AOL Brings IM to Hearing Impaired

AOL is offering a beta version of its AIM instant messaging software with a real-time feature that brings TTY-like conversations to instant messaging.

AOL has released a beta version 6.8 of its AIM instant messaging program that includes a Real-Time IM feature that lets users see each letter IM users type in real time, rather than waiting for a friend or buddy to press the Enter or Return key and send a whole phrase or sentence. Developed with guidance from Gallaudet University and the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Wisconsin, the new capability lets instant messaging function in a way immediately familiar to users of TTY devices, commonly used by the deaf or hearing-impaired in place of telephones.

“As a member of the deaf community and an active user of instant messaging, I knew there had to be a way for people like me to combine the familiarity of messaging on a TTY with a quick and popular online IM service such as AIM,” said Norman Williams, a senior research engineer for Gallaudet’s Technology Access Program, and developer of the real-time IM prototype. “This was a priority for me to build and I’m so pleased that AOL has chosen to incorporate this feature into AIM for the great benefit of deaf and hard of hearing users.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 32 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss, ranging from minor impairments through tinnitus, partial deafness, and complete deafness.

To access the new feature, users just select “Real-Time IM” inside an instant messaging window, or select a buddy from the Buddy List and press Control-R. Both users must have a version of AIM which supports Real-Time IM for the feature to work.