Working Group for the Hearing Impaired (WGHI)
The WGHI was originally set up by the DTI and transferred to OFTEL. It consisted of experts from organisations concerned with deafness, telecoms operators, telecoms manufacturers, the Department of Health and independent consultants in the fields of disability and telecommunications. WGHI was a technical committee and provided an input into OFTEL’s statutory advisory committee on disabled and elderly people (DIEL).
The group led Europe in producing an effective network of expertise which has been used by a wide range of organisations who were not aware of the problems faced by hearing impaired people and the implications of current and future technology. The group produced standards for inductive and electrical coupling of hearing aids to telephones, amplified telephones, text telephones which have been taken up by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the International Tele-communications Union (ITU). It organised research into the coupling of hearing aids to the telephone and played a major part in producing the new V.18 standard for text telephones.
From the 27th March 1996, the WGHI no longer exists.
A number of papers are listed below, some of which have been written by members of the WGHI.
Barnes, G. J. What do we hear through the telephone?
Barnes, G. J. Telephony end to end levels and the hearing impaired user
Mellors, W. J. Statistics on age and disability in relation to Telecommunications - A significant market