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12|10|06

Note of the ninth meeting of the Ofcom Advisory Committee on Older and Disabled People, 26 April 2006

Attendance

Present

Mike Whitlam (Chairman)
Lydia Thomas (Deputy Chair)
Janet Askham
Denis Carter
Simon Cramp
Gareth Davies
Caroline Ellis
Fred Heddell
Jonathan Kaye
Suneel Shivdasani
Ross Trotter

In attendance

Leila Agyeman, Ofcom
Paul Barrett, City University
Peter Bourton, Ofcom
Bradley Brady, Ofcom
Peter Davies, Ofcom
Carmel McLaughlin, Ofcom
Kevin McLaughlin, Consumer Panel
Frank Phillips, Manager, Ofcom
Doria Pilling, City University
Alan Pridmore, Manager, Ofcom
Paul Rogers, Ofcom
Bob Twitchin, Consumer Panel

Support

Lisa Cordaro, speech to text reporter
Alannh Murray, speech to text reporter
Julie Ross, P.A. to Simon Cramp

Meeting Notes

1. Apologies for Absence

1.1 Apologies were received from. John Welsman, Sally Greengross and Kevin Carey, Content Board. The Chairman welcomed Kevin McLaughlin from the Consumer Panel.

2. Minutes

2.1 The minutes of the meeting on 25 January 2006 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

3. Matters arising

3.1 Patientline. The members requested that a copy of the Department of Health’s response to Ofcom regarding the provision of telephone services in hospitals be made available to them.

3.2 High definition television. Jonathan Kaye said that the BBC was carrying out a trial on high definition television in London. Four hundred people had been recruited to participate in the study. It was his understanding that the company undertaking the research had not been asked to recruit any disabled people as part of the trial.

3.3 Attendance at Ofcom Board meeting. The Chairman and Deputy Chairman reported on their attendance at a meeting of the Ofcom Board on 25 April. The Board were appreciative of the contribution made by ACOD and encouraged ACOD’s continuing involvement with digital switchover and their membership of the Consumer Expert Group.

3.4 Stakeholder Panel. It was agreed that Ross Trotter would represent ACOD on the Stakeholder Panel.

3.5 Technology demonstration. Problems were being encountered in arranging a demonstration of the speaking EPG. It was agreed that a demonstration of digital technology would feature on the agenda for the July meeting.

3.6 Ofcom Contact Centre statistical information. It had been confirmed that the information collected by the OCC could not readily be adapted for the purposes of making a report to ACOD. OCC would monitor for cases where age or disability was an issue and send details through to the Support Team.

3.7 Nations and Regions Audit. The report had been published that day and a hard copy of the report was available for members.

3.8 Induction programme for new members. It was agreed that a team building event would take place on 4 July.

AP3 Team building event to be arranged

4. Accessible Television

4.1 The Chairman said that the consultation on accessible television would be an important issue for the Committee. It was agreed that a working group would be set up to consider ACOD’s response (Caroline Ellis, Fred Heddall, Ross Trotter and Suneel Shivdasani agreed to be members. Simon Cramp would advise the Chairman if he was able to participate).

4.2 The members were briefed on the research carried out by MORI for the Television Access Services review.

4.3 The aims of the research were as follows:

establish the current and future audience size for access services
gauge awareness and usage of access services, as well as barriers to use
establish sources of consumer information
understand user experiences, preferences and satisfaction levels

4.4 The key findings of the research were as follows:

subtitling was valued by viewers - about 1.4 million adults with hearing impairments have used subtitling at least once and a further 6 million adults without hearing impairments have also used subtitling.
adults with severe hearing impairments appear to make greater use of signed television, but two thirds of these prefer subtitling to signing
there was some concern about the speed of subtitling, particularly for live programmes
about 220,000 adults with visual impairments are estimated to use audio description at least once.
there was a lower level of awareness of audio description amongst the adult population (30%) compared with subtitling (90%)
there was significantly less satisfaction with signed television than for subtitling and audio description due to the scheduling of many signed programmes late at night and early in the morning and the difficulty of watching both the signer and the programme.

4.5 The main proposals stemming from the Review were:

to keep the present arrangements which ensure that those television channels which are popular provide access services whilst those which become less popular are able to reduce or end their obligation
to amend the Code to make clear that the revenue of channels majority owned by another broadcaster can be aggregated with that of other channels owned by that broadcaster for the purpose of assigning access service obligations
to institute a dialogue with broadcasters and disability organisations representing sign language users to see if a consensus can be reached on better ways of meeting their needs (the research indicates that many signed programmes are watched by few if any sign language users)
to adopt new guidelines on the provision of access services reflecting experience gained over the last few years, and the view that the guidelines no longer need to act as training manuals. Feedback was being sought on whether the speed restrictions on live subtitling should be lifted and to raise the speed limit for pre-recorded programmes

4.6 The members were also advised that Ofcom would be adopting ACOD’s recommendation that emergency broadcasts should be accessible to disabled people. The members made the following comments on the review:

that the review was an opportunity for Ofcom to influence the government’s thinking with respect to audio description services (the next governmental review would not take place until 2008)
that they were concerned that the different quotas for the provision of signing and audio description services could allow broadcasters to reduce the number of programmes which were signed
that Ofcom should set out factors which it would take into account in deciding upon a further review of access services
that consideration should be given to using interactive services to provide access services on digital terrestrial television (Ofcom pointed out that most Freeview channels did not have this capacity and that those broadcasters which did used interactive services for other purposes).
there was a risk that a growing number of television-type services would be provided in ways that Ofcom was not empowered to regulate, and the implications for access by people with hearing and visual impairments should be closely monitored
that the members were disappointed in the lack of development of more accessible EPGs (the members were advised that Ofcom could not require manufacturers to provide enhanced services but it was expected that new services would arise over time as the market developed)
the members pointed out that there were a significant number of elderly people who did not use the services that were available and a targeted communications exercise would be needed to ensure that they were not further isolated
the importance of ensuring that new employees in the broadcasting industry became disability-aware at an early stage of their career so that it would inform their thinking as they rose to more senior positions

4.7 The Chairman closed the discussion by asking members to forward any further thoughts they had on the Review to the working group as quickly as possible.

5. Digital Switchover

5.1 The members were briefed on the progress towards digital switchover (DSO). Ofcom’s obligations towards DSO:

that it was active in implementing licence changes which take into account the timetable for switchover and will incorporate the results of the Regional Radio Conference
that the UK now has the highest digital TV take up in the world and that Sky with its 7.7 million subscribers was now the largest single television platform
Digital TV penetration of UK households was estimated at 71.8% (multi channel) and 69.4% (digital)
a Digital UK and Ofcom Tracker survey of 7,600 households had started. The result of the first 1000 interviews would be available in late May
that Ofcom and the DTI were funding research on viewer options for reception of Digital TV (coverage and reception) in conjunction with Digital UK and the BBC
that Digital UK would start its national communications campaign from 5 May
that Ofcom would continue to support and contribute to the following Digital UK workstreams:
- Communications (especially viewer support-any queries received by the Ofcom Contact Centre on DSO would be referred to Digital UK)
- Consumer Liaison
- Transmission Network (frequency planning and coverage)
- House & Property
- Digital Equipment
- Targeted Help Scheme (Government/DCMS led-details of the assistance that would be available were expected to be known in the summer)
- Government Regulatory (DCMS ked)

5.2 The members made the following comments:

that details of the targeted help that would be available were keenly awaited
the importance that call centre staff had sufficient expertise to handle enquiries about switchover was emphasised (Ofcom noted that it was not clear who would be handling calls about the Targeted Help Scheme, the DCMS has introduced the concept of “HelpCo” who would work in conjunction with DWP, to inform people of their eligibility and run a general call centre However, it was not yet clear whether the organization, funded by the BBC, would be a part of Digital UK).
the members were concerned about the information exchange arrangements between HelpCo and DWP (Ofcom confirmed that legislation would need to be in place to allow DWP to release information to HelpCo)
that Ofcom should prioritise the areas that it would welcome ACOD’s involvement in

5.3 The Chairman requested that members feed any further views they wished to be considered by the DSO working group to the Support Team.

5.4 The Deputy Chairman reported that she had attended a recent meeting of the Consumer Expert Group (CEG). The CEG’s membership included RNIB, National Consumer Council, Help the Aged, RNID, VOLV, TAG, Citizen Advice, Sense, Consumer Panel, Action with communities in Rural England and Wireless for the Bedridden. The CEG had been set up to:

advise the Government and Digital UK on
- the content of its planned communication with consumers to explain why DSO is happening
- ways of ensuring that the message reached all consumers – and in particular the socially isolated
- communications for support scheme projects
to assess what role CEG and other consumer groups could play in communicating DSO
to raise any issues that might arise for consumers in relation to the planned implementation of DSO
to provide reports to Digital UK and government on the above matters

5.5 The CEG was currently focusing its attention on whether there was sufficient infrastructure in place to meet the demand for a range of digital receiving equipment. A further area of interest was the need to ensure that information given to enquirers about switchover was completely accurate.

6. USO Review

6.1 The members were briefed on the outcome of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Review and on the further work being done on disability issues. Representatives from City University joined the meeting to give the members an early view of the research being conducted into video and captioned relay services.

6.2 The policy conclusions arising from the USO Review were:

Affordability – that the Low User Scheme and In Contact scheme covering 600,000 customers would be replaced in early 2007.
Public Call Boxes – there would be new rules restricting the veto to one local body, a redefinition of site from 100 metres to 400 metres, more time and guidance for local consultations and more use of cashless public call boxes. The traditional red telephone boxes would remain.
Services for disabled customers – there would be increased accountability for the relay service, a new Stakeholder Panel, a text relay annual plan and report. There would be an improved requirement on bills and contracts in special format and accessibility for public call boxes
Access – ‘the £3400 rule’ would remain on connections but BT would have flexibility to charge the standard connection for vulnerable customers. There would be a recommended minimum functional Internet access (FIA) speed of 28.8 kbit/s
Funding – there was no evidence to indicate that the USO requirements would constitute an ‘unfair burden’ but a full funding review would take place in 2007/8.

6.3 The Chairman noted that ACOD’s recommendation for USO to be extended to broadband had not been taken forward. She was advised that this would be an issue for the Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy Project which would take place in 2006/7. The following views emerged from the members discussion of the Review:

that an FIA of 28.8 kbit/s was thought to be too low and should be 56 kbit/s (it was Ofcom’s view that such an increase would lead to disproportionate costs for BT and would not be justified by the consumer benefit)
that many disabled people were effectively denied access to the Internet because they did not have a credit history (Ofcom agreed to investigate the position)
that Ofcom should place pressure on BT to replace the red telephone boxes because disabled people had difficulty using them (Ofcom advised that there was a strong public attachment to these boxes)
that members were concerned that BT was considering moving the text relay service to normal call centres with a consequent loss in expertise and resultant detriment to the needs of deaf people (the members were advised that this was a matter still under discussion)

6.4 The members were briefed on the research being carried out into video and captioned relay services. Three forms of additional relay service had been identified:

video relay (the main focus of the study)
captioned telephony (for people who wanted to use their own voice)
speech relay (for users who had difficulty in using a key board)

6.5 The research sample was small but the emerging findings indicated a positive view of video relay even though installation problems were frequently experienced. It was agreed that the members would take this research into account with the ongoing work of the Committee.

7. Media Literacy Audit

7.1 The members were briefed on the research involving and findings from the recently published Media Literacy Audit on disabled people aged under 65. A supplementary report detailing the findings for people aged 65 and over had also been published.

7.2 The key findings on the media literacy research on disabled people under 65 were that:

age was a key determinant of media literacy amongst disabled people
there was a lower rate of ownership of mobile phones and use of the internet compared to all UK adults under 65
there was a higher volume of TV viewing and radio listening by disabled people
disabled people felt less competent for tasks relating to digital television, mobile and the internet
concerns about television were higher amongst disabled people
disabled people showed the same level of interest in and experience of learning about digital technologies

7.3 The key findings on the media literacy research on people older than 65 were that:

older people used the media in traditional ways and were less interested in digital features
older people had a higher volume of TV viewing and had a lower mobile phone use
older people used the internet at home at about the same level of that for all UK adults
older people had a higher concern about television content but were less concerned about the internet, mobile and radio
older people were less confident about blocking unwanted content on the internet
older people had a similar level of funding and regulation as the UK population as a whole
fewer older people want to learn more about digital communications technology.

7.3 The members welcomed both reports and offered the following views:

that there was scope on the research on older people for further analysis (eg such as on how older people learned)
that consideration needed to be given to how older and disabled people would be made aware of the existence of the report
the members were disappointed that the research on disabled people stopped at age 65
there was an unquestioned assumption that media literacy per se was a good thing but there were qualitative differences between using a television and telephone/mobile phone
older people would have different uses for a mobile phone compared to younger people (eg for security)
that older people used the television for different purposes than younger people
that future research should include people with learning difficulties as well as those with sensory or physical impairments
that research should be carried out into what advertising was targeted at disabled people.

8. Research sub group Update

8.1 Janet Askham reported that the research sub group met on 6 March. It was agreed that a meeting would take place in May (without an Ofcom presence) where the members would brain storm options for the research programme. Ms Askham would prepare a paper in advance of the meeting and asked that members email her with any research ideas.

9. Any other business/Review of the meeting

9.1 The members discussed whether the reference to ‘older people’ in the title of the Committee should instead read ‘vulnerable people’ as its interests were much broader than that of just older people. It was decided that the name had to reflect the relevant provisions of the Communications Act 2003. It was agreed that consideration would be given at the July meeting to amending the Committee’s mission statement.

9.2 The meeting ended at 4.00pm