InternationalTelecommunicationUnion

Connecting people with disabilities: ITU-R

ITU-R activities addressing UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities

www.itu.int/ITU-R/go/disabilities-divide

May 2008

Committed to Connecting the World

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Radio technologies are increasingly important for sending and receiving data, text, voice and video.

Wireless devises are well placed to help people with disabilities gain access to the information society.

ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) plays a central role in the development of wireless and broadcasting technologies, through the production of technical standards and reports, guidelines, contained in internationally agreed Recommendations and Handbooks.

May 2008

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Practical examples:

Digital television broadcasting

DTTB Handbook “Digital terrestrial television broadcasting in the VHF/UHF bands“ provides guidance to engineers on deploying digital terrestrial television broadcasting. It covers aspects of captioning and closed captioning to broadcasters – techniques that are extremely useful for people with hearing difficulties.

May 2008

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Beaming sound to wireless hearing aids

Rec. ITU-R M.1076 “Wireless communication systems for persons with impaired hearing“ notes that various ways have been used to transfer speech signals to a listener’s hearing device. Including infrared radiation, magnetic induction internal to current loops, VHF radio, external induction field of a radiating antenna.

May 2008

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Implanted and portable devices

Electromagnetic Fields can cause radio frequency interference to active implanted or portable medical devices such as portable monitors, prosthetic aids for sight and motion. Generally speaking, such medical devices could suffer interference from radiated EMF.

Rec. ITU-R BS.1698 ‘Evaluating fields from terrestrial broadcasting transmitting systems operating in any frequency band for assessing exposure to non-ionizing radiation’ provides a basis for the derivation and estimation of the values of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from a broadcasting station.

May 2008

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ITU-R Activities for 2008 and future:

ITU-R Sector is strongly engaged in accessibility studies through Study Groups activities.

ITU-R keeps raising the attention of Administrations and Scientific Community to include accessibility studies within their work programmes.

For more information please visit our web site:www.itu.int/ITU-R/go/disabilities-divide/

ITU-R accessibility e-mail contact: brpromo@itu.int