NOTE FROM DEAFNETWORK: Petition Online link –
http://www.change.org/petitions/at-t-stop-discriminating-against-deaf-customers
AT&T’s FaceTime Blocking Hurts the Deaf
BY BRENDAN GRAMER
September 7, 2012
When I learned that Apple would finally be enabling the iPhone’s
FaceTime app to work over mobile connections, I was ecstatic. As
someone who is deaf, I could now use this one-touch, always-on video
chat app to communicate with friends and family in my natural language:
American Sign Language (ASL).
But then I found out that AT&T will block mobile FaceTime unless
customers sign up for an expensive unlimited voice plan. I wasn’t
thrilled with the thought of having to pay this AT&T “deaf tax” just to
use the mobile data I’m already paying for.
It’s disappointing that AT&T is standing in the way of innovation that
addresses the needs of its deaf and hard-of-hearing customers.
Sometimes it takes a while (and some prodding) for technology and
technology companies to catch up to and embrace accessibility. In this
case the technology is there, but it’s AT&T that’s throwing up the
barrier.
FaceTime is a Revolutionary Product
Since the mid-1970s, deaf and hard-of-hearing people been able to make
and receive phone calls with the assistance of a Telecommunications
Relay Service that enables phone calls through the use of text-input
keyboards. A deaf user types a message, which is then translated by an
operator speaking to the person on the other end of the phone call.
While it is a useful service, TRS still requires typing and
communicating via the written word instead of ASL.
This all changed a decade ago when Video Relay Services became widely
available. For the first time, it was possible to have phone
conversations using ASL.
But soon after, cellphones replaced landlines as the primary mode for
phone calls. VRS requires the signer to be in front of a
camera-equipped computer or videophone, creating a challenge if you
want to make a call while out of the house. Technology keeps advancing,
though, and smartphones with video calling apps have the power to
create a seamless communications experience for the deaf and hard of
hearing.
Video calling changes everything. Not only does it make it easier to
take advantage of VRS services, but it allows two people who know ASL
to communicate without relying on a third-party interpreter. Apple’s
FaceTime is a particularly revolutionary application. I use FaceTime
often with family and friends because it’s the easiest way for us to
see and sign to each other.
Freeing up FaceTime over mobile would literally change our world. We
would be able to communicate with each other during emergencies and
other situations when Wi-Fi isn’t available. People who aren’t deaf
take for granted that they can dial their partners’ cellphones to
remind them to pick up milk, but for the deaf there have always been
technological barriers to these kinds of routine communications.
But AT&T isn’t going to allow this revolution in accessibility to be
unleashed — not unless customers are willing to buy the company’s pricy
unlimited voice plans. AT&T does currently sell a “Text Accessibility
Plan” (which it calls “TAP”), which offers deaf users paying $50 a
month unlimited texts and 3 gigabytes of monthly data. But again,
texting just isn’t the same as signing. Furthermore, according to
AT&T’s website, this plan wasn’t extended to include iPhone 4S owners,
and it remains to be seen if it will cover the new iPhone. Perhaps the
phasing out of these accessibility plans is just AT&T’s way of
pressuring consumers into overpaying with their new plans, irrespective
of their unique needs or situation.
AT&T’s FaceTime Blocking Defense Ignores Practical Realities
This isn’t about trying to abuse the system. It’s about the fundamental
need to be able to communicate with each other anytime, anywhere — and
for the deaf and hard of hearing to be functionally equivalent with
hearing people.
FaceTime is a seamless, straight-out-of-the-box video calling solution.
Members of my wife’s family switched from the Android platform to iOS
to use FaceTime because, well, “it just works.” You look up a contact
on your iPhone, and there’s the option to make a FaceTime call listed
right next to the voice and texting options.
Third-party apps like Skype require installation, set-up and
integration and are not “always on” in the same way FaceTime is.
FaceTime’s Wi-Fi limitation has been its only inconvenience, and has
led to many missed calls. This is why I personally found AT&T’s
assertion that net neutrality rules don’t prevent it from blocking
“preloaded” apps like FaceTime so disappointing, and its boasting that
it won’t block FaceTime over Wi-Fi so frustrating.
Even if AT&T ultimately decides not to block FaceTime for deaf users on
its TAP plan, the company’s plans will still hurt deaf and
hard-of-hearing customers. Why? Because the company will still block
mobile FaceTime for the people we talk to — our friends and family
members who are iPhone users and know ASL, but who are not deaf
themselves and thus do not qualify for the TAP plan. The point of
having a mobile phone is the ability to be in touch anytime, anywhere —
not to have to plan ahead and hope Wi-Fi is available wherever we land.
The bottom line is that data is data. Whatever we pay for, we should be
able to use. AT&T needs to rethink this terribly misguided plan and its
impact on the deaf and hard of hearing.
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