FCC To Hold Open Commission Meeting Thursday, June 7, 2018
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, June 7, 2018:
At this meeting, the DAC is expected to receive and consider reports from its subcommittees on Emergency Communications; Video Programming; Technology Transitions; and Relay & Equipment Distribution.
The DAC is also expected to receive presentations from Commission staff or others on matters of interest to the Committee.
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, June 7, 2018:
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 10, 2018:
[Speech] With more than 50 million people identified as having a disability in this country, it is critical that both legacy communications services and those new and emerging technologies are accessible to all. That is why I believe we must discuss these issues, not just when a rulemaking has “accessibility” in its title, but in each and every proceeding before the Commission. By this I mean, if a proceeding will impact the general public, we must include in that discussion, how those living with a disability will be impacted.
[Speech] My approach when it comes to public safety issues, has been shaped by three, key guiding principles: people with accessibility and access challenges must benefit; we should do all we can to educate every consumer about these safety benefits; and collaboration among all stakeholders works better than litigation.
Elaine Gardner
DAC Designated Federal Officer
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
Disability Rights Office
(202) 418-0581 (voice)
Elaine.Gardner@fcc.gov
AT&T is pleased to announce the launch of a new service – Real-time Text (RTT) – that replaces teletypewriter (TTY) and brings communications for people with hearing loss and speech disabilities into the 21st Century. RTT is a text-based communication service that alleviates many of TTY’s short comings. TTY requires turn taking, allows for the use of only a small set of device-generated characters, and is very slow. With RTT, each text character is transmitted and received in near real time, allowing for a conversational flow of communication, simultaneously with voice.
A month ago, Google started warning developers about a coming crackdown on apps that use the Android accessibility APIs for things other than accessibility. For years, the accessibility APIs have been a way for power-user apps to hook into the operating system, but Google apparently had a change of heart last month, telling developers they had 30 days to explain how an app using the Accessibility APIs was helping a user with disabilities or face removal from the Play Store.
The Federal Communications Commission approved updates to various Commission rules for hearing aid compatibility and volume control on wireline and wireless telephones. Under the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act, the Commission is required to establish rules that ensure access by people with hearing loss to telephones manufactured or imported for use in the United States.
With today’s action, the Commission continues its efforts to ensure that tens of millions of Americans with hearing loss have access to and can benefit from critical and modern communication technologies and services. With the Order, the Commission adopted a revised volume control standard for wireline handsets to provide a more accurate measurement of voice amplification. The Order also implements a provision of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act to apply all the Commission’s hearing aid compatibility requirements to wireline telephones used with advanced communication services, including phones used with Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services. Compliance with these provisions must be achieved within two years.
As you visit the booths and exchange ideas, remember: we simply cannot afford to leave anyone behind in this 21st Century, internet-based economy. While there have been considerable improvements in accessibility to mainstream technology, too many Americans remain unable to utilize our most innovative advancements to their fullest potential. Collectively, we must work to change that reality.
There are more than 56 million people in our country, and over a billion people globally, with one or more disabilities and with advancements in medicine and our focus on fitness, those numbers will continue to climb as we live longer. So the time is now to close the digital divide that too many with disabilities face. We must ensure that technologies are accessible and that anyone and everyone is able to enjoy and benefit from the innovation over the horizon.
When I spoke to you in March, I noted that the Commission was about to vote on an order to improve VRS interoperability, quality, and efficiency. I am happy to say that this order has since been released, and we have made several other important strides since then. And at our upcoming Commission meeting on October 24, we will vote on an order to apply hearing aid compatibility requirements to wireline phones using Voice over Internet Protocol. The order also would require volume control on cell phones – something the community has requested for over a decade. This would help ensure that people using hearing aids—as well as those without such aids – are better able to select cell phones that meet their communication needs. In particular, this is sure to benefit our growing population of seniors.
In order to expand direct communications for deaf callers, we also are continuing our efforts to educate government agencies on the federal, state and local levels about Direct Video Calling. Finally, people who are blind or visually impaired are gaining better access to television, program guides, and menus because of the Commission’s accessible user interface rules, which went into effect just this past December.
The Federal Communications Commission announced it will host an Accessibility Innovations Expo from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 23, 2017, featuring technologies that advance accessibility for people with disabilities. The Expo, which is co-hosted by the FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau and Connect2HealthFCC (C2H) Task Force, coincides with National Disability Employment Awareness Month and will highlight how technology can provide opportunities for people to be fully engaged in an increasingly technological workforce.
The Federal Communications Commission reached a settlement with Sorenson Communications following a preventable service outage that affected a communications service utilized by Americans with disabilities. Under the terms of the settlement, the company has agreed to provide enhanced notices to consumers during outages, and pay $2.7 million to reimburse the Telecommunications Relay Services Fund and a $252,000 penalty.
The Federal Communications Commission proposed revisions to its wireless hearing aid compatibility (HAC) reporting rules to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, particularly for non-nationwide service providers. All handset manufacturers and wireless service providers are currently required to file annual status reports with the FCC on their HAC deployment and compliance efforts. The FCC is proposing rule changes to provide relief from these reporting obligations to small, rural, and regional service providers while maintaining other safeguards to ensure that all consumers enjoy the benefits of having available hearing aid compatible handsets. Specifically, the item seeks comment on, among other things, whether to amend the FCC’s HAC reporting requirements to exempt non-nationwide, wireless service providers from the annual reporting requirement. It also asks about the feasibility of reliance on informal complaints and other required sources of information to ensure industry compliance. Finally, it seeks details on the costs and benefits of the proposed reporting exemption, as well as additional ways to streamline or simplify these requirements for service providers generally.
Passed 27 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act mandates equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities. Title III of the ADA specifically mandates that all public and private institutions and spaces render themselves accessible to those with sensory, cognitive, and physical limitations–think of Braille on store signs, sound-enabled walk signals, on-ramps carved into sidewalks. But over the past year and a half, a string of lawsuits filed on behalf of people with disabilities against companies indicates that one crucial space has been bypassed in effectively interpreting the purpose of the ADA: the internet.
It makes sense that the ADA’s mandates around internet accessibility would be fuzzy. In 1990, when the law was passed, the web was a fringe pastime. Why concern yourself with e-commerce accessibility when Americans were still doing their shopping in brick-and-mortar stores? Now, however, 79% of people in the U.S. shop online; in that and so many other ways, including access to financial services, the internet has effectively transitioned from a privilege to a necessity. And Mark Lacek, a marketing CEO who was tipped off to the string of web-accessibility related lawsuits by his business attorney, saw an opportunity to help companies build ADA compliance into their online operations.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the September Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 26, 2017:
Amendment of Parts 74, 76 and 78 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding Maintenance of Copies of FCC Rules – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to eliminate rules requiring certain broadcast and cable entities to maintain paper copies of FCC rules. (MB Docket Nos. 17-105; 17-231)
Cable Television Technical and Operational Standards – The Commission will consider a Report and Order that modernizes its cable television technical rules to reflect the cable industry’s use of digital transmission systems. (MB Docket No. 12-217)
Revitalization of the AM Radio Service – The Commission will consider a Third Report and Order that will relax or eliminate certain rules pertaining to AM broadcasters employing and maintaining directional antenna arrays. (MB Docket No. 13-249)
Updating Rules for Non-Geostationary Satellites in the Fixed-Satellite Service – The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that recommends updating and streamlining the Commission’s rules to facilitate the licensing of the next generation of non-geostationary, fixed-satellite service systems. (IB Docket No. 16-408)
Revisions to Reporting Requirements Governing Hearing Aid-Compatible Mobile Handsets – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on revisions to the wireless hearing aid compatibility annual reporting requirement to provide relief to non-nationwide service providers. (WT Docket No. 17-228)
Toll Free Assignment Modernization – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to amend the Commission’s rules to allow for use of auctions to assign certain toll free numbers and considers other means by which to modernize the administration and assignment of toll free numbers. (WC Docket No. 17-192; CC Docket No 95-155)
911 Access, Routing, and Location in Enterprise Communications Systems – The Commission will consider a Notice of Inquiry that seeks comment on the provision of 911 by enterprise communications systems that serve businesses, hotels, educational institutions, and government entities. The NOI seeks comment on the capabilities of these systems to support direct calling to 911, routing to the appropriate 911 call center, and transmission of the caller’s location information, as well as to ensure that the 911 capabilities of these systems keep pace with technological developments and public expectations. (PS Docket No. 17-239)
20th Mobile Wireless Competition Report – The Commission will consider a Report analyzing the state of competition in the mobile wireless industry. (WT Docket No. 17-69)
The Federal Communications Commission is determined to be Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing’s (TDI) partner and meet this moment. I’d like to walk through the Commission’s multi-part strategy for improving the lives of Americans with disabilities through communications technology. The first part of this strategy is pretty straightforward: to uphold our legal obligations to promote accessibility and to advance new rules when appropriate. Part two of our accessibility strategy is encouraging the private sector to make accessibility a priority, rather than an afterthought. A third way that the FCC aims to promote accessibility is to lead by example. We are seeing real success with our direct video calling program—also called DVC. Bottom line: When it comes to accessibility, the FCC is practicing what we preach. The fourth and final piece of our accessibility agenda might not strike you at first as relevant to accessibility. But our work to bridge the digital divide is critically important to Americans with disabilities. We are aiming to connect every American with digital opportunity regardless of who they are or where they live.
On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became the law of the land. This landmark legislation gave the Federal Communications Commission a mandate to ensure access to telecommunications by Americans with hearing and speech disabilities.
Title IV of the ADA requires the FCC to ensure that nationwide telecommunications relay services are available for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, or who have a speech disability to communicate with other individuals in a manner that is functionally equivalent to people who use voice telephone services. In 2010, with passage of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), Congress authorized the distribution of free communications equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind. The FCC used this authority to develop the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, also known as "iCanConnect." Since 2012, iCanConnect has provided the equipment needed to make communications services accessible to low-income individuals who have both significant vision loss and significant hearing loss. Among other things, this program has enabled people who are deaf-blind and were unable to access telecommunications relay services to now do so. Although iCanConnect started as a pilot FCC program, it became permanent as of July 1, 2017. Through iCanConnect, relay service programs, and other accessibility initiatives under the ADA and CVAA, the FCC is working to ensure that all Americans have equal access to essential telecommunications services so that everyone can take full advantage of all the latest life-enhancing innovations.
The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to ensure Americans who are blind or visually impaired have access to more video described programming. Video description, also called audio description, allows people with limited vision to hear a description of on-screen activity while also following the dialogue, providing a more fulsome entertainment experience. According to the National Federation of the Blind, more than 7 million Americans have a visual disability. The new rules adopted today will ensure that more video described programming is available to those who rely on it, and also provide broadcast and nonbroadcast television networks more flexibility in complying with the rules.
Beginning in July 2018, broadcasters and pay-TV providers carrying one of the top networks must provide 87.5 hours of described programming per calendar quarter, which averages out to roughly one hour per day of description on each included network. This is an increase of 75 percent over the 50 hours per quarter presently required. While the current 50 hour requirement must be provided during prime-time or children’s programming, the additional 37.5 hours per quarter being added by these new rules can be provided at any time of day between 6 a.m. and midnight. The networks currently covered by the rule are ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Disney Channel, History, TBS, TNT, and USA. However, the list of the top five nonbroadcast networks will be updated in July 2018, so this is subject to change.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the July Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 13, 2017:
Let me begin by expressing how pleased I am to see the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) move rapidly to certify states and territories for participation in the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, also known as “iCanConnect.” I will focus specifically on three proceedings that were circulated during the previous Administration, that if acted upon, can significantly improve the lives of those living with a disability. First, it is imperative that we act to increase the number of hours of video described programming. The Commission must also address improved accessibility of closed captioning. Third, we have an opportunity to improve how Americans with hearing loss, access wireline and wireless communications services.
US District Judge Robert Scola ruled that grocery chain Winn-Dixie Stores must make its website accessible to the blind, following an unprecedented trial over a gray area of accessibility law.
The decision adds momentum to a push by plaintiffs’ lawyers and disability-rights groups to make all consumer websites accessible to the blind and hearing-impaired. Uncertainty in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and a lack of Justice Department guidance has created widespread confusion over whether websites must meet the same stringent accessibility standards as stores do. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have latched on to the ambiguity to launch hundreds of website accessibility lawsuits, most of which privately settle. The latest ruling “is definitely a game-changer,” said Minh Vu, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP who represents companies facing accessibility claims and is not involved in the case. While the decision is only immediately applicable to Winn-Dixie, Ms. Vu said, it sends a signal to other companies that “there’s a very real possibility a judge could find this way.”
Recognizing innovative communications technology designed for people with disabilities, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced winners and honorable mentions of the sixth annual Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility (Chairman's AAA).
2017’s winners include an app that can caption live conversations, automated image recognition for social media that tags images with descriptive text for those with limited sight, guidelines to script video content in ways that naturally describe on-screen action for those who cannot see it, and an audible video programing interface for people who are blind or visually impaired. In addition to the four winners, two honorable mentions were chosen.
As long as I’m Chairman, I can assure you that the Federal Communications Commission will continue to be an active and enthusiastic participant in the M-Enabling Summit. That’s because this Summit aligns perfectly with the FCC’s statutory mission and my personal priorities.
Since day one of my Chairmanship, I’ve said the Commission has no higher calling than extending digital opportunity to all Americans. Every citizen who wants to participate in our digital economy and society should be able to do so—no matter who you are. A big part of that is closing the digital divide in our country—connecting people who are being bypassed by the digital revolution. And the simple truth is, in too many instances, that divide persists, and is perhaps growing. That’s why I spent the past week on a road trip from Milwaukee (WI) to Casper (WY). Over 1,672 miles and nearly 20 stops, I personally heard from people in rural towns and Tribal areas about the need for high-speed connectivity in their communities. And I discussed ways the FCC could help.
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