Major Australian telecom operator using GARI to offer accessibility information to customers

Australian telecom operator Telstra has launched a new integrated web portal fully integrating the GARI database to allow their customers to search for devices with specific accessibility features related to speech, hearing, vision, cognitive impairment and reduced mobility.

“Telstra is the first carrier in the world to fully integrate data from the mobile industry’s Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (GARI) - www.GARI.info. As a result, access to mobile communications has just become a lot easier for Telstra’s customers who live with a disability,” said Michael Milligan, Secretary General of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF), in a press release issued today.

The new Telstra web portal - http://telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/find-accessible-devices - is a wonderful example of how GARI can be used by operators to help older people and those with a disability search for mobile devices that best suit their specific accessibility requirements. For example, a customer with vision impairment can now use the Telstra web portal to search for a new smartphone that has a built-in screen reader that will read out screen content. Likewise a hearing impaired person might want to see which devices are hearing-aid compatible or that support closed captioning. 

GARI around the world

Just recently, GARI has also expanded to Rumania and South Africa. The Rumanian telecommunications regulator ANCOM has integrated a rumanian language version of GARI into their website, allowing the website visitors to directly access the GARI search interface, and the South African Electronic Communications Association SAECA has created in their website a section dedicated to GARI to offer the same service to their members. 

Telstra, ANCOM and SAECA join a number of governments, regulators and associations around the world that use GARI in different forms but all with the common objective of giving people access to information on available mobile accessibility solutions. 

Have a look at who else is using GARI: http://www.gari.info/government.cfm 

Learn how to use GARI on your own website: http://www.gari.info/download-gari-db.cfm