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TTY - Telephone Typewriter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

By Jamie Berke, About.com

Updated December 02, 2008

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Definition: A TTY is a device with a keyboard, and a cradle to hold a telephone handset. Before cell phones, most deaf and hard of hearing people used TTYs to communicate with each other and to communicate with hearing people through relay services that could be accessed using a TTY. Today, it is still possible to buy a TTY although use of other communication technology such as instant messaging has increased.

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