The CRTC is in the middle of a consultation on the development of a Wireless Code of Conduct. It asked the public for comments to be submitted by December 4, using two different methods: the usual submissions process; and, a special online consultation which are saved separately (French on-line comments are separate from the English). Reply comments are due on December 18 – a week from today.
The comments from the online consultation do not show up on the listing of the hearing documents. As a challenge, try to find the link to the on-line consultation by navigating the CRTC website without using the links I provide above. I cheated by using an old tweet from @CRTCeng.
There were 1043 comments filed as part of the usual submissions process. I can’t figure out how these comments will be reviewed. Assuming you succeed in accessing the full table listing the comments, each of the 1043 records requires a click on the “Related Documents” link, which opens a page dedicated to that record, in turn requiring another click on the “Comments” link. In Internet Explorer, this may offer a choice to open the submission or save the file, but many other browsers only offer to save the file, even though many are in html format. The document names (such as “1246y01!.HTML”) are indecipherable, not related to the proceeding nor the party submitting the comment.
In 2012, a single click should let us to view an HTML file without first having to download it.
Despite its invitation to Canadians to participate in the creation of a meaningful code for the wireless industry, I am concerned that the inaccessibility of the CRTC’s website creates an obstacle for citizens who want to follow along. I wonder if even the carriers will have the resources to download and review all of the interventions in time to submit a reply next week.
While a number of token interventions may be read into the record by the CRTC Chair at oral hearings, the inaccessibility of the CRTC’s database means that in practice the comments of Canadians may not be given the appropriate level of consideration by the people crafting the code.
Quick action is needed by the CRTC to make its website more accessible in order to keep the confidence of consumers that their voices are being heard and that their concerns are able to be considered. As a start, there should be a link to the online consultation discussion in the listing of hearing documents.