National Broadband Plan Workshop (Broadband Accessibility for People with Disabilities II)

Federal Communications Commission
Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room)
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

October 20, 2009
9:15am

Contact:
Cheryl King
Deputy Chief
Disability Rights Office
Cheryl.King@fcc.gov
(202) 418-2284
http://broadband.gov/ws_accessibility_disabilities.html

FCC Participants:
• Cheryl J. King, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office
• Elise Kohn, Deputy Director, Adoption and Usage, Omnibus Broadband Initiative
• John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director, Omnibus Broadband Initiative
• Kristen Kane, Director of National Purposes, Omnibus Broadband Initiative
• Stagg Newman, Chief Technologist
• Elizabeth Lyle, Policy Advisor, Omnibus Broadband Initiative

Panel 1: Leveraging Federal and State Resources to Make Broadband Accessible and Affordable
• Gary Bojes, Ph.D., Senior Level Program and Policy Advisor, Rural Utility Service, Department of Agriculture
• C. Marty Exline, Director, Missouri Assistive Technology Program
• Jennifer Sheehy, Director of Policy and Planning, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education
• Terry Weaver, Director, IT Accessibility and Workforce Division, General Services Administration
• Daniel Weitzner, Associate Administrator, Office of Policy Analysis and Development, National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Panel 2: Accessibility and Affordability Barriers to Broadband and Internet Use Faced by People with Disabilities
• Eric Bridges, American Council of the Blind
• Rosaline Crawford, Esq., Director, Law and Advocacy Center, National Association of the Deaf
• Paula Durbin-Westby, Member, Board of Directors, The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• Margaret V. (Peggy) Hathaway, VP for Public Policy, Spinal Cord Advocates
• Rebecca Ladew, East Coast Representative, Speech Communications Assistance by Telephone, Inc.
• Elizabeth Spiers, Director of Information Services, American Association of the Deaf-Blind
• Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies
• Elizabeth Weintraub, Member, Council on Quality and Leadership

Panel 3: Advancing National Purposes for People with Disabilities
• Sheri Farinha, Executive Director, NorCal Center and Co-Chair, E911 Stakeholders Council
• Jim Fruchterman, President, Benetech
• Margaret V. (Peggy) Hathaway, Esq., Vice-President for Public Policy, Spinal Cord Advocates
• Ishak Kang, CEO/Founder, dot UI
• Katherine D. Seelman, Ph.D., Professor, Rehabilitation Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh

Panel 4: Technological Barriers and Solutions
• Greg Elin, Chief Technology Officer, United Cerebral Palsy and Executive Director, Life Without Limits
• Jim Fruchterman, President, Benetech
• Dale Hatfield, Ph.D., Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons
• Rich Schwerdtfeger, Distinguished Engineer, SWG Accessibility Architect/Strategist, IBM
• John Snapp, Senior Technical Officer, Intrado
• Gregg Vanderheiden, Ph.D., Director, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Policy Roundtable:
• Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
• Ellen Blackler, Executive Director, AT&T
• Alan Brightman, Senior Policy Director, Yahoo!
• Kathryn Brown, Senior Vice President, Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility, Verizon
• Deborah Buck, Executive Director, Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs
• David Capozzi, Executive Director, U.S. Access Board
• Larry Goldberg, Director, Media Access Group, WGBH
• Patrick Halley, Director, Government Affairs, National Emergency Numbering Association
• Dale Hatfield, Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons
• Matthew Knopf, Vice President, Business Development, PLYmedia
• Jane Mago, Executive VP and General Counsel, National Association of Broadcasters
• Helena Mitchell, Ph.D., Executive Director CACP and Principal Investigator, Wireless RERC, GA Tech
• Randy Pope, American Association of the Deaf-Blind
• Ken Salaets, Director, Global Policy, Information Technology Industry Council
• Paul Schroeder, Director, Programs and Policy, American Foundation for the Blind
• Grant Seiffert, President, Telecommunications Industry Association
• Dane Snowden, VP, External and State Affairs, CTIA - The Wireless Association
• Claude Stout, Executive Director, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.
• Karen Peltz Strauss, Co-Chair, Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technologies
• Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies
• Gregg Vanderheiden, Director, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Barriers, Opportunities, and Policy Recommendations will continue the open discussion among the FCC and all who have a stake in the future of broadband and its accessibility for people with disabilities, including the disability community, network and service providers, equipment manufacturers, and software producers, technologists, economists, academics, representatives from trade associations and non-profits, and representatives from tribal, local, state, and federal governments.

The goal of this follow-up workshop is to clearly identify (i) accessibility and affordability barriers faced by people with disabilities in accessing broadband capabilities; (ii) opportunities that broadband can present for people with disabilities; and (iii) policy recommendations that will address the barriers to broadband for people with disabilities and maximize the opportunities related to broadband for people with disabilities.

In conjunction with the panels, there will be exhibits of assistive technologies that are used by people with disabilities to access broadband technologies as well as universally designed mass market broadband technologies that can be used by people with disabilities.

  • What are the specific barriers to broadband accessibility and affordability for (i) people with sight disabilities; (ii) people with hearing disabilities; (iii) people with speech disabilities; (iv) people who are deaf blind; (v) people with mobility disabilities; and (vi) people with intellectual disabilities and social communication disabilities, including autism?
  • What are the technological barriers, solutions, and costs as they relate to broadband networks, services, equipment, software and tech support that affect people with disabilities?
  • What is the potential for broadband to further education, job creation/entrepreneurial activities, health care, civic participation, emergency preparedness and response, telework, social networking, and other national purposes for people with disabilities?
  • What programs and services currently exist that provide or subsidize broadband equipment and broadband internet access for people with disabilities, and what lessons have been learned from these programs?
  • What specific policy recommendations related to disability access should be included in the National Broadband Plan?