Shift of telephone companies and others from a charitable or "social services" perspective to one that such access is a civil right to which deaf and hard-of-hearing people are entitled. Strauss covers the gamut of the legal movement toward access--from the initial use of modems with teleprinters of the l960s to the current wireless world. As a hearing person with many deaf friends and contacts, she personally experienced the frustrations of using telecommunications access services--and these experiences provided a motivating force for her own involvement in the battles to implement laws. Chapters on the development and implementation of relay services outline comprehensively one of the greatest triumphs for deaf people in the United States. The chapter titled "In Case of Emergency" is particularly moving.