How people who are deaf, Deaf, and hard of hearing use technology in creative sound activities

Abstract

Creative sound activities, such as music playing and audio engineering, are said to have been democratized with the development of technology. Yet, the use of technology in creative sound activities by people who are deaf, Deaf, and hard of hearing (DHH) has been underexplored by the research community. To address this gap, we conducted an online survey with 50 DHH participants to understand their use of technology and barriers they face in their creative sound activities. We find DHH people use four types of technology — hearing devices, sound manipulation, sound visualization, and speech-to-text — for three purposes — to improve sound perception via auditory and visual means, to avoid hearing fatigue, and to better communicate with hearing people. We also find their barriers to technology: unknown availability, limited options, and limitations that technology can solve. We discuss opportunities for more inclusive design specific to DHH people’s creative sound activities, as well as facilitating access to information about technology.