News

26th February 2004

RNID Conference: Technology must not exclude deaf and hard of hearing people

John Bowis, MEP for London, today calls for technology to be made accessible to all. He says that while many of us move with each new wave of opportunity Information Technology (IT) brings, the very people who could benefit from it the most are often left behind in its wake.

"Over 1,025,000 deaf and hard of hearing people in London are finding themselves unnecessarily isolated. This is simply because technology frequently fails to take their needs into account as it launches into new developments," says the MEP. "In addition, technology which already exists to improve this situation is not being made available. This includes interactive texting on mobile networks which allows deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired people to hold telephone conversations in text, and also subtitling to enable access to film and TV viewing."

The MEP backs the objectives of an EU conference on Access to the Information Society for deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired people organised by RNID, the largest charity representing the nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK. The resulting manifesto is calling on all stakeholders throughout Europe to work together to make technology inclusive for all and to harness solutions that are already attainable.

Mr Bowis pledges to raise awareness in the European Parliament of the needs of deaf and hard of hearing people. In addition, He will take steps to ensure that national developments in London are in line with the global European strategy as reflected in the Conference Manifesto.

Guido Gybels, Director of New Technologies at RNID says, "It is difficult to imagine a day without using the phone or watching TV. Yet millions of people in the UK struggle to use these basic services that most of us take for granted. They face barriers in employment, education, health and social life as a result. Inclusive technology is of benefit to everybody. These days, everyone needs to use text to communicate and subtitles are used by many hearing people too."

Further information on new RNID developments to make IT more accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people is available at their website.