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Kerry Thompson uses a Sidekick to text message from text4deaf.com</p>
Kerry Thompson responds to each message on her Sidekick with the swift key strokes of a text-messaging pro. But Thompson, a finance specialist in Partners Research Management, doesn’t use any ordinary texting system. She is the creator of text4deaf.com, a Web site that makes communication easier between the deaf and hearing communities through computers and devices.
“I want to bridge the deaf and hearing communities together,” said Thompson, who is profoundly deaf and believes in the importance of maintaining independence.
Thompson and three friends launched Text4deaf last month, which offers text messaging through the Web site to any cell phone. Text4deaf also offers free voicemail greetings for those who prefer text messages.
“One of my major problems is voicemail. I had to call a relay service to retrieve messages,” Thompson explained. With the service, callers will be asked to send a text instead of leaving a message. As Thompson prepares to pursue a master’s degree at Harvard this fall, she finds that texting will help keep her in the loop. “With the many group meetings and projects in graduate school, I need to make sure I’m included,” she said. “Everyone is in the loop with broadcast texting.”