Samsung Becomes the First to Receive ONCE Foundation Accessibility Certification for TVs in Spain

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 01 September 2021

Samsung lberia has announced that Samsung Neo QLED, QLED 8K and 4K, Crystal UHD, The Frame and The Serif have all received ATECH certification from the ONCE Foundation accrediting their accessibility for people with disabilities in Spain.

These seals’ award was revealed at an event held at the ONCE Foundation headquarters, also announcing the new ATECH distinction. In attendance were Jesús Hernández, Director of Accessibility and Innovation and the ONCE Foundation; and Alfonso Fernández, Director of Institutional Relations and the Digital Transformation at Samsung Electronics Iberia, who explained the characteristics of this seal proving the accessibility of these devices.

This new ONCE Foundation seal accredits the accessibility of electronic products and services such as Smart TVs, laptop computers, household appliances and videogames consoles for people with disabilities. All of Samsung’s certified products meet the accessibility requirements for technologies with closed functionality, as per European standard EN 301 549.

Alfonso Fernández, Director of Institutional Relations and the Digital Transformation at Samsung Electronics Iberia said, “Obtaining the ATECH seal for various TV models is a significant achievement for the company and encourages us to keep on working to guarantee all of our products may be accessible for everyone.”

Jesús Hernández, Director of Universal Accessibility and Innovation at the ONCE Foundation, underlined the fact that “it is important for manufacturers to take into account the needs of people with disabilities in order to achieve equal opportunities and non-discrimination as well as offer such information clearly and transparently and that is our goal.”

The Samsung TVs were certified by the ONCE Foundation because they have the proper features for people who are completely blind, have limited eyesight or are colour blind as well as for those who are completely or partially deaf, have moderate or severe difficulties using their hands, cannot speak or have limited cognitive capacity.

The devices are equipped with different functionalities that foster use by people with disabilities such as a very complete and easy-to-use accessibility menu. They come with the option of activating some features when being turned on for the first time so that the affected person may set everything up without needing any assistance from anyone else. Televisions certified with the ATECH seal include features such as an operation mode requiring no vision, audio descriptions and accessibility subtitles.