[Trainer-talk] an intro and a question about deaf-blind relay services on iOS devices

[Raul A. Gallegos]

Hello all. My name is Raul Gallegos and I am an assistive technology 
trainer in the Houston Texas area. One of my latest projects is as an 
assessment and training specialist for the National Deaf-Blind Equipment 
Distribution Program or better known as I Can Connect, 
http://www.icanconnect.org.

I have a client who is deaf-blind. He communicates using his voice for 
expression and reads Braille for reception. He uses an iPad with a 
Braille display. he also has a TTY system so when he makes phone calls 
out via a relay service, he reads what the relay person types yet he can 
speak directly to the person he is on the line with. The relay person 
then types what is said so he can read it in Braille.

Now onto my question. Is there a way that we can do this similar type of 
communication using the iPad? I was thinking of using Skype  because it 
offers both audio and text chat. meaning, that we can connect with Skype 
and that way he can talk and I can hear him talk. When I want to say 
something to him I write what I say and he reads it via the Skype chat 
text. The problem is that the current version of Skype doesn't work well 
with Braille displays in iOS 7. So, I'm not sure if relay services which 
use traditional landlines have iOS solutions which do similar but over 
the Internet. Also, instead of using Skype, I thought of perhaps using 
the Messages app and texting via iMessage from his iPad to one of my own 
iOS devices. Then if possible doing a facetime call so I can hear what 
he says. This seems like a cobbled solution though and in case there are 
any apps specific for deaf-blind using some sort of relay services I 
don't know of them. So, that's why i write here.

If there is another list I can ask about this, please let me know as well.

Thank you.

--
Raul A. Gallegos
You know what seems odd to me?   Numbers that aren't divisible by two. - 
Sheldon Cooper
Twitter and Facebook user ID: rau47