Communications technology is a powerful tool in our everyday lives.
Whenever we use a cash machine at a bank or building society, make a purchase with a credit or debit card, use a mobile phone or operate our television with a remote control we interact with this technology. A great deal of development is now taking place in the way information and services are delivered. Banks and building societies are developing new ways of providing services electronically, smart cards carry more and more information, telephone companies design new and more interactive communications equipment, the internet continues to weave its web, digital broadcasting comes onstream and governments plan to make services more accessible by delivering them electronically. Electronic services are becoming a part of our everyday lives. For the public to benefit from these services, people must be able to interact with the wide range of public terminals that are now being designed.