"This is great news for blind and partially sighted people, as AD was always an optional feature available on some digital TVs and set top boxes,” said Raheel Malick, Development Officer (Digital Media) at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
The case was brought against JetBlue Airways in October 2010 for the inaccessibility of their website and airport check-in kiosks for people who are blind or vision impaired.
The judge dismissed the case on the grounds that federal regulations, not state laws, applied in the case.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises access to information and communications technologies, including the Web, as a basic human right. This ruling strips away the rights of people with disabilities to access JetBlue’s website and kiosks.
Having completed substantial research in the area, the UK Review of Relay Services proposes:
The visit follows a motion co-sponsored by the Minister in March which called on the Government to commit to a pilot captioning program in classrooms.
Senator Fifield said, “Captioning technology is proven to deliver transformational results for students. This is the sort of support that could be purchased for students under the Coalition’s Education Card Policy which allows families to choose the services right for their child.”
The Terms of Reference to the ‘Review of access to telecommunications by people with disability, older Australians and people experiencing illness’ is now open for comment from individuals, consumers, and representatives until 19th August 2011.
The review aims to explore, in relation to people needing assistance to access telecommunication services:
