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Disability Discrimination Bill

The Department for Work and Pensions has issued has a consultation document, Disability Discrimination Bill: consultation on private clubs; premises; the definition of disability and the questions procedure. It seeks views on the Government's proposals for using regulation-making powers under the Disability Discrimination Bill. The consultation period ends on 18 March 2005. For further information contact the Disability Rights Division, 6th Floor, The Adelphi,
1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2 6HT,

email: enquiry-disability@dwp.gsi.gov.uk or visit the website www.disability.gov.uk

Video phone for deaf people

Deaf people who prefer to communicate using British Sign Language (BSL) could soon be having their phone conversations relayed using webcam's or videophones as an interpreter.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), which is piloting the new Video Relay Service, is urging the telecom's regulator, Ofcom, to reduce the cost of a video service to the same as ordinary phone calls.

The service works by putting a deaf person in visual contact with a BSL interpreter via a webcam or video phone, the interpreter than relays the deaf person’s conversation using a telephone and translates the other person’s response into sign language.

For further information contact the RNID, 19-23 Featherstone Street, London EC1Y 8SL, Tel: 020 7296 8000, textphone: 020 7296 8001 fax: 020 7296 8199, email: informationline@rnid.org.uk

RNID Typetalk

RNID Typetalk is the only national telephone relay service for people with communication difficulties. The service allows deaf, deafened, deafblind, hard of hearing and speech impaired people to communicate with the hearing world using the standard telephone system. Typetalk enables companies to make their telephone services available to people with communication difficulties and therefore helps companies meet their obligations under the DDA.

How it works

To make a call using Typetalk, someone with hearing or speech difficulties uses a textphone to dial the number of the person they are trying to reach, adding the Typetalk prefix 18001 before the number.

This prefix alerts a Typetalk Operator to join the line if the call is answered. The Operator then reads aloud what the textphone user types and then types the hearing person’s response to the textphone user.
A hearing person can call a textphone in the same way by using the prefix 18002.

There is no extra charge for this service and the cost is no more than a normal phone call. While a deaf person needs a textphone to use the service, a hearing person does not require any specialist equipment.