Research Pact Benefitting People With Hearing Disabilities Signed

Federal Communications Chairman Tom Wheeler and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Deputy Director Dr. Marie A. Bernard signed an agreement to partner on research into the use of modern IP technology to improve and make more accessible phone service to Americans who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard of hearing.

Under the joint agreement, the FCC will collaborate with the NIA to develop and support research plans for assessing Internet Protocol (IP) technologies that can benefit older adults with hearing disabilities or deafness. Such benefits could be incorporated into the FCC’s Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) program, which enables people with disabilities to do what most Americans take for granted: make a simple phone call. The interagency Memorandum of Understanding establishes guidelines for the two agencies to work together on objective, rigorous research into the current and anticipated use of IP-based relay technologies to provide service to people who are deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing. Specifically, the research plans will assess and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and consumer response to current and future approaches to delivering TRS, including automated speech-to-text and video plus automated speech-to-text technologies.