Devon Fire and Rescue

Customer:	Devon Fire and Rescue
Services:	Email SMS
Website:	www.devfire.gov.uk

The final stages of the goods and services provisions in Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in October 2004. The Act requires that those who provide a service to the public make their services reasonably accessible to disabled people so that they can share the same level of goods and services provisions as the able-bodied.

At a recent conference for the deaf, Devon Fire & Rescue service co-hosted a community safety workshop which raised the issue, and related concerns, of how public services providers interact with deaf people.

The partnership co-ordinator for Community Fire Safety (CFS) noted that an overwhelming number of younger deaf people stated that their preferred method of communicating with public services would be by SMS. To accommodate the need, they immediately contacted Esendex, the leading provider of text messaging solutions for businesses and the public sector.

Esendex’s Email SMS service allows users to text an information line, which deaf people can use to confirm appointments for home and safety checks and to obtain access to all relevant information. The queries are received via email and the system allows the Fire and Rescue Service to respond in the same manner, with these responses then being issued in the form of text alerts. A spokeswoman comments:

"Not only has using SMS broadened the service that we provide, it also prevents any unwitting discrimination on our part as it allows for equality of access to all. I would imagine that our situation illustrates just how easy it is for services providers to become DDA compliant. The fact is that younger people’s preferred method of communication is now text but for deaf people, regardless of age, it’s an easy and obvious way to pick up public service information.”

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