Dear Irish Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport,
Dear European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy,
Dear Members of the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee,
Electronic Communications – such as telephone and internet services – play a central role in our society. Over the years, they have become essential for studying, working, travelling, connecting with others and accessing information and services.
In light of the specific barriers faced by persons with disabilities – including higher usage costs, inaccessible communication services and the lack of specific support services – the Digital Networks Act (DNA) requires Member States to adopt targeted measures to remove these barriers.
While the signatories welcome these important provisions, the proposed legal reform does not guarantee equivalent access to electronic communications for persons with disabilities.
One of the most significant barriers is that telephony services remain predominantly voice-based, excluding persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind or have speech disabilities.
Real-time Text (RTT), as required by the European Accessibility Act (EAA), is necessary but not sufficient to guarantee accessibility. Many deaf people communicate more effectively in sign language than written text. In addition, landline phones, which are used to contact many services, do not have RTT capabilities.
To address this situation, many Member States have already introduced relay services, which enable real-time bidirectional communication between remote end-users of different modes of communication through an interpreter. By providing communication conversion services, relay services make it possible, for example, to ensure communication between voice and text users or between voice and sign language users.
While the proposed Article 88(4) of the DNA recommends that Member States make relay services available, experience with the implementation of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), which includes an analogous obligation in article 85(4), demonstrates a different reality.
The flexibility in these provisions, which require Member States to take “appropriate measures…including where necessary relay services”, have resulted in different levels of ambition. In many cases, this continues to exclude persons with disabilities not only from everyday communications but also from emergency communications.
Recent research conducted by the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) and the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH) highlights significant disparities among Member States with regard to:
- The types of relay services provided
- The availability of relay services
- The quality of service, user experience, and the resources allocated to relay services.
The research found that among 25 member states analysed, only 8 provide both text and video relay services. The remaining Member States provide only video relay services, only text relay services or no relay services at all.
Even where relay services exist, they are not always available when needed. According to available data, only 7 Member States ensure the availability of video relay services on a 24/7 basis while only 5 Member States provide Text Relay Services on a 24/7 basis. The remaining Member States provide these services only during limited daily hours every day, during limited daily hours during the weekdays and Saturdaysor only during specific hours on weekdays].
This also severely limits accessible emergency communications through 112. Only 9 Member States enable persons with disabilities to contact emergency services through video relay services on a 24/7 basis and 6 Member States enable 24/7 emergency access through text relay services. In the remaining Member States, access is limited to certain hours or not available at all, with serious consequences for the safety of persons with disabilities and others who may require their assistance in an emergency.
This situation constitutes a breach of Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which requires States Parties to take appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access, on an equal basis with others, to information and communications technologies and systems. It also undermines Article 11 of the Convention, which requires States Parties to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies, and natural disasters.
To genuinely advance accessibility for persons with disabilities and fulfil their obligations under the CRPD, the European Parliament and the Member States should ensure that the Digital Networks Act requires:
- All Member States to provide both video relay and text relay services on a 24/7 basis;
- Persons with disabilities to be able to contact emergency services including through video relay and text relay services on a 24/7 basis; and
- Video relay and text relay services to comply with minimum quality requirements, including with regard to connection times, waiting times, reliability, and service quality.
We believe that the amendments set out in the Annex to this letter effectively address the above-mentioned gaps, and we hope that you will take them into consideration during the ongoing legislative process.
We thank you for your consideration and remain available to support the European institutions in the negotiation of this important legislative initiative.
Yours sincerely,
European Disability Forum (EDF)
European Emergency Number Association (EENA)
European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH)