Deafnet (or DEAFNET) was created as a demonstration project in 1978 by

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

(previously known as Stanford Research Institute) at Washington's

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school ...

for the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

. It was funded by The

United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

to demonstrate the advantages of

e-mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

for deaf people. Deafnet was the first real use of the

telecommunications device for the deaf A telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) is a teleprinter, an electronic device for text communication over a telephone line, that is designed for use by persons with hearing or speech difficulties. Other names for the device include te ...

. Deafnet offered a way for hearing impaired people, whose information sources have previously been limited by their available channels of communication, to interact with and benefit from the new communications-based society. Deafnet was designed as a Computer System, integrating devices designed for hearing impaired users as well as standard computer terminals. DEAFNET also introduced real time 'chat' in which users could converse in real time using text. The standard equipment consisted of a Zenith ZT-1 terminal, a Superphone (a terminal with built-in coupler that allows for either Baudot or ASCII hookup as well as a 1000 character buffer), and an Epson printer. The Superphone device retailed for $495 in 1981. DEAFNET was considered a viable alternative for reduced costs in telecommunications for the deaf, however the advent of ASCII compatible terminals and eventually the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

superseded its need.

References and External links

Deafnet at SRI's web site
{{deaf-stub Gallaudet University SRI International Hearing loss Telecommunication services