Ofcom's advice on your next step

Advice for Disabled People -
Using telephone, mobile or internet services

If you are choosing a landline phone service, or a mobile phone service or a broadband/internet service then you should investigate the websites of potential service providers.

The content on these websites will be a strong indicator of how accommodating these companies are to customers with disabilities. For example, check to see if their websites meet W3C Accessibility Guidelines. If they do, it means they are likely to be sensitive to disability/accessibility issues in general. You may also want to look at what services and assistance they offer if their website includes a dedicated section for disabled customers.

http://www.w3.org/

If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may wish to find a mobile phone provider that is willing to offset “free” voice minutes against increased use of SMS.

Similarly, if you are deaf or hard of hearing and you’d like to make phone calls using sign language over a broadband connection (using a webcam), you may wish to opt for an ISP that provides you with a static (as opposed to dynamic) IP address. This means you will be able to receive incoming calls as well as make calls.

For more information on using webcams or videophones over broadband to communicate using sign language, visit, http://www.signvrs.org.uk/whichisp.htm

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