Two New Disability-Focused Advisory Committees at the FCC

The Federal Communications Commission has established and named members to two advisory committees that will aid the implementation of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. The first committee is the Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC), which will focus on the most effective and efficient technologies and methods by which to enable access next generation 911 access for persons with disabilities. The Accessibility Act directs that within one year after the EAAC's members are appointed, it will conduct a national survey, with the input of groups represented by the Committee's membership, and then submit to the Commission recommendations to implement technologies and methods to achieve its goals. The first meeting of the EAAC will be Friday, January 14, 2010, at the Commission's headquarters.

The second committee is the Video Programming and Emergency Access Advisory Committee (VPEAAC), which will focus on matters pertaining to the accessibility of video programming. The VPEAAC will develop recommendations on closed captioning of Internet programming previously captioned on television; the compatibility between video programming delivered using Internet protocol and devices capable of receiving and displaying such programming in order to facilitate access to captioning, video description and emergency information; video description and accessible emergency information on television programming delivered using Internet protocol or digital broadcast television; accessible user interfaces on video programming devices; and accessible programming guides and menus. Within 6 months of its first meeting, the VPEAAC must submit recommendations concerning the provision of closed captions for Internet-delivered video programming and the ability of video devices to pass through closed captions contained on Internet-based video programming. By April 8, 2012, it must submit recommendations on the remaining issues. The first meeting of the VPEAAC is scheduled for January 13, 2011, at the Commission's headquarters.

The membership of the EAAC, designated by organization or affiliation as appropriate, is as follows:

• American Foundation for the Blind – Brad Hodges
• Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions – John Snapp
• AT&T – Brian Daly
• Avaya Labs – Paul Michaelis
• Center for Public Safety Innovation/National Terrorist Preparedness Institute – Christopher Littlewood
• City of Los Angeles’ Department on Disability, and National Emergency Numbering Association’s Accessibility Committee – Richard Ray
• Comcast Cable – Angel Arocho
• Communication Service for the Deaf – Alfred Sonnenstrahl
• CTIA, The Wireless Association – Matthew Gerst
• Fairfax County Emergency Management – Bruce McFarlane
• Gallaudet University – Norman Williams
• Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center – Donna Platt
• Louisiana National Emergency Numbering Association – Roland Cotton
• Microsoft – Bernard Aboba
• Norcal Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and E911 Stakeholder Council – Sheri A. Farinha
• Omnitor – Gunnar Hellstrom
• Partners for Access, LLC – Joel Ziev
• Purple Communications – Mark Stern
• RealTime Text Task Force (R3TF) – Arnoud van Wijk
• Research in Motion (RIM) – Gregory Fields
• Speech Communication Assistance for the Telephone, Inc. – Rebecca Ladew
• TeleCommunications Systems, Inc – Don Mitchell
• Telecommunications Industry Association and the Mobile Manufacturers Forum – David J. Dzumba
• Time Warner Cable Communications – Martha (Marte) Kinder
• T-Mobile, 911 Policy – Jim Nixon
• Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin (IT&Tel-RERC) – Gregg Vanderheiden
• Verizon Communications – Kevin Green
• Vonage Holding Corporation – Brendan Kasper
• Washington Parish, LA Communications District – James Coleman

Federal Agencies
• Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency - Marcie Roth
• U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division/DRS - Robert Mather
• U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA - Laurie Flaherty

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has designated Richard Ray and David J. Dzumba as Co-Chairpersons of the EAAC.

The membership of the VPEAAC is designated by organization or affiliation, as follows:

• Adobe, Inc. – Andrew Kirkpatrick
• Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions – Phyllis Anderson
• American Council of the Blind – Melanie Brunson
o Marlaina Leiberg, Patrik Patel – Alternates
• American Foundation for the Blind – Brad Hodges
• American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness – Louis Herrera
• AT&T – Leonardo Velazquez
• Audio Description Associates – Joel Snyder
• Bright House Networks – Jeffrey Cantrell
• Broadcast Interactive Media – Timur Yarnall
• Caption Colorado – Gary Rulh
o Chris Crosgrove – Alternate
• CBS – Mark Turits
• Center for Hearing and Communication – Joseph Gordon
• Chicago Lighthouse Service – Bill Jurek
• Comcast Cable – Charlie Kennamer
• Computer Prompting & Captioning – Sydney Hoffman
• Consumer Electronics Association – Brian Markwalter
• Cox Communications – Steve Watkins
• Digital Media Association – Lee Knife
• DirecTV – Robert Gabrielli
• Disney ABC Cable Networks – Vince Roberts
• EchoStar Technologies – John Card
• Google – Naomi Biladau
o Ken Harrenstein – Alternate
• Hearing Loss Association of America – Lise Hamlin
• IDEAL Group – Steve Jabobs
• Iowa Radio Reading Service – Mary Evans
• LG Electronics – Wayne Luplow
• Microsoft – Ann Marie Rohaly
• Modulation Sciences, Inc. – Eric Small
• Motion Picture Association of America – Van Stevenson
• Motorola – Jeffrey Newdeck
• Music Television Networks – Christopher Heaton
o Glenn Goldstein – Alternate
• National Association of Broadcasters – Kelly Williams
• National Association of the Deaf – Rosaline Crawford
o Kelby Brick, Jeff Rosen – Alternates
• National Cable & Telecommunications Association – Andy Scott
o Diane Burstein, Jill Luckett – Alternates
• National Captioning Institute – Beth Nubbe
• Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons – Cheryl Heppner
• Research in Motion – Greg Fields
• Rovi Corporation – Adam Powers
• Sony Electronics – Paul Hearty
o Mark Eyer – Alternate
• Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. – Claude Stout
• Turner Broadcasting System – Clyde Smith
• Verizon Technology Organization – Olu Akiwimi-Assani
o James Ho – Alternate
• Vitac – Tim Taylor
o Bob Beyers, Heather York – Alternates
• WGBH National Center on Accessible Media – Larry Goldberg
• World Wide Web Consortium – Judy Brewer