Design for a Larger Market

Elderly and disabled people form a very significant portion of the telecommunications market, a proportion with increasing disposable income. By the year 2020, a quarter of the population in Europe will be over the age of 60, and many of them will face some degree of difficulty in using telecommunications equipment if these are not properly designed. The challenge for manufacturers and service providers is to make their products accessible to this significant sector of the market.

This website highlights some aspects of good design of various telecommunications devices and services, and gives references to more detailed guidelines. By applying such good design we can fulfil the requirement in the ITU Secretary General's Message to telecom 99 that "it is essential that global telecommunications development should be equitable".