Accessibility for the Disabled

The Federal Communications Commission presents tentative findings on the accessibility of services and equipment under sections 255, 716, and 718 of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 and presents tentative findings regarding any accessibility barriers to new communications technologies, complaints received pursuant to section 717, and the effect of the accessibility-related recordkeeping and enforcement provisions of section 717 on the development and deployment of such new technologies.

Reps Mark Alford (R-MO) and Lou Correa (DCA) introduced the Online Accessibility Act, bipartisan legislation to modernize the Americans with Disabilities Act for the digital age while protecting small businesses from abusive website lawsuits. The legislation establishes clear, uniform accessibility standards for consumer-facing websites and mobile applications and creates a structured process to ensure issues are fixed—rather than exploited. The Online Accessibility Act:

Keri Rodrigues, a mother of five boys, knows the value of screens. For her boys, four of whom receive school accommodations, screens serve a practical purpose at school. “When you get a kid who's got [a learning plan] for anxiety and a substitute teacher that hasn't read his 504 [plan] and there's nobody there to de-escalate him, he's got to use his phone to call mom so I can FaceTime with him and do a breathing exercise,” Rodrigues says. But this use of screens bumps against a new concern.

America used to build the future; now it holds hearings, shouts at allies, lets hyperscalers drink the water, and wonders why China is winning. Blair Levin, chief architect of the 2010 National Broadband Plan, reflects on what the U.S. got right, what it missed, and why it risks falling behind in the next phase of the global digital economy. From AI infrastructure to Chinese soft power, hyperscaler dominance to Roosevelt-era ambition, Levin offers a candid assessment of where America stands—and what it needs to do next.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a proposal to amend the Audible Crawl Rule that would ensure that people who are blind or visually impaired continue to have access to the same critical details of an emergency as sighted viewers. The Commission’s Audible Crawl Rule requires the use of a secondary audio stream to convey televised emergency information aurally when such information is conveyed visually (e.g., in an onscreen text crawl or a small image like a weather radar map), so that it is accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

Sen Edward Markey (D-MA), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and author of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Reps Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) and Brian Fitzpatrick (D-PA-01) reintroduced the bipartisan, bicameral Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act. This bill would update and strengthen the CVAA to ensure that people with disabilities have access to innovative communication and video technologies to ensure they can participate equally in employment, educat

The Federal Communications Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB or Bureau) seeks comment in connection with its biennial report required by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA).

The Federal Communications Commission announced a plan to modernize Telecommunications Relay Services through a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking information about how these services can continue to be delivered efficiently in the current IP-based environment.

While tech companies market AI as a productivity tool for everyone, a United Kingdom government study reveals an unexpected result: Neurodiverse employees may be benefiting far more from chatbots than their neurotypical colleagues.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced the first meeting of the Commission’s Consumer Protection and Accessibility Advisory Committee (CPAAC or Committee) for this term and the appointment of Committee members, including its Co-Chairs.  The CPAAC will provide advice and recommendations to the FCC on a wide array of consumer protection and accessibility matters specified by the Commission.