The Open Road: Conference Presentation

Janice Knuckey, Centre of Excellence for Students Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Northern Metropolitan Institute of Technology and Claudia Slegers (CIRCIT at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology)

Sign Language Users and Online Services: The Deaf Australia Online II Project

Around 15,500 Australians are Deaf users of Australian Sign Language (Auslan) (Carty, 1993; Hyde and Power, 1991). Deaf people who use Auslan identify as a cultural and linguistic minority, not as a disability group. Many Deaf people have limited literacy in English, so mainstream communication technologies such as email are often not ideal.

This new project takes further the recommendations of 1999's AccessAbility project Deaf Australia Online which identified options to improve online access for Deaf Australians, particularly users of Auslan. Online services were defined as any form of electronic communication, including videoconferencing, email, Internet, fax, telephone typewriter (TTY), and mobile telephony.

Aims of the Deaf Australia Online II project are to conduct and evaluate trials of the following prototype online services:

• Auslan video clips on the Internet: for the provision of government services information
• Public videoconferencing: special purpose - for example, for education applications - and available for general communication use, including video relay interpreting.
• Video-relay interpreting: utilises a sign language interpreter to relay calls between Auslan users and hearing users without the use of a TTY. The Deaf person communicates with the interpreter via a two-way video link using compatible equipment, whereas the interpreter and the hearing user communicate telephonically.
• Multi-function communications unit: allows choice of means of communication and will embody functions such as: email, videoconferencing, facsimile/drawing tablet and corresponding display, Web access, and TTY.
• Mobile unit: enabling mobile text telephony

The project also aims to better understand the approach to raising awareness and skilling Deaf and hard of hearing people in the use of online services, with a particular focus on email and chat.

Usability of the prototypes is being evaluated by analysing interviews, focus groups and observations of Deaf users. The project will identify ways the services may be improved for these users. Feasible locations for technologies and applications will be determined: in the workplace, public locations such as VicDeaf, and in the home.

Technical requirements for use in Australian conditions will be determined, for example inter-working, standards, and bandwidth required. Terminal specifications will also be determined. The project will also examine expected costs for access in various locations: set up and ongoing operation, and consideration of options for government subsidy.

The project is being conducted by a consortium of Deaf community organisations, research centres, and service providers.

The presentation is downloadable as a powerpoint zip file (185kb).