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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

This amendment would establish a digital radio switchover help scheme on the model of the digital television switchover scheme, designed to ensure the provision of equipment, facilities and support necessary to deliver a digital radio switchover that is fully inclusive, usable and accessible. It provides that the scheme should include core receiver requirements designed to ensure that digital audio broadcasting receiving equipment is accessible and useable by vulnerable people including the elderly and those with disabilities. This Bill provides powers for the implementation of digital radio switchover—a comparable process to digital television switchover which is well under way across the country and due to finish in 2012. Disabled people currently face significant and sometimes insurmountable barriers to accessing digital technologies and services, with blind and partially sighted people facing more challenges than most. The internet, digital television and digital radio all present real opportunities for blind and partially sighted people if action is taken now. However, if not designed with accessibility in mind, these developments will all too soon become further barriers to blind and partially sighted people. The digital revolution is happening more quickly than anyone imagined possible. As it gathers pace the digital divide continues to widen for blind and partially sighted people, distancing them from new services and losing access even to existing ones. The ambitions of Digital Britain cannot be realised if the Government and industry fail to take steps to develop and deliver new products and services that are accessible to blind and partially sighted people. This Bill could go some way to resolving some of the fundamental issues around accessibility and make further progress on the journey to delivering digital inclusion and digital equality to some of the most excluded people in our society. Research shows that radio plays a fundamental role in providing entertainment, information, inclusion and quality of life for blind and partially sighted people, with more than 91 per cent regularly listening to the radio and more than 80 per cent owning a radio set themselves. As your Lordships might imagine, many blind and partially sighted people rely on the radio, rather than the television, to access news and current affairs, follow sporting events, enjoy music and of course "The Archers". At present, radio does not require the same level of visual interaction as other media. However, in a recent study a significant majority of blind and partially sighted people expressed concern that advanced features of digital radio sets were not accessible to them because digital sets required the use of visual interfaces. Digital radio switchover has the potential to improve the quality of radio broadcasting for blind and partially sighted consumers through increased choice and better sound quality. However, current proposals risk excluding blind and partially sighted listeners even from existing services if digital radio sets are not accessible in their operation. Many analogue radios use buttons and tactile dials for tuning. New DAB radios rely on touch screens or inset buttons that can pose real difficulties for visually impaired users. Digital radio switchover relies on the purchase of new digital radio equipment which is currently not accessible to blind and partially sighted people as digital radio sets require the use of electronic programme guides—visual menus—to use the equipment. As has been the case for digital TV switchover, it looks unlikely that accessible digital radio equipment will be produced without government intervention to stimulate the market or to procure accessible radio sets directly. Accessibility is vital. Research shows that visually impaired people are much better able to use radio equipment independently if it has audio output that provides navigational and programme information on core functions, such as channel, station and frequency. Digital radio will offer a new type of service that requires visual interaction with a screen on the radio to access information such as numbers of phone-in shows, the station, its wavelength and details of music and artist. Presenters will be less likely to give this kind of information, since the equipment will do the job for sighted people. When the digital TV switchover began, a help scheme was introduced to ensure that older and disabled people or those on certain benefits could continue to access digital television. The help scheme provided a set-top box at a fixed cost, which was installed by a technician, who also demonstrated how to use the box and access the new channels. The equipment provided also met a set of requirements—the core receiver requirements—which laid out the minimum accessibility and usability standards for the equipment, which included ensuring accessibility to disabled people. Unlike the digital TV switchover, there is as yet no help scheme proposed to assist qualifying members of the public such as older or disabled people with obtaining and using digital radio equipment. That could mean that older and disabled people would have no support during the transition to digital radio. Digital radio switchover relies on the purchase of new equipment, which is currently not accessible as digital receivers use electronic programme guides to access the desired station. Accessibility is vital. Research shows that visually impaired people are much better able to use radio equipment independently if it has audio output providing navigational information in audio format. As part of its Are You Really Listening? research, the RNIB, of which I am a vice-president, spoke with manufacturers at various points along the supply chain to establish whether digital audio radios can be easily produced with integrated accessibility features to enhance usability. They confirmed that this was possible but expressed reservations as to whether such equipment would sell in the mainstream market. The manufacture of goods is also excluded from the Disability Discrimination Act and has not been included in the Equality Bill, which means that disabled people have no access to legal redress if a company fails to take into account disabled customers’ needs when developing new products. If vulnerable groups are to be enabled to migrate successfully to digital radio, it is fairly clear that a government help scheme will be needed. When discussing the previous amendment, the noble Lord, Lord Howard, asked where the money would come from. That is always a reasonable question, but in this case I am happy to say that there is a ready answer. As we know, the television help scheme is under spent. I know that there is a long line of people queuing up to tell us how to spend the money, but I submit that there could not be a more obvious candidate than a digital radio switchover help scheme. I beg to move.