Orange has been committed to digital equality for many years. In line with our Engage 2025 strategic plan and our corporate purpose, we’re working to make digital tools and technologies easy to access and use. Because digital equality is for everyone, we also meet the needs of people with disabilities through an inclusive offer and contact channels that are adapted to individual requirements. Here’s more.
Designing offers and products with inclusion in mind
At Orange, our offers are based around our customers’ practices to best meet their needs. “They are the ones who best placed to tell us how they use a particular tool to help them overcome a certain difficulty,” explains François-René Germain, Director of Accessibility for the Orange Group.
From people with motor, visual or hearing disabilities, to active seniors, the elderly or caregivers and their dependents, we address all our various audiences in a consistent way through our Design for All approach. This universal design philosophy includes people who find it harder to access our products. The Orange Autonomy catalog was created to meet this commitment to inclusion. It presents mobile, internet and fixed solutions for the elderly or disabled, offering greater ease of use, reassurance and security. While the products and services in the Autonomy catalog are specifically designed for certain disabilities, most come from the general catalog and are adapted to each need.
Orange is much more than a telecommunications operator: our purpose extends to digital inclusion. Over and above a telecommunications network, we have built our foundations on a social contract.
Our approach is to focus on the needs and uses of our customers. We have gradually introduced more offers for the elderly to make life easier for people with disabilities
More inclusive sales networks: gradual deployment specific to each country
Our operating countries comply with the common standards in force and incorporate our Engage 2025 strategic plan on digital inclusion, but they also manage their autonomy products and services according to local needs. In Africa, shops are becoming more accessible for people with reduced mobility. In Senegal, for example, most points of sale are wheelchair accessible, and salespeople are trained in how to welcome priority audiences.
France, where Orange is headquartered, is at the forefront of accessibility. But other countries such as Spain, Poland, Jordan, Belgium and Luxembourg also have a strong inclusive culture. In Poland for example, 144 stores are already accessible for people with disabilities, representing a fifth of all stores.
Redesigned in-store reception
Orange is committed to transforming its points of sale to make them accessible to everyone. Beyond just welcoming people with reduced mobility, “Autonomy” shops offer an adapted experience for people with disabilities and the elderly.
225 stores: 75% of shops have the Autonomy label in France
In Poland, 144 stores are accessible for people with disabilities, representing a fifth of all stores
1,500 salespeople have been trained to meet the needs of different audiences in France.
Across our 245 Autonomy-labeled stores, our salespeople have expert knowledge of the Orange Autonomy catalog to offer solutions adapted or dedicated to our customers’ unique circumstances so they can help them use their devices. “Training is the sinews of war,” emphasizes François-René Germain.
To facilitate discussions with visually impaired people, there are tools that increase the font size or translate text to Braille in documents such as the product catalog, general conditions of sale or invoices, for example.
Interactions with the deaf or hard of hearing are made easy through sign language translation devices. In Jordan, 11 stores are using an instant video translation app developed by a partner SignBook.
Our customer service dedicated to different disabilities extends beyond the in-store experience. In France for example, we offer a special Autonomy customer contact center available via telephone, LSF (French sign language), LPC (Completed spoken language), and via text / Braille. We also offer 3 hours free of charge for our clients' interpersonal communications through Rogervoice platform .
Autonomy catalog: potential future synergies with companies
Although the Orange Autonomy catalog is primarily intended for the public, it is also appealing to a whole ecosystem of organizations, in particular healthcare establishments or EHPADs, who use our solutions for remote assistance purposes, connected medicine or nutrition. Further opportunities will develop in the coming years as “disability and the aging population are a priority issue for both society and innovation,” concludes François-René Germain.