Voice and the Rights of the Deaf

To the general SL public:

This may not be the right place to voice this, but I wanted to put this concern of mine out on the table. I have sent the following letter to Linden Labs, but feel the need to express it here as well, and at least continue a discussion.

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To whom it may concern:

My name is Hraefn Theas (in world), and I am writing to express my concern over the upcoming roll-out of Voice in SecondLife.

I have been a SecondLife user since earlier this year, and have enjoyed being able to bring my creativity, my personality, and my second-self to fruition using your technology. Sure, I've put up with the occasional grid failure, lag, and other technical issues, but as a constantly-developing world, I realise this comes with the territory.

What I have also come to enjoy about SecondLife is the concept of being able to assume the life of a person that is beyond the person I am now. On a whim, I can go from being an average Joe, to taking on the shape of any number of creatures, wearing clothes and skins of a billion different combinations. I can be whomever I want to be, and go as far as my imagination takes me. I can also interact with people who are also taking part in this great social experiment, known as SL.

With the coming of Voice, however, this Second Life is turning a corner. I start with your statement:

Welcome to Second Life. We are a global community working together to build a new online space for creativity, collaboration, commerce, and entertainment. We strive to bridge cultures and welcome diversity. We believe in free expression, compassion and tolerance as the foundation for community in this new world.

I only bring this statement to this e-mail because of my concern for the rights of the hearing impaired. I, fortunately, am not a person with this disability. I am, however, a friend of a person who is. He has explained to me that SL, with voice, has lost it's attraction. He feels excluded from the party, so-to-speak, and because conversations will be held in an audible format, he will no longer be able to partake in those conversations. Myself, a Linux user, have experienced this first-hand, with the First Look release of Voice, and to be completely honest, it was not only off-putting, but it really made me second-guess my SecondLife experience. I feel that the wants of the many are overshadowing the needs of a few.

I know you probably have many many e-mails to sort through, but I really felt like this was something I needed to address with your company. I know that your mission statement reflects the values of your company, and that your always working hard to achieve the goals this statement lays out for you. I am just very concerned that by being over-zealous with the technology for your users, you have subsequently barred another population from being able to enjoy and take full-participation in the SecondLife experience.

I know I am but one voice in a sea of thousands, if not millions, but I hope that you take a moment to listen to me.
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Hraefn Theas (in-world)


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I know this only affects a minority of users to SL, but I wanted to put it out there, just to see if there were any reactions or discussion regarding this issue.

Thank you for reading my post.

-Hraefn

Essentially though there is no change to how your friend communicates as typing is always still there to use... as indeed it will be for those that take up the opportunity to use the added voice function within SL - after all, it is meant as an added function and not a replacement for text chat.

It is down to the individuals in how they exclude others in a voice enabled sim, if they are the type of people who exclude individuals just because someone chooses not to use voice or is unable to because of deafness for example, then you would have to consider if they are worth bothering about in the first place.

I hope this does not come over as callous but the argument seems to be that a feature which is not able to be used by your friend should not be released because they cannot make use of it, but its ok to ask to deny a percentage of the other users who can use it.

After all, in the email he mentions the rights of the hearing impaired, but what of the rights of the hearing?

Looks like a case of Lindens are damned if they do and damned if they don't incorprate voice as far as that argument goes - as one side will ultimately be losing out.

It still comes down to the fact that text chat is still an option even to those that use voice and if what they are saying is so important, they will convey what they have to say in chat as well... at least as far as events/important announcements go. But surely a simple request of them to type any messages in chat would suffice and if they dont respond in kind then as said before they aren't really worth listening to.

On a lighter note there is the little issue of the voice client being reported as being flaky as hell at the moment, so maybe its a blessing not be able to use it and hearing the garbled screams of disgruntled users

It's an optional feature that many aren't even using. If his friends can't accommodate him not being able to text only, it's time to choose new friends.

Does he not have any voice to text software?

LL cannot handle every aspect of every disability (including my own), nor do I expect them to.


I'm sure those with disabilities will have a lot of compassion about your rough go with Linux. Poor Hraefn.

I can't say this without sounding unsympathetic I'msorry, but Deaf Persons have no "Rights" in SL. Just as Hearing persons have no "Rights". We are all in Second Life at the pleasure of LL, they can do anything they want with it. We are allowe to use SL in the manner that LL dictates. Harsh but true.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to read my post. It wasn't a reach for sympathy, just a mention of a concern. I figured, if I wanted to speak up, the forums would be the place to do it (no pun intended).

Your frustrations are understood and felt, at least by me. But that doesn't do much good.

I feel for you guys and hope it doesn't ruin too badly what has probably been nearly 100% communication thing till integrated voice, but also suspect voice is not as popular as many fear, it was big the first couple of nights , now many keep turning it off because no one else is on it any way and I prefer to talk to the whole room rather than just half of the room.
Trying to deny others the opportunity for using voice could be like blind people trying to deny people the right to use text rather than audio.
Deaf people playing other games online don't campaign against Teamspeak & Skype users do they?

It's not that the voice feature itself is causing the issue, it is what it causes in terms of psychology to people who use it.

Many people adopt the use of voice, and come to expect it of others. Some of those people even go so far as to discriminate, and even a few begin to show moderate to rabid intolerance for anyone who doesn't use it, for whatever reason.

It is not the fault of the feature; it is the fault of the users, who allow themselves to become intolerant imbeciles because the feature offers a path of least resistance to that kind of behavior.

As a result, what you need to do is to report any harassment or overt intolerance which becomes hostile, and you should also put those who practice such on your ignore/mute lists, and feel free to ban them from any land you own or control. Just like all other kinds of intolerance, you should be proactive in your response to it so those people then have the incentive again to not be malignant cancers on the community.

That's my policy, anyway. People who harass me or my friends/community even in the slightest about voice get muted/ignored, and potentially banned. I've been through this crap before; I've seen what it does to people first-hand, and I will have no truck with it. Period. Neither should anyone else.

I agree with the OP about his concerns for his friend and for others with this disability. Second Life is a cutting edge social space and with that comes their own version of cutting edge with new additions like voice. I remember recently a post on the blog where they spoke of reasons why they included shiny in the textures tab, and why scuplties were included, it was for the people who want it to have it. The same goes with voice here.

That said, changes can mean changing the way you operate, like in rl you have to adapt to change, and if you dont wish to adapt to change then on your own back be it.

As a suggestion to your friend and others, while sl is now voice enabled, you will find 2 things to be true. Firstly voice isnt the big bonanza you think it is, i know myriads of people that use it briefly to get things across that would take much longer to explain in text, and 2, while the voice ability exists it will only be adopted in regions it makes sense. For instance if your friend is part of a larger group of people that frequent certain sims it might be a good idea to kindly ask the sim owner if a region could be set aside as text only, maybe a discussion room, or a club set aside for people with the disability.

Sl voice has arrived but the people of sl have been here alot longer, and as we always do, we find a way to keep enjoying ourselves, and i wish you and your friends much luck in their second personality

I think with some many people not fond of voice coming, it will still be easy to find many places that are not voice enabled, and still depend on text only. There should be plenty of places available for both sides of the voice debate fence.

Ok, I'm not deaf, but...
I use linux, and currently, voice isn't working for it.
I don't speak english natively, and reading english is much easyer for me then hearing english, as I can look again at the words I didn't understand.
I just plain prefere typing above speaking. I can better think about what I'm "talking", and I can correct myself without anyone noticing.

Is voice an offense to me? No. I will most likely never use it. I will go on typing, and most people I know in SL will do the same.

Are deaf people offended? Maybe they feel that way, but I doubt that it is an actuall offense. I mean, they still can type, and if they are deaf-mute, still nobody needs to learn sign language like in RL.

And at last, we don't prohibit speaking in RL, just because deaf people can't hear us... Why should we prohibit it in SL?

Although it is a valid concern to consider ALL humans equally, and fashion as many devices as possible with hearing-impaired instruments, there are just some cases where the focus should not be the impaired, but the majority.

Do you think gaming companies think of the hearing impaired when they roll out their new games? Other than subtitles (which is for clarity concerns, just as much for hearing impaired) there are no implementations specifically for the impaired.

And there really can't be, nor should be. What about blind people? Should gaming companies consider these less fortunate folks when creating their new IPs? At least the hearing impaired can see text, and type a response. The blind don't have that leisure.

Just food for thought.

It's a necessary evil, and one we can not avoid--at least not in this case.

I don`t understand your point from the poster above. Your saying they dont have too be? Well If you know anything about ADA "Americans with Disabilities Act" I believe falls under this catagoy of users as well No matter what the "Disabilities" are....

Nice piece of saying "They dont Matter" and make it look "Why should they care" But really The lack of understanding is the problem here.

Usagi

I think you misinterpreted what I said...personally, the sentiment of "let's take care of ALL our species, no matter what the disadvantage" is one that I fully agree with.

But you can not force a gaming company to design their games around a super-small demographic...yes, there are a lot of hearing impaired out there...but compared to the majority of wallet-carrying consumers, the number is negligible. The people aren't negligible...the number of them is.

Do you hear my complaining about the Japanese gaming market, and how they don't make any games I'm interested in--which stems from my cultural background and media appeal. Do you know why I don't complain? Because that wouldn't--for one second--change how they develop their games. They certainly aren't going to change their design ethics and strategy for a very small demographic...this is not good or evil...this is sales.

I do not think it is too much to ask for non-voicers to want consideration from voicers.

Voicers will likely be "listened to" more than texters when voicers are being inconsiderate of non-voicers.

The welcome area harassment example is a good one - some voicers could have told the voicers harassing the newbie to "Knock it off" using voice, instead of allowing taunting and teasing to continue uncontested.

The problem isnt really the feature its human nature in the pressense of ZERO accountability. If people want voice to not be devisive, then its going to take more than just the Texters having to live with constant requests to voice.

For the record, I really do help out others...I stand up for good citizens if they are being harassed--I'm sure you do too Colette.

I want you all to be made aware: those of you who boast massive multi-tasking skills (dozens of IMs up at once, using PS, shopping), are the SAME people saying, "The texters are going to be ignored, because we will only be listening to the voicers." Are you following me? I think the majority of us are pretty darn good at multi-tasking (at least, that's what you guys claim), so why would you find it hard to listen, and to read at the same time.

We always pick priority, it's a natural job of the brain--this goes for any aspect of information the brain takes in. If you are more interested in the voice conversation, you'll most likely place most of your attention there. But on the flip side, if you are more invested in the text conversation, your brain will spend more time focusing on that.

I personally don't have a problem listening to voices, and reading text. For those of you that hang out in high traffic areas, well there's not much you can do about that...your blasted with information all over, and that's not the fault of the game design. That's the power of multi-tasking in action. From how many IM windows you guys claim to have up at once...none of this should be a problem.

Also, if someone is ignoring you, get their attention and make it clear you're communicating with them...if they don't listen to you...they aren't worth talking to anyway--voice OR text.

I think the two worlds can coexist without struggle. Our brains are fashioned to handle a lot of information--especially these days....

Some sort of Equilibrium will take place eventually.

Its just many Texters are afraid to get marginalized.

No matter what the debate on voice is - the fact remains Voice has been added to the main client. Thus it is the direction the company has taken.

In addition there are some voicers who think its entirely appropriate to bully non-voicers into voicing. This happened even before it was added to the client.

Now that its in the client it seems like there are more people like that.

It will split people into camps.

Those voicers who simply *cant* let a non-voicer's choice go without a snide comment about hiding things, etc. Will be in one camp.

Those texters who are simply tired of having to tell people they dont want to voice, and dont want any comments about it, will be in another.

There will be texters who are cool with talking to everyone voice and text, and wont be bothered by explaining or dispersions cast at them

And there will be voicers who are cool with talking to everyone voice and text and wont pressure/comment about people's choises.

Those last two catagories I imagine will be the ones who can get along with everyone.

None of which is Linden Lab's fault - its just what happpens when Voice is added to virtual worlds and chat rooms.

And a lot of people are going to miss what Second Life was like before this happened.

I'm really tired of the hearing impaired community complaining about voice. Voice is an option that one can use, it is not a requirement to use SL. To follow that logic is to say SL should not have video, because blind users cannot enjoy SL. SL does have and will continue to have text based communication. The hearing impaired have nothing to worry about with voice coming to SL. Honestly, I havent even used it yet, as most people dont seem to care much about it.

fact is they should not have brought voice to sl to make everyone lazy and leave those who are hearing impared like they are outcasts....thats what skype and other messengers are for. i mean wtf will they do next? bring cam into sl? they have nothing better to do than spoil our time here rather than make us enjoy it.

i will forever be against voice in sl....use your damn messengers if you want voice.

silly thing is this isnt a hearing impaired person, i seem to think if its that big of a deal why didnt the friend (that will acutally be effected by this) post?

maybe they didn't want to put up with some of the rude/selfish comments back. maybe...just maybe they did post and nobody cares enough to read it cause it doesn't affect them (which would be selfish to). maybe the person who posted this is really that good of a friend. many reasons yano.

**Note the footnotes**

You think YOU have it tough?!?

I'm a deaf mute male playing a hearing female.

Both of us suffer RSI, so typing is painful.

Both of us are sight impaired, so reading what we type is difficult at times.

We simply want to pay cash for our account, but Linden Lab discriminates and refuses to accept anything but credit card or Paypal.

Linden Lab customer service is open at times that don't suit us, we're awake so LL staff should be too.

Even the cable company hates us and discriminates by choking the pipe so SL is super laggy.

We speak english and french fluently, but struggle with any other language.

So. I suggest the following: ban gender bending, ban voice, ban typing, ban pictures and viewable content, ban LL, ban time zones, ban sleep, ban cable companies, ban any languages except english and french. Ban discrimination of all types!

Will the last person to leave please turn out the lights?!

**Footnote/Disclaimer: The above was typed by a 3rd alt who is not hearing or speech impaired, female, happily wanders SL, talks/types to anyone who will chat, is thrilled when someone else likes what she builds, understands and appreciates that there are many daily challenges for many people of many walks of life, has compassion for those facing the daily challenges but enjoys and revels in all those differences. The above was also typed very much tongue-in-cheek.**

Never mind closed minds a said thing, whats worse are people that continue to change the subject matter with in the issue in topics like this. I should have known that you would have run around the point and again changes issues again. U know it was going to happen. The lack or caring is the issues here. Then again this how the world is these days.

Usagi

I am hearing impeired, However somethings we just have to learn to accept. We can't always have what we want. I respect those who can hear and I think it's only fair if we who are hearing imperied/deaf give those who can hear the chance to speak out. We always have the ablility to type. Not everyone in Second life needs to use voice to have fun. I feel for linden labs they have worked hard over the years trying to improve second life and make us folks happy. However it seems the more they try to improve the more some of us just piss and moan.