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

[Denise Robinson]

Raul
Has he ever thought to use a tablet running Microsoft and skyping that way.... as it will work..hook a key word and all sorts of options will open up. He talks verbally, they text, he reads from Braille display and life is good

Denise M Robinson
Sent from my iPad

> On Dec 17, 2013, at 9:49 AM, "Raul A. Gallegos" <raul at raulgallegos.com> wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Trainer-talk mailing list
> Trainer-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/trainer-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Trainer-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/trainer-talk_nfbnet.org/deniserob%40gmail.com