View source for Emergency Services accessibility for persons with disabilities

{{Guideline
|Primary Target Country=Europe
|Publishing Organisation=EENA
|Language=English
|Year Published=2020
|Target Audience=Businesses, Civil Society, Media, Policy Makers, Practitioners, Researchers
|Status=Published
|Covers Thematic=Crisis communication, Legal/Standards, Technologies, Vulnerable groups
|Audience Experience Level=Starter, Intermediate
|Source Website=https://eena.org/wp-content/uploads/2020_10_02_Accessibility.pdf
|Synopsis='''EXECUTIVE SUMMARY'''
* Disability affects a high proportion of the population, but many countries still do not provide accessible emergency services. 
* Limited communications options can leave persons with disabilities in particularly dangerous situations in times of emergency, particularly as many emergency services are only accessible via voice call. 
* The situation is nevertheless changing, as recent European Union (EU) legislation requires equivalent access to emergency services through emergency communications.


'''Legislation'''
* What obligations must Member States abide by? 
* This document explores the main legislation regarding accessible emergency services, including the 2018 European Electronic Communications Code and the 2019 Accessibility Act. 
*'''The main requirements in a nutshell'''
* Persons with disabilities must be able to contact emergency services on an equivalent basis compared to other end-users.
* The concept of ‘equivalent access’ has been clarified in the European Electronic Communications Code and the European Accessibility Act.
* As of June 2025, at least real time text will have to be deployed in the Member States.
* Means of access to emergency services should be free of charge to the user.
* Location information of the person contacting 112 should be provided to the
emergency services.
* Relevant authorities should seek to facilitate the way citizens with disabilities can
contact emergency services in other EU countries, “where feasible without any
pre-registration”.


'''Solutions'''
* What solutions are available to ensure access? 
* The document presents the functional requirements of effective solutions, including caller location, reliability, roaming and call-back, among others.
* Several solutions are currently in use in different European countries, including 
** total conversation, 
** relay services, 
** SMS, 
** smartphone applications and fax. 
* The document explores the pros and cons of these systems and defines a number of recommendations for countries implementing solutions.


'''GLOSSARY'''

* '''Deaf''' 
** Gallaudet University describes a deaf individual as “Anyone who cannot understand speech (with or without hearing aids or other devices) using sound alone (i.e. no visual cues such as lip reading).”
* '''Deaf-Blind''' 
** A term used to describe a person in whom hearing loss and vision impairment combine to interfere with his/her ability to hear and see. S/he may have either total or partial loss of both senses.
* '''Disability'''
** UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities refers to disability as “long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, which in interaction with various barriers may hinder people’s full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”.
* '''Hard of Hearing''' 
** The term ‘hard of hearing’ refers to those who have some hearing, can use it for communication purposes, and who are reasonably comfortable in doing so. 
** A hard of hearing person, in audiological terms, may have a mild to moderate hearing loss.
* '''Next Generation 112 (NG112)'''
** Interoperability between emergency services: NG112 enables the several Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) to be part of a common emergency service IP- network, providing them with redundancy and interoperability features. 
*** This network should support data and communications needs for coordinated incident management between PSAPs and provide a reliable and secure environment for emergency communications.
** Communication between citizens and emergency services: 
*** NG112 is designed to enable citizens to reach an authority (e.g., PSAP) by calls using Voice over Internet Protocol, text messaging, instant messaging, real-time text, pictures, and videos. It could also provide emergency services with more data such as telematics and health data. Based on a caller’s location, NG112 enables the delivery of calls, messages, and data to the appropriate PSAP and other appropriate emergency entities and makes call handling easier.
* '''Pre-registration''' 
** Before being able to use a communication channel, you may be required to give your phone number and details such as your name or information about your disability.
* '''Sign Languages'''
** Sign languages are fully-fledged, natural languages with linguistic properties, including grammatical features, such as morphology, phonology, and syntax. 
** They have these qualities in common with all spoken languages.
|Is Archived=No
|Disaster Management Phase=Before, During, After
}}