When do health care providers need to provide accessible telephone services to deaf and hard of hearing individuals?
A. Health care providers that routinely provide telephone services must make these services available to deaf and hard of hearing individuals. See generally 28 C.F.R. 36.303. Many deaf and hard of hearing individuals use telecommunication devices for deaf persons (TDDs). A TDD is an inexpensive device with a keyboard, resembling a small typewriter, that is used to send and receive messages over the telephone lines by individuals with hearing and speech impairments. In many instances, health care providers can receive incoming calls from TDD users through relay systems. 56 Fed. Reg. at 35567. Title IV of the ADA requires telephone companies to provide relay services across the nation by July 26, 1993. 47 U.S.C. 225 et seq. Relay services enable individuals who use TDDs to communicate by telephone with individuals who use telephones. In a relay system, a third person, called a communications assistant, reads what the TDD user types to the voice telephone user and types what the voice tel
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