The American With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) both prohibits discrimination and guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in employment, State and local government services; including public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation.
The Act further provides for the establishment of TDD/telephone relay services.  TDD is a telecommunications device for the deaf. It is also a teleprinter that allows for communication over a telephone line designed for use by individuals with speech and hearing challenges. The government also uses the designation TTY, teletypewriter, a device similar in size to a typewriter to display typed text electronically. These devices enable people to communicate who can hear but not speak or who cannot hear but are able to speak.
With the advancement of communications technology, more and more persons with disabilities are using current market-driven devices and technology.  These modern modes of technology are multi-functional. Devices are voice activated as well as text capable making it easier to answer the needs of persons with hearing and speaking challenges.  TDD/TTY devices will inevitably take on a new designation as internet based protocol drives the communications industry.
There is a unique history behind the concern for persons with disabilities to be able to communicate with their hearing and speaking counterparts. The TDD concept was started by James C. Marsters who became deaf as in infant due to scarlet fever. Marsters was a dentist and a private pilot. He partnered with a deaf physicist, Robert Weitbrecht and Andrew Saks, an electrical engineer and grandson of the founder of the famed Saks Fifth Avenue department store conglomerate, to found Applied Communications Corporation (APCOM). From the partnership a modem device was constructed that enabled AT&T’s standard Model 500 telephone to work in tandem with the modem to transmit and receive unique tones generated by the varied TTY keys.
The partners actually collected old teleprinter machines (TTYs) from the Department of Defense (DOD) and junkyards. Around the 1970s another group of innovators (Kit Patrick Corson, a deaf news anchor and interpreter; Michael Cannon and Physicist, Art Ogawa) designed the first electronic portable TTY allowing for two way telecommunication. Micon (Michael Cannon) took over the marketing of MCM and brokered a deal with Pacific Bell to purchase MCMs and rent them to deaf telephone subscribers for a small monthly service fee.  The alliance formed between APCOM and Micon petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission that resulted in a tariff paid for TTY devices distributed without cost to the deaf. These men were pioneers in securing rights for the disabled.
AT&T received the James C.Marsters Promotion Award in 2009, honored for its role in increasing access to communications for persons with disabilities.  AT&T is the same company that opposed efforts to implement TTY technology in the 60s. AT&T alleged that implementing TTY technology would put its communication equipment in peril. Because of AT&Ts resistance to implementing the technology to aid the deaf and hard-of-hearing, the Federal Communications Commission did not uphold the assertions of AT&T and mandated them to offer TTY access to its service network.
There is little mentioned at least to the hearing community and one would suspect also to the hearing impaired about the gallant efforts of these men to ensure the inclusion of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in America’s conversation. Modern technology – email, texting, instant messaging, and voice activation devices make it easier for the disabled to stay connected to the world they live in. With the advancement of modern communication technology, TDD and other devices are proclaimed legacy devices with a limited life expectancy.
It is unimaginable what the world might have looked like for the disabled if a few very highly-abled human beings had not been driven to say – Why should I be restricted from hearing what everybody else is capable of hearing? Why should I be denied the right to express my opinion because my method of communicating is different from yours? Perhaps, had that little baby not developed scarlet fever and lost his hearing, our nation might have waited far too long to find an impetus to safeguard persons with disabilities, recognize their challenges and afford them equal opportunity.
The Americans With Disabilities Act changed the world for persons with disabilities. The Act also changed the world for persons without disabilities calling to action, the responsibility of the nation to protect all of its citizens from discrimination and unequal hiring opportunities. The ADA is alive and well, but far too many employees in the workplace are penalized, not necessarily because they have a documented disability, but because managers and supervisors do not fully understand the parameters, guidelines and policies governing the ADA.
It is evident that this premise is unfortunately prevalent in workplaces all over the United States, both in the public and private sectors, underscored by the number of grievances and complaints registered to agency EEO offices and escalated either to the EEOC or Federal District Court. The legislation is on the books, but its implementation has not risen to parallel its intent. Many human resources individuals fail to understand their role in promulgating policies governing ADA.   More training is needed.
Can and should more be done to highlight and bring greater awareness to the importance of ADA and the responsibility of the entire workforce to recognize discrimination by its various names and work exceedingly hard to make sure it is outlawed both by action and deed?
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
Dianna Tafazoli
