Accessibility for the Disabled

Sens Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Rob Portman (R-OH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act to strengthen the nation’s criminal justice system. This bipartisan bill would help families keep in touch with their incarcerated family members, and would address long-standing concerns about the prohibitively expensive and predatory price of phone calls that incarcerated individuals at correctional facilities across the US are forced to pay.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to improve Video Relay Service (VRS), which enables people with hearing and speech disabilities who use sign language to make telephone calls over broadband with a videophone. The FCC also takes steps to safeguard the program from waste, fraud, and abuse. Today’s action will expand VRS users’ access to direct video communications with people who know sign language by enabling direct video calling between VRS users and customer support call centers in appropriate circumstances.

Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging the FCC to deny a petition by the ITTA-Voice of America’s Broadband Providers that would permit carriers to display Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund contributions on customer bills. TRS ensures persons with hearing or speech disabilities are able to use necessary telephone services at no additional cost to an individual consumer.

At the Federal Communications Commission’s May meeting, we will take action to advance the goal of security.

The costs to American consumers for the collection of disability-related programs is growing at a fairly aggressive and unsustainable rate. Accordingly, the Disability Advisory Committee can play an important role, and I believe has an obligation, to help the Commission contain costs. I strongly believe that we need to move away from specialized services with proprietary equipment and towards increased use and adoption of modern communications technology to serve the most vulnerable populations. This means more use of email, text, video chat, real time text, and the like.

The Federal Communications Commission has renewed the charter for the Disability Advisory Committee. The charter became effective December 21, 2018 and provides the Committee with authorization to operate for two years from the effective date. Issues to be considered by the Committee may include, but are not limited to,

Businesses with websites that can’t be navigated by the blind are getting pummeled with lawsuits. The new frontier in federal disability litigation has accelerated dramatically in recent years, with some companies now getting hit by lawsuits for the second or third time even after they’ve reached settlements to upgrade their sites. The complaints typically detail roadblocks that visually impaired individuals face when using “screen reader” tools that read the contents of a website aloud. The lawsuits often seek improvements to websites to ensure the technology functions.

The Federal Communications Commission took steps to improve Internet-based relay services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and communicate by speaking.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai appointed members for the third two-year term of the FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee. Will Schell, Attorney Advisor, Disability Rights Office (DRO), Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB), will continue to serve as the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) of the DAC, and Debra Patkin, Attorney Advisor, DRO, CGB, will serve as the deputy DFO of the DAC.

Co-Chairs: Brian Scarpelli, Senior Policy Counsel ACT – the App Association Isidore Niyongabo, Director of Advocacy and Public Engagement National Black Deaf Advocates