Technology, Tactile

Definition of Deaf-Blindness

Based on the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) definition, Deaf-Blindness is both hearing and vision loss often resulting in the need for specific educational placements to help facilitate the styles of learning for Deaf-Blind children to foster language, literacy, and independence in adulthood. Some methods used to comprehend the world include tactile sign language, close-vision sign language, fingerspelling, writing notes in large print or Braille, print-on-palm, tactile symbols, and touch cues. Individuals who are Deaf-Blind who have residual hearing often use assistive technology devices with spoken language. Those who are primarily Deaf often use signed communication comprehensible through residual sight or through tactile sign language.

Challenges to Deaf-Blind Technology Access

Affordable adaptations to technology are needed with consideration for the wants of individuals who are Deaf-Blind as well as qualified trainers and services. Numerous barriers exist to technological adaptations, such as a lack of funding available for assistive devices, the high cost of adaptive technology, and lack of available training for Deaf-Blind individuals to gain much needed skills in using adaptive equipment. Additionally, many technologies are designed exclusively for people who are Blind, or for those who are Deaf; few devices are designed with the needs of those who understand the world largely through tactile methods.

Legislation

In 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). The legislation requires smartphones, television programs, and other communications technologies to be accessible to people and provides improved access to television programming, smartphones, the Internet, and program guides on cable television. The legislation mandates that mobile phone companies make Web browsers, text messaging, and e-mail on smartphones fully accessible; restore and expand requirements for video description of television programs; and ensure individuals with vision loss have access to emergency broadcast information. Additionally, the legislation provides $10 million in funding each year for assistive technology for individuals who are Deaf-Blind. Specialized equipment can be very expensive. This money can be used to [Page 954]assess an individual to figure out what equipment meets his or her needs, to purchase and install the equipment, and to train the individual to use the equipment.

Haptic Technology

Haptics is any form of nonverbal communication involving touch. Haptic technology is a tactile feedback technology that uses the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. Many Deaf-Blind individuals gather almost all of their information about the world through their haptic senses and often rely on them for communication.

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