On Wednesday 23 April, the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), the European Disability Forum, the European Blind Union, the Cyprus Confederation of Organisations of the Disabled, the Polish Disability Forum and the Malta Federation of Organisations for People with Disabilities published an open letter calling for improved accessibility to emergency services in the EU.
The organisations report that several Member States are still not complying with Article 109 of the European Electronic Communications Code, which requires equivalent access to emergency services for people with disabilities.
The letter calls for the widespread use of ‘Advanced Mobile Location’ (AML) technology, which uses the phone’s location capabilities (GPS, Wi-Fi, network data) to automatically transmit the caller’s geographical position to 112, in order to reduce response times.
The signatories also call for the integration of alternative means of communication, such as SMS, accessible mobile applications and sign language video relay services to ensure universal accessibility to emergency services.
The open letter: https://aeur.eu/f/gin (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)