Rogervoice, the app that makes the phone accessible to deaf and blind people

Launched in October 2018, the Rogervoice mobile app allows deaf and hard of hearing people to make and receive phone calls through three modes of communication: French Sign Language (FRL), French spoken completed language (LfPC) and subtitles. Now, it offers a new mode compatible with a Braille range to allow deaf people to communicate by phone.

What's this about?

The operators of the Fédération Française des Télécoms (FFTélécoms): Orange, La Poste Mobile, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Bouygues Telecom Business Distribution (Auchan Télécom, Cdiscount Mobile, CIC Mobile, Crédit Mutuel Mobile or NRJ Mobile) ensure the accessibility of their interpersonal communications telephony services to deaf, hard of hearing, deaf and aphasic people through the application Rogervoice.

The customers of these operators currently have one hour of communication offered per month, renewable automatically each month. All they have to do is register for free. As of 1^er october 2021, the package will increase to 3 hours of free communication per month.

Until September 30, 2021, the service is accessible from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., excluding holidays.

From 1^er october 2021, the opening hours will extend to 9 pm during the week and from 8:30 am to 1 pm on saturdays.

This is an important step forward for the 5 million French people who are deaf or hard of hearing, for the 500,000 people who cannot call independently and for the 6,500 people who are deaf-blind in France.

How does it work?

The application Rogervoice is available for free download on mobile and tablet computers with 3G/4G SIM card.

It offers translation services in French Sign Language (LSF) and in French spoken completed language (LPC) via interpreters and coders. Video interpretation is provided in real time, by French/French Sign Language (LSF) certified interpreters and LCP certified video coders.

At the same time, thanks to automatic speech recognition, this application makes it possible to transcribe speech into text almost immediately. This transcription may be carried out automatically or may be assisted by a professional transcriber.

The new Braille-enabled mode allows deaf people to use their Braille range to browse the Rogervoice app. To make a call, the person dials the caller's number or selects the caller from the directory and makes the call via their Braille range. A Rogervoice co-pilot, a writing professional, handles the call. The speaker's words are transcribed and sent as subtitles on the Rogervoice app. Through technology

VoiceOver

(iOS) or

TalkBack

(Android), the user then reads them on his Braille beach. When the user enters his answers on his Braille keyboard, they are transcribed into text in the application and the copilot will repeat them orally to his interlocutor.

This new mode of communication was developed by the Fédération Française des Télécoms (FFTélécoms) and the Rogervoice business, and has been available since mid-September.