Strategic Initiatives

1. Introduction

1.1 Objectives
1.2 Scope
1.3 Report Structure

Canadian citizens make millions of telephone calls each year to federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations. Federal policies require that all communications with the public be accessible, courteous and effective, and that the differing communications needs of Canadians are taken into account. The Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of federal programs and services. It also requires that citizens’ special needs arising from a disability must be accommodated to the point of undue hardship.

Canadians who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, or have a speech impediment,¹ have special requirements with regard to telephone communication with governmental organizations, as they cannot use the regular telephone system to communicate. In recognition of this fact, many government agencies (but, as discussed later, not all) advertise the availability of a teletypewriter (TTY) line.

A TTY² is a device that enables Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people, and people with a speech impediment, to communicate via telephone using a text-based system. TTYs have been in use for over 25 years.

TTYs are not the only way of communicating with people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, or have a speech impediment. The increasing use of e-mail and text messaging, among other technologies, has broken down many communications barriers. Emerging technologies will bring more progress in the future and may, in time, supplant the use of TTYs. At the moment, however, TTYs are still the most widely used devices for communicating with people who cannot use the standard telephone network. They are also the only devices currently available that can replicate the type of interactive communication of a regular telephone conversation.³ TTYs and other available technologies are discussed in more detail in the Background section of this report.

It should be emphasised that the key issue, however, is communication between the government and its citizens and not the technological means by which that is to be achieved. Testing TTYs, as was done in this study, is a means of assessing the current level and quality of communication with citizens who cannot use the regular telephone system. This, however, does not imply that TTYs will remain the only or the best way to achieve the goal of effective communications.

Studies carried out by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC or the Commission) and other groups in the 1980s and mid-1990s showed that although the availability of TTY services was advertised to the public, only a few of these TTY lines were operational (as revealed when test calls were made to these services).

The Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) carried out its own studies, which indicated similarly discouraging results. CAD brought its concerns to the attention of the Commission and requested that the Commission see what could be done to improve this situation.

The Commission subsequently contracted with Consulting and Audit Canada to conduct a study, reported on herein, to determine the effectiveness of TTY services offered by federal departments, Crown corporations and agencies.

1.1 Objectives

The objectives of this study are two-fold:

• provide objective baseline data on the availability, accessibility, effectiveness and quality of TTY services provided by federal organizations; and

• make recommendations for improving the provision of telephonic communications services for people who cannot use the regular telephone system.

1.2 Scope

The assessment of the availability, accessibility, effectiveness and quality of TTY services provided by federal organizations included the following:

• consulting advocacy groups;

• hiring qualified experts who understand the communications needs of people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, or have a speech impediment, and who have experience in using telephonic systems of communication designed for these groups; and

• evaluating a sample of federal departments and agencies to determine whether they provide TTYs and whether their TTY service operates effectively.

1.3 Report Structure

The next section, Background, discusses previous studies done in this area, current statistics related to Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people, and available communications technology.

The Legislative and Policy Authorities section examines applicable legislation and policies, and attempts to identify some of their limitations.

The Approach and Methodology section describes this project in more detail, especially the steps taken to review government communication with people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, or have a speech impediment.

The results of this review and the analysis of these results are presented in sections 5 and 6, respectively.

Section 7 lists recommendations.

Brief descriptions of advocacy groups and their missions are included in Appendix A.

1. These are distinct groups with differing communications needs and differing degrees of reliance on TTYs. "Deaf" people, written with a capital D, refers to those individuals who identify with and participate in the language, society and culture of Deaf people, which is based on sign language. “Deafened” individuals have grown up hearing or hard of hearing but their hearing has become non-functional. Their primary means of communication has become visual (lip-reading, print based) rather than auditory in nature. “Hard of hearing” individuals have a hearing loss ranging from slight to severe, and use primarily an auditory means of communication. Some hard of hearing use amplified telephones, others use a TTY. (Source: “What To Do When Your Client Can’t Hear You” Sinclair, 1994)

2. TTYs make interactive, text-based communications possible by transmitting coded signals across the telephone network. TTYs are also called TDDs (telecommunications devices for the Deaf) or text telephones. They can comprise custom equipment, or a modem and software on a computer. What all TTYs have in common is their use of the Baudot code, as opposed to computer ASCII code (although some use both).

3. Text messaging and on-line chat services provide this capability, but they generally cannot yet be used within a government technology environment because of computer security concerns.

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