On 15 October 2003, the Computing Awards for Excellence 2003 were announced at a gala event in London. RNID was nominated twice in the Ability category: once for the joint Barclays and RNID "Together IT works" project and once for the "Mobile textphone". The other nominated projects were Vodafone's "Speaking phone", the "Communication aids project" from CAP and the "Workability project" from Leonard Cheshire.

In a ceremony led by Rory Bremner, our "Mobile textphone" project was announced the winner in its category and the award was handed to Guido Gybels, Director of New Technologies at RNID.

The Computing Awards for Excellence recognises and rewards the highest standards of achievement and innovation in information technology (IT). The awards are the most renowned and sought-after awards in the IT calendar. They are recognised as the benchmark for excellence throughout the computing industry.

Recognition of our efforts

One in seven people in the UK is deaf or hard of hearing, representing a massive untapped market, but this is rarely reflected in product design decisions. This award is an excellent recognition of our work to improve the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people. We are keen to exploit the huge opportunities that technology offers and are committed to working with designers, manufacturers and service providers to ensure their products support deaf and hard of hearing people.

Guido Gybels, RNID's Director of New Technologies, said:

"To receive such a prestigious award, especially in the midst of excellent competition, is a phenomenal success. It is a recognition by the finest in the industry of the exceptionally high quality of innovation and implementation that we at RNID have achieved. Above all, it reflects the hard work and total commitment of my truly excellent ICT team, without whom RNID would not have been able to accomplish this: Jamie Buchanan, James Hamlin, Frank Shearar and Mike Spanner. All of them are really top experts in their field, highly committed to delivering tangible benefits to deaf and hard of hearing people and this award is credit to that. Finally, it will be an incentive for us to continue on this path, harnessing technology to overcome the barriers in society that deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired people still face."

John Low, Chief Executive of RNID added:

"One in seven people in the UK is deaf or hard of hearing, representing a massive untapped market, but this is rarely reflected in product design decisions. This award is an excellent recognition of our work to improve the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people. We are keen to exploit the huge opportunities that technology offers and are committed to working with designers, manufacturers and service providers to ensure their products support deaf and hard of hearing people."