Mexico. The Federal Institute of Telecommunications, IFT, presented the Second Report on Accessibility to Telecommunications Services for People with Disabilities, the document aims to report the main activities, progress and results obtained two years after the enforceability of the measures established in the General Guidelines for Accessibility to Telecommunications Services for Users with Disabilities.
Among the most relevant findings of the second report are that, of the 2,848 customer service centers reported by the concessionaires and authorized analyzed, 2,411 have the accessibility elements necessary for their users with disabilities to receive care, which represents 84.7%. Recalling that this obligation will be enforceable from January 23, 2020.
33% of dealers and licensees publish their membership contract in a fully accessible format and 38% allow them to be read by assistance tools, that is, with the necessary features that allow people with visual disabilities to read it.
72% of dealers and authorized publish on their internet portals their rates with the necessary features that allow people with visual disabilities to consult them.
The service that is distinguished by having a higher percentage of compliance in web accessibility is that of fixed telephony with 72.2%, increasing by .1% with respect to 2018, followed by mobile telephony with 72% that increased by 6% compared to 2018 and in last place public telephony with 71.4%.
Electronic devices are the mechanism most used by dealers and authorized for users with disabilities to consult the adhesion contracts and rates in their care centers, with 51.7% and 47% respectively.
The concessionaires and authorized make available to users with disabilities various mechanisms to carry out procedures such as contracting, change of address, change of ownership, change of modality, cancellations and renewals at a distance, such as by telephone, through an authorized third party, through their web portals, the visit of an executive, through their mobile applications, by a customer service chat, social networks or email.
On the other hand, 66 per cent of users with disabilities who contracted pay-TV services and 57 per cent of fixed internet indicated that the staff who attended them were trained to detect and meet their needs compared to telephone services that reported 37 per cent and mobile telephony with 41 per cent respectively.
Likewise, the document points out that mobile phone users with disabilities registered an increase in the use of the service for access to social networks, going from 5% shown in the First Survey 2018, to 14% for the Fourth Survey 2018; while sending text messages via the Internet increased from 5% to 8%; and calls went from 19 to 20% respectively.
The IFT evaluated the 42 concessionaires and licensees that provide mobile telephone and internet services; fixed telephony; fixed internet; restricted television and public telephony, which have information in the Telecommunications Information Bank of the Institute and were considered the navigation of the main page; consultation of plans and rates; consultation of terminal equipment catalogue; the purchase or contracting of services; the contact (telephones, e-mail and/or chat); information on portability (for fixed and mobile telephony); consultation of contract; the consultation of the Charter of the Minimum Rights of the Users of Telecommunications Services and the consultation of the privacy notice, services that are considered the most performed by the users.
The Report is available at: http://www.ift.org.mx/usuarios-y-audiencias/segundo-informe-en-materia-de-accesibilidad
