OTTAWA – Canadian wireless service providers are at least partly compliant with the CRTC’s accessibility policy, but gaps in handset accessibility remain. That’s the gist of Assessing the Compliance of Wireless Service Providers with the CRTC Accessibility Policy, conducted by Connectus Consulting Inc. and released Wednesday by the CRTC.
The study was undertaken to accomplish three interrelated objectives: provide the CRTC with a better understanding of the level of compliance by WSPs with the requirements set out at paragraphs 44 and 46 of Broadcasting and Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-430 (the Accessibility Policy); identify on-going gaps in the provision of wireless handsets compliant with the policy by Canadian WSPs and gaps in accessibility features of handsets; and identify prospective solutions to these gaps.
While WSPs generally provide a handset that meets specific accessibility needs, the handsets themselves may not on their own enable end to end accessibility, the study found. Rather, the handsets play a key role in supporting required apps and/or third-party assistive technologies. In addition, WSPs have some measures in place that would be facilitated by establishing best practices in stakeholder consultation and lifecycle support, together with continuing market solutions for accessibility needs.
The study also includes measures and best practices that it says “would ideally combine to ensure the continued presence and evolution of sustainable solutions to wireless mobile accessibility, requiring the active and continued participation of all players in the chain of supply and demand”.
