MeAC – Measuring Progress of eAccessibility in Europe

Legislation/regulations

The main relevant legislation is the Communications Act of 2003. This imposes the following accessibility obligations in relation to fixed voice telephony services:

• funding of text relay service (Universal Service Provider only, by means of a specific universal service condition)
• access to text relay service and rebate scheme (all providers through the general conditions)
• certain requirements to make all public payphones accessible to customers with disabilities (all public payphone providers) – at least 75% of public payphones provided in the UK (50% of those provided in Hull) must be accessible by reasonable means to customers in wheelchairs; at least 70% of all public payphones must incorporate additional receiving amplification (note: there is a distinction between public call booths and ‘managed’ payphones i.e. on private sites) – it is proposed to increase this and also restore a requirement for inductive coupling
• directory information free of charge and through connection (all providers)
• bills/contract provision in Braille / large print (all providers)

Access to emergency services (through the text relay service – Typetalk) is also required.

In addition, in 2008 the national regulator (OfCom) issued a statutory notification concerning Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services that specifies, amongst other things, that these must comply with obligations concerning “special measures for end-users with disabilities.”

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995 specifically refers to communication and information services as being covered by the provisions and the Code of Practice to the Act refers to telecommunications and broadcasting organizations as being service providers covered by the Act. This appears to have been a stimulus for action by both the fixed and mobile operators although there seems to be a lack of clarity regarding the precise extent and nature of coverage of mobile operators under the Communications Act and DDA.

Direct obligations in relation to special equipment are not imposed on the telecommunications services sector. However, local authorities provide (or financially support the acquisition of) text telephones and other special telecoms equipment through assistive technology and/or other (social) services.

Other initiatives

The Mobile Industry Good Practice Guide for Service Delivery for Disabled and Elderly Customers in the UK has been developed and adopted by a number of major operators “in response to a challenge by Government and other stakeholders to the mobile communications industry to develop effective approaches for service delivery addressing the needs of UK customers”. It gives guidance on how to meet legislative/regulatory requirements under the DDA and Communications Act, as well as on themes where work should be done on a self regulatory basis to ensure disabled customers’ needs are met and to raise awareness of the Good Practice Guide and what disabled and elderly customers should expect from their mobile provider.

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