In this section, you can find papers, speeches, presentations and other documents that relate to the RNID New Technologies activities and the barriers experienced by deaf and hard of hearing people in the Information Society. While some of these documents are written for mainstream audiences, a lot of the information here is specifically written for technical audiences or for manufacturers or service providers seeking detailed guidance. You can also find a lot of policy and regulatory documents on these pages.
We live in a world where the ability to communicate effectively is crucial to anyone who wishes to participate as a fully enabled citizen. In this section, we provide papers and presentations about the requirements of deaf and hard of hearing people as well as the solutions that we have developed.
It is not always easy for deaf and hard of hearing people to find the right solutions. Our buyer's guides provide help in selecting the right products and/or services, considering the needs of deaf and hard of hearing people and thereby helping them fulfil their full potential as enabled citizens in the Information Society.
The World Wide Web has rapidly become a key tool for information and service delivery. Deaf and hard of hearing people face specific barriers in accessing and using the web. The Web also plays a key role in the provision of eGovernment services. This section discusses the requirements of deaf and hard of hearing people in general as well as with regard to eGovernment specifically.
Automatic Speech Recognition technology has been under development for decades and clearly offers great potential to overcome some of the barriers that deaf and hard of hearing people face in communicating with the rest of society. Yet, it remains bound by fairly strict limitations, especially with regard to natural language. This section sets out what the current state of technology is in this field and what is and is not yet possible.
Standards play a crucial part in how technology products and services are implemented. This section contains several papers and standards of relevance to deaf and hard of hearing people. The work of the New Technologies team within IETF can also be found here.
Technology does not exist in isolation, but is part of a wider societal context. Legislation and regulation play an important role in how products and services are designed and can be of great importance for what services and support deaf and hard of hearing people have to their disposal. This section contains the formal RNID responses to relevant consultations and other policy matters.
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