The Deaf and Hearing Support Service at a major city college have recently adopted 'Text-Connect™' to improve the accessibility of their services to deaf and hearing impaired students.

The Service provides support for any student with a hearing loss or communication needs, including those using British Sign Language (BSL) and lip reading. The Service currently supports around 50 students

Deaf and Hard of Hearing students find text messaging a convenient way to communicate. To facilitate this Text-Connect™ gives each member of the Deaf Support Staff their own 'Text-Number' making it easy for students to contact staff.

Student messages are read and replies are sent from staff desktop computers removing the need for each member of staff to have a mobile. The web based system is 'always on' avoiding the possibility of lost student messages.

The team leader, says "Text-Connect™ saves us time because messages can be sent and received on our desktop PCs. Messages are quick to compose using a keyboard and arrive with the student almost instantly."

Staff can access their messages from any College computer with web access, and incoming messages can be automatically forwarded to other team members as emails or as texts to personal mobile's should 'after hours' cover be required.

She continues "Text-Connect make us more accessible. Students keep our text-numbers in their phones and their messages arrive on our desktop almost instantly. The system also allows staff to manage text messaging with students in a way which is not possible with office mobiles. "

No software or hardware had to be installed, making the system quick and easy to implement. Little or no formal training was required due to the intuitive, user friendly nature of Text-Connect™.