BBCi is running an article on ‘US courtrooms go hi-tech’.
The article is well worth a read, and raises the technology prospects, which could become commonplace within the court system, and hopefully this would include the UK.
With such technology available, accessibilty would move from the margins further into the mainstream. For example, the article quotes:
The court stenographer arguably has the most arduous job, tracking every word that is spoken during the course of a trial.
Until recently it took days to produce an official printed copy of the record. Now it takes seconds.
Mollie Nichols, assistant director of Courtroom 21, explains: “The court record manager will actually speak into this mask and will be saying every word that the lawyer, the witness and the judge is saying.
“The recording actually goes into a computer and a typewritten transcript is produced in real time.”
As a precaution, the judge uses a hand-held pad that can control every device in the room. The judge can immediately stop anyone from seeing something they should not.
Such technology could be easily accessed and used by Deaf professionals and indeed other Deaf users of the court. With technology in place, it would be standard and thus dispel the need in some instances to request adjustments in advance.