Preventing digital exclusion

I was recently contacted by a constituent who raised a vital concern about digital inclusion. Due to his voice disability, spasmodic dysphonia, he finds it extremely difficult to access essential services such as banking.  

Automated phone systems often cannot understand his voice, and frustratingly, there is often no clear option to bypass them. Alternatives like webchat are often slow and ineffective.

This is not an isolated case. Many people with communication disabilities are increasingly facing barriers when trying to access the services we all rely on. As services become more automated, it’s crucial that accessibility is not left behind.

Last week, I spoke in the House of Commons to raise this issue with Sir Stephen Timms, the Minister for the Department for Work and Pensions, to urge the Government to ensure that digital services are designed to be inclusive.  

You can watch my speech here.

I also asked whether this specific issue will be addressed in the upcoming Digital Inclusion Action Plan. Everyone deserves fair and equal access to services and I was pleased that the Minister said he would be interested in talking to me to hear about what more we might do and look at solutions there that could be taken forward.

I’ll continue to press for improvements, and I will keep you up to date on my progress.