Raising Awareness >

Campaigning

Hearing Concern LINK strives to influence the decision-makers.

Our working groups are made up of volunteers who are concerned individuals or experts in their field. All our volunteers feel strongly about different issues affecting deafened and hard of hearing people and donate their time, energy and skills in order to improve the quality of life for 8.3 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK.

• Telecommunications

Have you ever broken down on the motorway and needed to use the S.O.S. telephone? Hearing Concern LINK's Telecommunications working group was instrumental in ensuring that all these telephones are fitted with inductive
couplers ('T' switches).

Our Telecommunications campaign is currently focusing on:

• Furthering the voice of hard of hearing people in the OFCOMS bill.

• Mobile phone industry Code of Practice.

• Telephones: pressing for retention of and improvements in inductive coupling and consideration of low
   impedance audio interfaces.

• Emergency Communications – Emergency Services, Roadside Phones.
  Hospital telephone services and Bedside Communications.
  Mobile phones: Interference and adaptive aids.

• DECT cordless telephones.
  Influencing retailers in terms of: labelling telephones and retailer services to customers.

• Call Steering.

• Future possibilities:

• Bluetooth and Blue Ear radio coupling.

• Feeding information to Hearing Concern LINK members via the magazine.

• Feeding information to business and other organisations via a variety of methods including seminars and presentations.