Finding movie listings these days is a relatively simple process, with multiple outlets publishing show times on the Web and via mobile applications. But if you're deaf, hard of hearing or visually impaired it can be tough to find an accessible theater. Chris Sano and Brendan Gramer are on a mission to change that with Captionfish, an online directory which shows movie times for local theaters that include captioning, subtitles and descriptive audio. [...] more »

Deaf people are still underprovided for by media, he said, but new technology, including user-generated apps, is facilitating the development of content for ... [...] more »

The emergence of video MMS and chat, in particular, keep the deaf and hard of hearing connected—all the while preserving sign language [...] more »

Researchers from Washington State University in Seattle are close to developing a system for video conferencing on smart phones for the deaf and hearing ... [...] more »

We all know what it's like to send a text message or e-mail whose tone is completely misinterpreted. A series of additional messages to better explain ourselves ensues and the efficiency of the original message is long gone. That's one reason engineers at the University of Washington are testing a tool called MobileASL that uses motion detection to identify American Sign Language and transmit images over U.S. cell networks. Sometimes, words alone just don't cut it. [...] more »

In my desperation, I decided to set up a website--bf4life-hearing--which would serve as a social community for teens and tweens, who are deaf/hard of ... [...] more »

Blogger Shannon Rosa handed an iPad won in a raffle to her 9-year old autistic son and was amazed to watch him interact with the device with little training. He immediately became one with the iPad and spent lots of time with educational programs — spelling, counting and other learning tools. [...] more »

According to the patent filed with the US Patent & Trademark Office the upcoming Kinect motion control device for the XBox 360 may have the ability to read American Sign Language. [...] more »

A patent from Microsoft relating to their controller-free gaming system, Kinect, has revealed that it will also be able to recognise American Sign Language (or ASL), allowing deaf or mute people to potentially join in chats across Xbox live, or more. According to reports, anyone proficient in ASL will even be able to input phrases. [...] more »

New upgrades solve the two biggest problems with voice-mail transcription: providing the highest accuracy ever, and identifying the caller by voice. [...] more »

Hard of hearing your cell’s ring tone? Don’t worry, the latest handset Amplicom M6000 is there for you to solve your problems. The cell phone with a 100 decibel ring tone, as loud as a South African vuvuzela, has finally been launched. [...] more »

Text messaging has become a staple for communication in the deaf community. Rann Gordon, the director of deaf services at EH Gentry, ... [...] more »

A video on captioned radio can be seen at NPR Labs' website, showing demonstrations of captioned radio for use of the deaf and hard of ... [...] more »

THE DEAF COULD COMMUNICATE with the hearing using a speech to signing translator developed by IBM. Called 'Say it Sign it', it uses a speech recognition ... [...] more »

Deaf and hearing impaired people can soon have real-time phone conversations with friends and family using a new technology similar to ... [...] more »