PhoneAbility

3. Quality of Service Data-set: Inclusion of ‘Accessibility’

PhoneAbility welcomes the addition of data on equivalence of access (for disabled people) to the list of ‘quality of service’ outcomes which service providers can be obliged to publish. With equivalent levels of service for disabled people being a legal obligation under the UK Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), this will be a valuable reinforcing measure which will enable ready performance comparisons to be made between service providers. It may also encourage some greater linkage between the measures (such as Codes of Practice) promoted by the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) and the civil law obligations which arise from the DDA. OFCOM, as the UK’s NRA, has no remit in relation to the DDA, but it has become very evident that the behaviour of many service providers in the sector is strongly influenced by that Act and a merging of surveillance activity can only prove helpful.

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