Phones for the Deaf (emf2026)

Have you ever gotten a call from a relay operator who wants to connect you with someone who's using a text phone? Did you hang up? Stop it! I want to tell you about the past, present, and future of textphones, and how deaf people and people with difficulty speaking communicate with phone users. Finally, I want you to stop hanging up on me! Let's look at the systems behind different assistive technologies, how they are used, and the people who keep them running- people who are some of the last operators in the phone network today. From early POTS tone systems for the first landlines to modern apps, we'll see how a tiny but vital corner of the phone system works. This talk will be presented in spoken English with live captioning. I am a hearing English and BSL speaker. I have used textphones and relay phone services since childhood and have worked in phone technology and technology accessibility for a number of years. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/76-phones-for-the-deaf