Shapley

One area of dating online that is very much neglected (I believe) is the provisions made for the disabled. The internet is a great medium by which people who might otherwise  be unable to interact in conventional social situations can meet each other.

I actually once dated a deaf girl that I met through Smooch. The experience changed my perspective on this issue quite a lot. A lot of my dates don’t become “real” until after a small bout of to-and-fro over the internet.

This can be the usual IM kinda chat, but I really like the immediacy that comes through chatting on Skype. Of course, with this girl this whole avenue of conversation wasn’t even on the radar.

I’ll confess that when she first told me, I had a little prejudicial reaction of “oh no” but it turned out she was warm and funny, if ultimately a little too committed to some big romance – which I was definitely not looking for at the time. I’m sure she’s gone on to meet someone more suitable than me, but I’m sure the experience of being deaf must make things hard for her – even on a largely textual format like the web.

For example, my typing skills when ‘live’ sometimes leave a lot to be desired. I can’t always spell very well or get things right first time. For the deaf person interacting with me that must be every bit as annoying as it is for me to have to type instead of chatting.

Now, while people like the BBC are racing ahead by subtitling their iPlayer programs, it’s noticeable that the online dating scene seems to make very little allowance for people who suffer from any kind of disability. The issues and feelings raised by disabilities are complicated for both disabled and non-disabled people who might find themselves potentially dating so anything that could lower those barriers would be great for all.

I’m not sure what the answers are in particular for deaf people, but the blind seem to be getting better catered – perhaps because the technical challenges are more obvious, with text reading software at pretty decent levels.

Personally, after my brush with a side of life I rarely see, I’d like to see someone with the kind of resources available to the BBC developing software that could mediate between the written word and the spoken word – translating speech into text simultaneously – basically “live subtitles”.

I know many attempts have been made down the years, but surely the time has come for someone to step up to the plate and try to solve this problem. It would be a massive help to both the deaf and people like me who would love to communicate more fluently with them.