How Video-Chat App Glide Got Deaf People Talking
Israeli startup Glide found out that its videoconferencing app was a hit among deaf people—and is now championing the community.
Email, text messaging, and chat apps might seem the perfect tools for deaf people to communicate. But those with little or no hearing are a visual bunch, and many prefer sign language, says Claude Stout, executive director of TDI, an organization that promotes equal-access technology for the deaf and hard of hearing. "We show the nuances of communication," says Stout, through a sign interpreter. "And we use our expressions to show our feelings, and show that we are happy or sad or concerned or upset, just like you can hear those nuances in a person's voice." And signers can talk fast, says Stout, at up to 200 words per minute. Furthermore, signing is often the native language for those who use it. Moving to the keyboard means switching to a second language.