FCC Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility
Federal Communications Commission
Friday, October 28, 2011
9:00 am
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db1017/DOC-...
The Chairman’s AAA are intended to encourage technological innovation in communication-related areas and to recognize engineers, researchers and other technologists whose energies and perseverance have been successful in crafting innovative ways for consumers with disabilities to benefit from our nation’s communications technologies. Awards will be presented for the development of mainstream or assistive technologies, the development of standards, and the implementation of best practices that foster accessibility. The award recipients were selected by staff from the FCC’s Accessibility and Innovation Initiative (A&I Initiative). The A&I Initiative seeks to facilitate dialogue among industry, assistive technology companies, app developers, government representatives and consumers to allow these stakeholders to share best practices and solutions for accessible communications technologies.
Chairman Genachowski will also announce the winners of the Lifted by the Cloud: Visions of Cloud-Enhanced Accessibility challenge which was launched in July of this year. The challenge sought multimedia presentations -- typically short videos -- that demonstrate how accessibility may be increased using advances in the communication and computing power of the Internet. This event will also include a demonstration of the FCC’s new Accessibility Clearinghouse, which is required by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Programming Accessibility Act (CVAA).
Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. Please send your RSVP to ChairmansAAA@fcc.gov. Open captioning will be provided for this event. Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Please include a description of the accommodations you will need and how to contact you if additional information is needed. Please request any accommodations as early as possible. Last minute requests will be accepted but may be impossible to fill. Please send accommodations requests to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty).