CaptionMate

As a hard of hearing person, phone conversations are hard work 👀

My hearing levels access some sounds, but it's hard to discriminate all the words.

When a conversation about making an appointment is moved out of context when the other person brings up the weather, my full energy and focus shift to figuring out what's being said.

Enter CaptionMate. CaptionMate is my front-loading context. Even if I don't use it for every word, I can follow the conversation and not lose my place trying to figure out which way it went.

I am less tired, more focused on the call, and have better outcomes.

Download CaptionMate today if you haven't already done so. It's free to anyone in the US with a hearing loss.

Image ID: Royal Blue background contains white text reading: "Be part of the conversation instead of working on the conversation." The words "part" and "working" are highlighted in blue.

includes everyone on the spectrum of deafness, including those with hearing loss and who are hard of hearing.

One struggle those of us with hearing loss have is the use of the phrase “Never mind”.

It’s often used as a response when we miss something or ask someone to repeat themselves.

Understandably:

🔷 It can be frustrating to repeat something.

🔷 The timing of the request to repeat may be awkward.

🔷 The moment of the joke may have passed and can’t be explained the same way.

But when someone says, “Never mind,” it can feel dismissive. It is as if someone else is making the decision about what is and isn’t relevant information.

The important part of repeating what was said is to provide accessibility and access.

Context is the cornerstone of our communication. Moreover, this struggle is real on the phone. Without visual cues, there is so much information that can be missed. CaptionMate aims to fill in those blanks and provide the conversation script and context so that you don’t have to work as hard listening, and so that you don’t run into a “never mind” situation.

One of our users recently stated:
With real-time captioning for my phone calls, I can grasp the context and discriminate the words being said. It removes the guesswork from the equation by providing access. I like that I do not need to feel awkward asking others to repeat themselves.

CaptionMate is an app that captions your phone calls in real-time. It is FREE for anyone in the US with a hearing loss.

⭐️ If you haven’t tried CaptionMate yet, download it today. ⭐️

The quote for this post came from a session at the HLAA Conference 2024; we can not identify the speaker. If you know who the speaker was, please DM us, as we would love to add the credit.

Image ID: A deep blue background contains white text reading “Do not make “NEVER MIND” the hill our communication dies on. - unknown author”. The phrase "never mind" is all caps in a deep blue color, highlighted by a light blue background.