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   Culture: An inaccessible digital revolution
RNIB discusses the impact which the digital revolution, inaccessible digital radios and the internet are having on the lives of disabled people. The Digital Britain report sets out the government's view, and a plan of action to 'maximise the benefits of the digital revolution'. It makes a commitment to 'ensure that people have the capabilities and skills to flourish in the digital economy, and participate in digital society'. The Digital Economy Act has kick-started the digital radio switchover. As you might imagine, radio has long been a constant in the lives of many disabled people. Evidence shows that radio plays a fundamental role in providing entertainment, information, inclusion and quality of life for blind and partially sighted people, with the vast majority regularly listening to radio. There will be a help scheme for older and disabled people, which is welcome, but we don't know what this will look like, and getting it right is a challenge in itself. Uniquely, radio is one of the few things blind and partially sighted people access on equal terms to their sighted peers. We're hugely concerned that the digital radio switchover will remove this entitlement forever. Digital radio will offer new services, providing access to information ranging from the song or station, to critical phone-in or helpline numbers - but crucially, the digital radio sets that can deliver these services are inaccessible. They lack basic usability features like tactile dials, and rely on touch screens or inset buttons which require visual interaction to use. Poor design compounds poor access to services, and will lead disabled people further away from the information they need. Turning to another aspect of the digital revolution, we can look at the internet - the information front line. Increasingly, we hear from RNIB members who find that websites are poorly designed and inaccessible to assistive technology users, cutting them off from the modern currency of information. Everything you need to know, from council tax to health care, is available online; new services like 'choose and book' are centred around the internet and your ability to navigate it. Yet they remain inaccessible to a wide range of disabled people, especially people with visual impairments or learning disabilities, who often find independent mobility challenging. The real digital revolution has to be a cultural one. Technology will continue to develop, but services and products need to embrace inclusive design. We believe that proper design of services and products is critical to equality of access; they are not divisible, and that applies to all broadcast media, manufactured goods and digital communication in equal measure. As an organisation of blind and partially sighted people, we're glad to see some recognition of digital exclusion. However, the absence of proposals to ensure digital participation is noticeable and continual. Taken together, inaccessible equipment and services present new barriers to disabled people: we want the next government to take radical steps to ensure that all disabled people can bridge the digital divide. Source: epolitix.com Copyright Dod's Parliamentary Communications Ltd Photo: Flickr: turkboy
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