hearing loss in their use of voice telecommunications technology in the U.S. (regular telephones, cell phones, captioned phones, Skype, etc.).

Our goal is to better understand how such adults use current voice telecommunications technology, what barriers they face using it, and what needs they have for improved accessibility.  This is a particularly relevant topic right now as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently seeking updated information to assess whether the Commission’s HAC  (hearing aid compatibility) rules effectively meet the needs of individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. Summary data from the survey will be used to update the FCC.

For the purposes of this survey, voice telecommunications means that you both listen and talk for yourself during telephone calls, even if you also supplement your listening experience by using text (for example, relay or captioning) to read what the other person on the call is saying while you listen.

To take this survey you:

1. must be an adult (18 years or older)
2. have a hearing loss and
3. use voice telecommunications regularly (at least once a week)
4. have access to the Internet in order to complete the survey

The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete, depending on the extent of your telephone use.

If you completed the survey before, please do not complete it again. Please complete this survey only once.

To participate in the survey go to http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1344340/Telecommunications-Access-Survey-of-Adults-who-are-Hard-of-Hearing-Deaf-or-have-Hearing-Loss

For questions about the survey, contact: Linda Kozma-Spytek at Linda.kozma-spytek@gallaudet.edu.

This study has been approved by the Gallaudet University Institutional Review Board.

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