TTY stands for Text Telephone (or Teletypewriter for the Deaf). It is also sometimes called a TDD, or Telecommunication Device for the Deaf. TTY is the more widely accepted term, however, as TTYs are used by many people, not just people who are deaf.
A TTY-TeleType or TeleTyperwriter, is an electronic device that permits people with hearing and/or speech limitations to communicate over the standard telephone lines without the aid of an interpreter. The TTY allow you to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. A TTY is required at both ends of the conversation in order to communicate.
To use a TTY, you set a telephone handset onto special acoustic cups built into the TTY (some TTY models can be plugged directly into a telephone line). Then, type the message you want to send on the TTY's keyboard. As you type, the message is sent over the phone line, just like your voice would be sent over the phone line if you talked. You can read the other person's response on the TTY's text display.
If you don't have a TTY, you can still call a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired by using the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS). With TRS, a special operator types whatever you say so that the person you are calling can read your words on his or her TTY display. He or she will type back a response, which the TRS operator will read aloud for you to hear over the phone. Toll free TRS services are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Origins
A deaf man introduced an invention to help the deaf to speak on the phone. The invention was an electronic device called an acoustic coupler that enables typewritten communication over the telephone through the use of a teletypewriter (TTD). In 1982, there were over 150,000 TTY sets in the
Not only are they in deaf people's homes, but in many public places, businesses, airline reservation desks, police, fire departments, hospitals and schools. Because of this invention, deaf people can now one step closer towards equal enjoyment of the technological luxuries and necessities of modern culture.
