Historical information

TTY means a Text Telephone, or is sometimes referred to as a Telephone typewriter or telecommunication device for the Deaf. TTY is the more widely accepted term, however, many people use TTYs, not just people who are deaf. A TTY is a special device that lets people who are deaf, hearing impaired, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth. With early TTY models (such as in the photos) you set a telephone handset onto special acoustic cups built into the TTY. As you type, the message is sent over the telephone line, just as your voice would be sent over the telephone line if you talked. You can read the other person's response on the TTY's text display.

Significance

These photos are significant as they record the introduction of TTY technology at Vicdeaf. TTY technology is a text-based system for communicating over phone lines and its introduction made the deaf and hearing impaired less isolated.

Physical description

Size 20.5cmHx25.5cmW; 5 photographs