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Telecommunications & disability consumer representation

Activities

Activities - Recently completed forums, committees and projects

ACIF CECRP WC 19 Accessibility Information

April 2004–November 2005

Established under the auspices of the Customer Equipment and Cable Reference Panel (CECRP), this committee developed an industry code for customer equipment importers and manufacturers. The code specifies their obligations to provide product information on the functional characteristics of their customer equipment that would be beneficial to people with a disability.

The industry code, ACIF C625:2005 Information on Accessibility Features for Telephone Equipment and ACIF G627:2005 Operational Matrices for Reporting on Accessibility Features for Telephone Equipment were registered by the ACMA in October 2006.

User Research into Text Terminal Equipment (URITE)

Completed November 2005

A collaborative project between Singtel Optus and the University of Newcastle, the URITE project tested mainstream text terminal equipment in the everyday contexts of people who are Deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment. The research identified the needs of the different user groups and assessed the effectiveness of a range of terminals for each user group. TEDICORE initiated the project and chaired the Consumer Reference Group.

ACA Australian User Standards Telecommunications Advisory Group (AUSTAG)

AUSTAG's role was to promote greater user involvement in international standardisation activities, and greater consideration of the requirements of all users during the development of international standards for telecommunications. AUSTAG provided the platform for the development of the guide for ITU-T study groups, Considering end-user needs in developing recommendations.

The Telecommunications Standards Portal was developed by a consortium of standards bodies that met through AUSTAG.


Asia Pacific Telecommunity Standardisation Program (ASTAP)

The ASTAP Group on Accessibility and Usability (AU) was established through a TEDICORE initiative to:

Gunela Astbrink was the inaugural rapporteur from July 2005 to July 2006. In its first year of operation, the group organised an accessibility and usability workshop, contributed to the ITU-T Study Question 26/16 on Accessibility to Multimedia Systems and Services and initiated a survey of accessibility regulation, legislation and policy in Asia Pacific countries.

ACA Consumer Driven Communications (CDC): Strategies for Better Representation

Completed December 2004

The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) funded a project to develop and support more effective models for consumer participation in the telecommunications industry. The objective of this work was to improve the effectiveness of consumer input and influence with respect to the regulation and governance of the communications industry. The group of key consumer representatives authored an issues paper and consulted with the community on the options presented in this paper. The final output was a report with recommendations on mechanisms for improving and strengthening consumer participation in telecommunications.

ACIF Any-to-Any Text Connectivity (TATA) Working Group

Completed July 2004

This group focused on particular issues for the Deaf community and people with hearing and speech impairments in being able to utilise communications technologies – now and into the future. The aim of the group was to identify, scope and assess short-term and longer term options and possible solutions to the issue of achieving and maintaining any-to-any text connectivity while maximising ongoing opportunities for enhanced text communications through the exploitation of new technologies. The group developed a report and business model for a text server. This report has been approved by the ACIF Board and is now with the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.


ACIF Next Generation Networks Framework Options Group

Completed July 2004

Members of this group represented telecommunications industry policy makers, regulators, carriers, service providers, equipment suppliers and consumers. TEDICORE provided input on disability aspects for future networks throughout the working life of the group. A major report has been lodged with the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.