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Ofcom is the regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

Our role includes ensuring equal access to communications technology for disabled people. We also enforce rules about the portrayal of disabled people on television and radio.

We are currently developing a Disability Equality Scheme and would like as many disabled people as possible to give us their views.

Ofcom is formally advised by its independent Advisory Committee for Older and Disabled People (ACOD). Working with ACOD we have drafted what we think are the seven priorities to improve disability equality in the communications sector from 2007 to 2010. The priorities are:

• Informing disabled people of Ofcom's role and how to make complaints;
• Improving audio description services and increasing the numbers of signed programmes;
• Ensuring that disabled people are able to access, understand and create electronic communications in a variety of contexts – what we call media literacy;
• Enforcing content regulation rules regarding the portrayal of disabled people on television and radio;
• Seeking to recruit more disabled people to Ofcom's decision-making committees;
• Seeking to ensure that Ofcom is more creative and proactive in recruiting and developing disabled people.
• Ensuring that our suppliers have equal opportunities policies that include disability equality

Please help us by giving us your views on:

• whether these are the right priorities for the next three years; and if not, what we should focus on;
• how we should implement our priorities; and
• any other factors which you think we should take into account in our work.

We would welcome your input and are happy to engage with you or your organisation in the following ways:

• By post
• By e-mail
• Over the telephone or text phone

You can send your thoughts to or get in touch with Ofcom by contacting Ofcom’s Equalities and Diversity Manager Moira Ugoji on 020 7981 3977 or 020 7981 3043 (text phone), at diversity@ofcom.org.uk or by post to:

Ofcom
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA

The deadline for responses is Friday 19 October 2006.

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