Impact
Communication accessibility for deaf and signing people remains a major challenge in France, both in terms of the number of people affected and the fast-evolving legal framework.
7 million
people affected by hearing loss in France
(Fondation pour l’Audition / DREES)
500,000
people with profound or severe deafness
(Fondation pour l’Audition / DREES)
~100,000
speakers of French Sign Language (LSF)
(French Ministry of Culture)
23%
of users gave up on at least one right when dealing with public services in the past five years, with people with disabilities disproportionately affected
(Défenseur des droits (French Rights Ombudsman), October 2025)
Legal framework
11 February 2005
Law No. 2005-102: French Sign Language (LSF) formally recognised as a language in its own right, and accessibility requirement for establishments open to the public.
7 October 2016
Law No. 2016-1321 for a Digital Republic: telephone accessibility requirement, extended to companies with over €250 million in revenue.
6 September 2023
Ordinance No. 2023-857: creation of a real-time written and visual translation service, at no extra cost, for deaf, hard-of-hearing, deafblind and aphasic people using telephone services — with fines of up to €75,000 for an individual and 1% of revenue for a legal entity.
28 June 2025
The European Accessibility Directive (EU) 2019/882, adopted on 17 April 2019, comes into application — it requires public services, hospitals and businesses to make their products and services accessible to people with disabilities.
2 September 2026
Decree No. 2026-838: reception of deaf or hard-of-hearing people becomes mandatory in all public services, in person or remotely — instant written transcription, sign language interpretation or Cued Speech interpretation, on request.
1 October 2026
Public services and large companies must make their telephone reception accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing people during 100% of their opening hours (up from 50% before). Through their phone operator, deaf people can now call using a translation service (text, sign language or Cued Speech) 24/7, for up to 5 hours a month at no extra cost.
1 March 2027
Decree No. 2026-838 comes into force: accessible reception becomes mandatory for deaf or hard-of-hearing people in all public services.
ALIANOVA meets these reception requirements: an instant translation device between sign languages and spoken languages, free for everyone being served, with or without a disability, working 100% offline.