[lg policy] UK: Communications watchdog enhances standards of provision for language-impaired customers

[Gareth Price]

People with disabilities who rely on communication services to make
phone calls are set to benefit from new measures being proposed by the
communications regulator Ofcom.

By law, communication providers must provide text relay services for
phone users with hearing and/or speech impairments. The service allows
users to type messages into a textphone, which are delivered by a
relay assistant to the recipient. The assistant then converts their
reply back to text for the user.

Ofcom research has shown that users found the current communication
services slow, with conversations sometimes failing to flow naturally.
Under the current service, users have to say "go ahead" after each
part of a conversation.

The new features on the text relay service will include allowing users
to interject during a conversation, instead of having to wait until
the end of a message.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jul/28/ofcom-service-for-disabled-users

--
Dr. Gareth Price
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies
316 Languages Building, Box 90259
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708-0259
USA



-- 
Dr. Gareth Price
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies
316 Languages Building, Box 90259
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708-0259
USA
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list