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Code of Good practice for provision of

accessible telecommunication services


for persons with disabilities
Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3
2 Objective ................................................................................................................................. 3
3 Guiding principle .................................................................................................................... 3
4 Key terminology ..................................................................................................................... 4
5 Code of Good Practice ............................................................................................................ 4
5.1 Website accessibility ........................................................................................................ 4
5.2 Special services for persons with disabilities ................................................................... 4
5.2.1 Communication to customers with disabilities: ........................................................ 5
5.2.2 Emergency services .................................................................................................. 5
5.3 Customer care ................................................................................................................... 5
5.3.1 Access to customer care ............................................................................................ 5
5.3.2 Accessibility of User Interface.................................................................................. 6
5.3.3 Interactive Voice Response....................................................................................... 6
5.3.4 Involvement of Persons with Disabilities ................................................................. 7
5.3.5 Consideration ............................................................................................................ 7
5.4 Monitoring and Compliance............................................................................................. 7
5.5 Review.............................................................................................................................. 7
Annexure ......................................................................................................................................... 8
1 Introduction

In a world driven by information and communications technologies (‘ICTs’), where mobile


phones and broadband have become critical for socio-economic inclusion, self-sufficiency and
improved standards of living, it is important to ensure that access to ICTs are equally available
to every citizen. Thus, accessibility of telecommunication services is of paramount importance to
ensure that persons with disabilities are able to participate in and contribute to the society.

Nepal’s regulatory framework already mandates making ICTs accessible to the general public.
However, there is a need to outline specific requirements regarding delivery of services for
customers with disabilities in order to enable them to use telecommunication services effectively.
In furtherance of its mandate to guarantee reliable and easily available telecommunication
services, protect consumer rights and enhance quality of service and exercising powers as given
in the Telecommunications Act, 2053 BS (1997), Nepal Telecommunications Authority (‘NTA’)
has formulated this Code of Good practice (‘Code’).Initially, NTA intends this code to be
followed voluntarily by all telecommunications service providers (‘service providers’). However,
the provisions of this code may progressively be made mandatory.

The purpose of this Code is to provide guidance to service providers on making their services
accessible for customers with disabilities. In doing so, it draws upon international best practices
in the area of accessibility of telecommunication services. It also recognises that accessible
telecommunication products and services would benefit a large demographic group comprising
persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups including illiterate and elderly persons.
For service providers, ensuring accessibility of relevant ICT accessible products and services
promises great potential to reach sizable number of customers. Hence, adhering to this code may
be viewed as an opportunity rather than an obligation.

2 Objective
The objective of this Code is to enable equitable, barrier-free and affordable access to
telecommunication services for persons with disabilities in Nepal.

3 Guiding principle

This Code is based on the principle that access to ICTs is a basic human right as enshrined in the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which Nepal is a signatory and that all
persons with disabilities should have access to telecommunication facilities and services on an
equal basis and without discrimination.
This Code sets out minimum criteria for accessibility in service delivery for customers with
disabilities. The requirements of this Code apply to all the licensed telecommunication service
providers operating in Nepal, irrespective of the nature of their service or size of their
organization.

4 Key terminology
Some important terms used in this code are defined in the Annexure.

5 Code of Good Practice


Service providers may ensure accessibility of their services to customers with disabilities in the
following ways:

5.1 Website accessibility


(i) Service providers shall ensure that information relating to accessibility of their
products or services shall be displayed in a dedicated corner on their websites and
their websites shall adhere to the current website accessibility standard notified by the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), presently the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.
(ii) The Website shall include information about accessibility of mainstream products and
services, as well as information about any specific products and services which are
available for persons with disabilities such as hearing aid compatible products and
specialised tariff plans etc.
(iii) Any content in Nepali or other regional language shall be in Unicode font to enable
access by persons using screen readers.
(iv) The website shall contain contact information for customer care services for persons
with disabilities.

5.2 Special services for persons with disabilities


(i) Service providers shall, to the extent possible, ensure that the design and delivery of
services or any product manufactured or supplied by them adhere to the principles of
universal design. Wherever it is not possible to render a product or service inherently
accessible, concrete efforts should be undertaken to ensure the same accessible to
customers with disabilities through reasonable accommodation.
(ii) Service providers shall participate in accessibility initiatives organised by the
Government of Nepal or the NTA.
(iii) Service providers shall, to the extent possible,take special initiatives to enhance
accessibility,usabilityand affordability of services for persons with disabilities. These
could include:
a. The design and provision of customised tariff packages for appropriate services
such as data only messaging plans, 3G for video sign language and Global
Positioning Systemplansfor customers with different disabilities.
b. The design and provision of any value added service such as daily news or library
service, relay service, voice based navigation and the provision of assistive
technology like screen readers or text to speech software.
c. Provision of toll free and accessible directory and emergency services.
(iv) For the purpose of providing specialised packages, service providers may require
customers with disabilities to furnish proof of their disability in the form of a medical
certificate or a disability identity card or any other relevant documentation. This may
be a one-time requirement to avoid undue hardship for persons with disabilities.

5.2.1 Communication to customers with disabilities:


(i) Service providers shall ensure that all communications to customers including billing,
information on services or products, manuals, brochures, contracts and
advertisements are made available upon request in multiple formats such as electronic
text, audio, video, large print and Braille for the benefit of persons with disabilities;
and
(ii) Communication must be made in simple language to accommodate all levels of
comprehension.

5.2.2 Emergency services


(i) In case of an emergency, persons with disabilities should be able to make a voice,
relay, or TTY call, free of charge, via mainstream as well as assistive terminal
equipment and different technologies.
(ii) Persons with disabilities should receive an acknowledgment in appropriate format
confirming receipt of the emergency contact and giving information about the time
taken for the emergency service to be made available.
(iii) Persons with disabilities must be given information on how to contact and use
emergency services – this information must be made available through multiple
channels – via customer service either in person or over the telephone as well as
through the service providers’ websites.
(iv) Websites of public bodies responsible for handling emergencies as well as service
providers should be accessible and contain relevant information to enable persons
with disabilities to utilise emergency services.

5.3 Customer care

5.3.1 Access to customer care


(i) Service providers shall provide a dedicated, toll free number for all persons with
disabilities including people with hearing impairments.
(ii) Customers with disabilities shall be entitled to priority assistance and repairs within two
working days of making a complaint.
(iii)Service providers shall ensure that there are dedicated staff who are trained to cater to the
requirements of persons with disabilities. The training shall include, but not be limited to
communicating through multiple means such as sign language and Braille and
understanding the requirements of persons with different types of disabilities.
(iv) All customer care staff shall treat persons with disabilities with respect. Service providers
shall not refuse to serve persons with disabilities and shall not impose any complicated or
lengthy procedural requirements which may deter them from availing of the services.
(v) Service providers shall maintain a list of customers with disabilities whom they serve and
the facilities they offer.
(vi) Service providers will maintain confidentiality about information/data relating to their
disabled customers.

5.3.2 Accessibility of User Interface


(i) Service providers should ensure that the user interface and workflow for services
delivered through different channels such as telephone or the internet are kept
consistently simple and moderately paced/slow to facilitate ease of navigation and use
by customers with disabilities.
(ii) All software such as those that come with data cards for internet connectivity should
be accessible to customers with disabilities using assistive technology; they should be
capable of being installed and used independently both with and without the
keyboard.
(iii) Service providers should be able to provide handsets with high contrast colour or
large buttons and hearing aid compatibility upon request.
(iv) Service providers should ensure that public access terminals set up by them can be
reached and operated by persons with disabilities.

5.3.3 Interactive Voice Response


(i) Providers of voicemail and interactive menu services and manufacturers of the equipment
that perform those functions should ensure that their services are accessible to and usable
by persons with disabilities. This can be done by ensuring that persons with disabilities
are provided an equivalent service through an accessible channel such as the option of
connecting to a human caller. Some aspects of Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
accessibility include:
a. Audio quality – Service providers should ensure that the IVR audio quality is
reasonably good.
b. IVR control options - The user should be given the ability to control the speed and
volume of the menu options as well as repeat and rewind if required.
c. Multiple input options – service providers should provide the user with multiple
ways of specifying a choice for instance using both speech recognition and
keypad entry. The user should be able to choose by pressing a key indicating the
desired option or saying a keyword that corresponds to that option
d. TTY Compatibility – service providers should provide text equivalents for voice
phone menus and messages

5.3.4 Involvement of Persons with Disabilities


Service providers shall involve persons with disabilities at all stages of design and delivery of
services to ensure accessibility and usability, including sales and marketing and customer care.

5.3.5 Consideration
Service providers shall deliver timely and accessible services at no extra charge to customers and
without any compromise on quality.

5.4 Monitoring and Compliance


(i) Service providers shall publish annual reports of compliance with this Code on their
websites.
(ii) The NTA shall conduct annual audits of service providers’ compliance with this Code
and publish the results on their website, in a manner that is accessible to all persons with
disabilities.

5.5 Review
This code is subject to periodic review as may be determined by NTA from time to time.
Annexure

Accessibility

Accessibility is a measure of the extent to which a product or service can be used by a person
with a disability as effectively as it can be used by a person without that disability.

Source: http://www.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org/toolkit/eaccessibility_basics/introduction_to_e-
accessibility%20basics

Assistive Technologies

The term "assistive technology" is closely related to "enabling technology", that is technology
that enables access to information, communication or the environment.

Source: http://www.e-
accessibilitytoolkit.org/toolkit/promoting_assistive_technologies/introduction_assistive%20techn
ologies

Persons with disabilities

Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or
sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and
effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

Source: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=261

Reasonable accommodation

"Reasonable accommodation" means necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments


not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to
persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms;

Source: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=262

Relay Services

Relay services are human operated services for media and mode translation during phone
conversations. They usually have financial support since the operation of those requires human
resources. The different types of relay services are video, text, speech-to-speech, captioned
speech and instant messaging.

Source:http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/sis/PwDs/Documents/Mobile_Report.pdf
Screen reader

A screen reader is a software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being
displayed on the screen (or, more accurately, sent to standard output, whether a video monitor is
present or not). This interpretation is then re-presented to the user with text-to-speech, sound
icons, or a Braille output device. Screen readers are a form of assistive technology (AT)
potentially useful to people who are blind, visually impaired, illiterate or learning disabled, often
in combination with other AT, such as screen magnifiers.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader

Service Provider

A service provider' refers to public organizations or business


entities that provide contents and services using telecommunications devices.

Source: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/sis/PwDs/Documents/Mobile_Report.pdf

TTY

TTY stands for Text Telephone. It is a special device that lets people who are deaf, hard of
hearing, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type
messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. A TTY is required at
both ends of the conversation in order to communicate.

Source: http://abouttty.com/

Universal Design

Universal Design has emerged as a result of new technological possibilities, together with new
social priorities to promote inclusion and prevent discrimination. In Article 2 of the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Universal Design is defined:

"the design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people, to
the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.”Universal
Design" shall not exclude assistive devices for particular groups of persons with disabilities
where this is needed."

Source: http://www.e-
accessibilitytoolkit.org/toolkit/product_development_and_design/improve_product_accessibility

WorldWide Web Consortium (W3C)

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where Member
organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.
Source: http://www.w3.org/Consortium/

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Guidelines for making Web content more accessible to people with disabilities, including
blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations,
limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and combinations of these. The latest
version of these guidelines is WCAG 2.0

Source: http://www.w3.org/standards/techs/wcag#w3c_all

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