Accessibility for the Disabled

[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.

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.