Ofcom recommends Call Centre Staff should be given Disability Awareness Training

UK call centres should give their staff Disability Awareness Training, according to communications regulator Ofcom.

While the use of call centres has increased convenience and accessibility for many customers, including disabled people who have difficulty using high street shops, a lack of awareness by staff can lead to problems for some.

Research commissioned by Ofcom found that blind people were often called on to read out printed numbers, that call centres repeatedly hung up on text relay services used by deaf people and that people with learning difficulties or head injuries often had problems dealing with menus and entering numbers.

The regulator insisted that making services more accessible to older and disabled consumers makes genuine business sense, given the general aging of the population.

MORE: www.ofcom.org.uk