Telecoms regulator Ofcom has become the first UK regulatory body to publish consumer advice in the ‘Easy Read’ format, which is designed to be more accessible to people with learning difficulties.

The ‘How to use your mobile phone’ guide meets current European and UK Government standards for making written information easily understandable. It includes details about mobile phone handsets, different types of contract agreement, free services for disabled customers and how to complain.

Project RAY, which designs accessibility tools for blind and visually-impaired people, has announced a new mobile interface that’s designed to be used without sight.

It’s been designed in partnership with the Qualcomm Wireless Reach initiative and uses a standard Android smartphone powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor.

Ofcom has announced that fixed-line and mobile network providers in the UK must offer a new ‘next generation’ text relay service to all customers who require it within the next 18 months.

The current text relay service service, which is available to people with hearing and speech impairments, involves an assistant who converts speech to text and vice versa for two people having a conversation. However, it can be slow and offers little opportunity for a genuine ‘real time’ conversation.

The winners of the inaugural Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards have been announced at a ceremony attended by Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Digital Agenda.

The competition was launched earlier this year in partnership with AGE Platform Europe and the European Disability Forum. Its aim was to reward developers who’d used the power of smartphones and the mobile internet to support the needs of disabled and older people.

Mark Bridge writes:

One of the speakers providing inspiration for the mobile developers at Over The Air 2011 was Denise Stephens, co-founder of Enabled by Design. Her presentation, called ‘Design for All goes Mobile’, explored how good design could help mobile phone users live more independently than they would otherwise be able to.