TEDICORE welcomes an industry initiative by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum in partnership with the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) to make it easier for people with disabilities to find the right mobile phone to meet their needs.

The Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (GARI) was launched today by Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy at Parliament House in Canberra.

GARI is an online database where users can browse through a list of accessibility features of mobile phone models. There are features that may be beneficial for people with hearing impairment or speech impairment or who have low vision, dexterity limitations or cognitive impairment. The database is also searchable by particular features of importance to an individual user. The results of the search enable a user to compare features of three models of phone at a time. A printout of the preferred phone can be taken into the phone shop so that the user can ask to test the phone model to ensure it meets their needs.

TEDICORE (Telecommunications and Disability Consumer Representation) has lobbied for such an information tool for many years. This is based on ongoing queries from people with disabilities who find it a very complex and frustrating task to identify a phone that they can actually use. TEDICORE provided input into the database structure and navigation of the website as well as giving consumer-based guidance on its usability. We expect that the website and the feature list will be fine-tuned as it gets more usage and feedback.

Gunela Astbrink, the National Coordinator of TEDICORE said at the launch that “it was a positive experience to work with an industry association that listened and acted upon the needs of consumers.”

Information about features include hearing aid compatibility that is vital for hearing aid users, the size of the display screen that people with low vision need to know about and anti-slip surfaces that are important for people with dexterity limitations. Initially the list of features was based on an Australian Industry Code ACIF C625:2005 Information on Accessibility Features for Telephone Equipment and its accompanying Guideline ACIF G 627:2005 Operational Matrices for Reporting on Accessibility Features for Telephone Equipment. This Code that requires suppliers and manufacturers to provide information about specified accessibility features can be considered as the impetus for the international GARI website. It is an excellent example of Australia taking the lead in regulation that will benefit consumers.

TEDICORE's Chair, Frank Nowlan “calls upon an Australian industry association to develop a similar online tool that provides information about accessibility features for fixed and cordless phones. This is in fact an easier task as the groundwork has been done and there is less turn-around in the number of phone models”, he concluded.