Fax machines allow users to send and receive reproductions
of paper documents over standard telephone lines.
Fax technology has advantages for people with hearing
loss, as all the output is visual. There
is evidence that the residential penetration of fax is higher among households
that include people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Correspondingly, it has disadvantages for people with
visual impairments. Not only is the
content difficult or impossible for them to use, but the method of operating
typical fax machines includes several steps that require vision.
Most fax machines use buffer dialing, which reduces problems for people who have difficulty entering the number to be called.
Some people who have difficulty using the voice telephone
use fax (as well as email and paper mail) as a replacement if the nature of the
communication is more a one-way message than a conversation.
Faxes can be sent and received by computer.
See the relevant section on computer modems.
The UCPA study refers to a fax machine with “larger
buttons and a lowered or separate keypad” (Simpson/UCPA, 1997).
1193.41(c) Operable with little or no color perception.
1193.41(d) Operable without hearing.
1193.41(h) Operable without speech.
1193.43(f) Prevention of visually-induced seizures.