FOR Andrew Wiltshire, video smart phones have broken the final barrier. The 45-year-old is fourth-generation deaf - ''I've never known what it is to be hearing'' - but he says by using his iPhone for video messaging he has unleashed his ability to sign to people directly.
''Finally, with deaf people, we can become mobile. We can go around and still communicate,'' the employment services manager said.
''It means I'm not disadvantaged or behind. I'm with everyone else … my hearing mates, we're all on an equal footing. I feel more confident and more able to do things.''
Advertisement: Story continues below Mr Wiltshire has been using the iPhone for about a year to send video messages to friends. Before that, he was stuck with text messages or pixilated computer images. Conversation would be stilted; messages would take time to go back and forth.
''Now I have instant contact,'' he says. ''With deaf people, I can communicate when I want. In the past we've had to really rely on other people to do things for us. We might feel quite dependent. With the changes in technology, it's probably broken down the last barrier.''
Uptake among the deaf has been reasonably slow. The technology is new. And expensive.
''The take-up is certainly improving,'' said Tony Bennetts, the chief information officer of the Australian Communications Exchange, which provides video interpreters for the deaf.
''It hasn't been too significant, probably for one major reason - a lot of individuals in the deaf community are usually of the lower socio-economic [group] and the take-up of smart phones at $1000 a pop is a bit hard.''
But Mr Bennetts said there was a greater level of adoption among younger people. ''The opportunity with video is to do so much more,'' he said.
''A signing person is now able to have a conversation at the normal speed. It really is a great advancement.''
Since March last year the federal government has subsidised smart phones for the signing deaf. The government does not keep data on the number of phones this scheme covers but said demand had increased consistently since the scheme started.
''Deaf people are under-represented in the workforce and the costs of Auslan interpreting can be a disincentive for some employers to employ people with disability,'' a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations said.
''The Employment Assistance Fund may provide financial assistance to help employers with costs [to employ] people with disability. Access to new technologies included in some smart phones enables people who are deaf to communicate with work colleagues as required, improving their work productivity and capacity to work independently.''
