I repeat my comment from the blog post - the real question here is whether we should expect companies to communicate with us using the method we want or should we communicate the way the company wants. The internet is moving us more towards the former every day.
Stop asking me for my phone number
61–70 of 82 posts
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#62I just use a google voice number set to transcribe all incoming calls and email. Unless someone has a very inconvenient accent, it seems to work well. I'm not deaf, merely antisocial.
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I will give anyone here that wants to do this a boat load of Twilio credit to get started. Email me jsheehan@twilio.com
I think we've got enough people that have emailed me interested that this problem is going to be solved soon.
Here's the first go at the number: (415) 329-5992
It's just using the basic Twilio text to speech, but I'll get a proper recording in there so it's easier to understand shortly. Website should be up in a day or so. Any feedback is appreciated.
If anyone wants to pitch in with some ideas on how to provide a better service or wants to hack together, let me know!
So far, I'm planning to put up numbers for major metro areas, and possibly allow for personal numbers that will either transcribe and email messages to the owner or go some sort of SMS route.
Also, if anyone has a contact at nad.org, please let them know.
DISCLAIMER: this is for good karma only, any ideas for this other than not for profit will be turned down :)
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm deaf. Not sure about other countries, but here in the US we have free video relay services that have a number attached to your account. Calls go to a video interpreter, who will also take messages for you. I don't particularly like dealing with calls either, but for the times when I must, my cell number forwards to VRS. Problem solved.
As a hearing person who has communicated with deaf people over relay service, let me tell you it sucks just as much being on the other end of a relay call. It seems to have all the disadvantages of email and phone rolled into one, with just enough added latency over a straight phone call to be annoying. I wish I had an alternative to suggest, but whether anybody likes it or not, every so often, hearing-impaired peopl…
While VRS is probably the closest to real-time voice communication, it's similar to speaking through a synchronous translator for another language. I've done synchro work and it's not the best way. No wonder so many political gestures get miscommunicated at conferences!
I'd say SMS and chat are far better (or email), as you are actually communicating with the person directly.
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#65According to some brief research, it looks like somewhere around 0.33% of Americans under 85 are deaf, and around 4% are hard of hearing [1]. I find it preposterous to optimize for that small section of the user population at the expense of the overwhelming number of our users who tell us that phone is their preferred method of contact. We're probably going to continue asking for a phone number, because many users wo…
Besides accessibility being enshrined in law in many places there are lots of people that simply don't like giving their phone number and/or being called. Giving your users multiple options for communication is a no-brainer.
> Besides accessibility being enshrined in law in many places
This is already resolved by the phone company for hearing impaired people. It's not as if phones just popped up. They've been around for a bit longer then the internet.
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#66Whenever I notice customer service requires speaking on the phone, I'm fairly sure that they do that to avoid having a record of their conversation. +1 to public pressure to force these guys to support the sense disabled. But you can't combat that with government regulation- at least not in any sensible way. Instead, lobby Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Opera to enforce accessibility via page warnings, etc. That may actually be something that the government could help with - working with these companies and standards committees to ensure representation of the disabled.
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#67Whenever I notice customer service requires speaking on the phone, I'm fairly sure that they do that to avoid having a record of their conversation. +1 to public pressure to force these guys to support the sense disabled. But you can't combat that with government regulation- at least not in any sensible way. Instead, lobby Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Opera to enforce accessibility via page warnings, etc. T…
Nope, when calling customer service, almost all say "This conversation may be recorded for quality insurance".
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#68According to some brief research, it looks like somewhere around 0.33% of Americans under 85 are deaf, and around 4% are hard of hearing [1]. I find it preposterous to optimize for that small section of the user population at the expense of the overwhelming number of our users who tell us that phone is their preferred method of contact. We're probably going to continue asking for a phone number, because many users wo…
By all means, have a field in your forms for "phone number". Just don't make it a required field.
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#69Whenever I notice customer service requires speaking on the phone, I'm fairly sure that they do that to avoid having a record of their conversation. +1 to public pressure to force these guys to support the sense disabled. But you can't combat that with government regulation- at least not in any sensible way. Instead, lobby Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Opera to enforce accessibility via page warnings, etc. T…
Nope, when calling customer service, almost all say "This conversation may be recorded for quality insurance".
Something you might find useful: that standard statement also gives you permission to record the call yourself.
(You may or may not need such permission, depending on your legal jurisdiction.)
Re: Stop asking me for my phone number
#70According to some brief research, it looks like somewhere around 0.33% of Americans under 85 are deaf, and around 4% are hard of hearing [1]. I find it preposterous to optimize for that small section of the user population at the expense of the overwhelming number of our users who tell us that phone is their preferred method of contact. We're probably going to continue asking for a phone number, because many users wo…
What service are you running where the "overwhelming number of [y]our users" tell you that phone is their preferred method of contact? As I wrote on the blog, email allows me to: - respond when it’s convenient for me. - keep most of my attention on what I’m doing. - archive and share the correspondence easily. - filter content I don’t want to hear anymore. - remain anonymous. - make careful, researched, edited respon…
I prefer phone for urgent and important matters like bank transactions , for others i prefer email, i can think before replying to them , it will help both parties ,if the email is framed properly, there will be no need for further converstions. But yeah reply does take time , it would be good if we include a php script that lets us know if they had opened our mail or not.
And for physically impaired people , there must be an option for SMS , as he said it is 2011 and technology helps :)