COAT Applauds FCC Decision
Editor: The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology
(COAT) applauds the new disability accessibility requirements just
released by the FCC. Here's the report.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Report
and Order, "Disability Access Requirements Extended To VoIP
Services" at its monthly open meeting. The FCC Order levels the
playing field so that interconnected Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
service providers must meet similar requirements for providing access to
people with disabilities that wireline and wireless providers currently
meet.
"We applaud this significant step forward in making sure persons
disabilities will not be left behind or left out of the next generation
of phone services using Internet technologies," says Jenifer
Simpson, of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD),
a cofounder and spokesperson for the Coalition.
The Order does three things for persons with disabilities. It extends
the accessibility and usability requirements of Section 255 of the
Communications Act to VoIP service providers. It requires VoIP providers
to contribute into the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS)
Fund. It also requires VoIP service providers to meet the same TRS
obligations that traditional phone companies must meet, such as
connecting relay service users via 711, the nation's free access number
to reach a relay service center.
"Companies using new phone technologies should make their
products and services accessible and usable for people with vision loss.
Why should I have to ask someone to place a phone call for me just
because some company forgot to design phone services with my needs in
mind?" asks Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the Blind
(AFB), another co-founder of the disability coalition supporting the FCC
action. "And, if we can't get our telephone bills in Braille, how
do they expect us to pay them?"
"New contributors into the relay services fund are important
because the number of traditional phone customers is continuing to
decline," explains Karen Peltz Strauss of Communication Service for
the Deaf (CSD, Inc.), also a founder of the new disability coalition.
"Relay services are absolutely essential for people with hearing
and speech disabilities."
"The 1996 Telecommunications Act required phone companies and
manufacturers to make services and products disability accessibility and
usable," adds Jenifer Simpson. "Here we are, eleven years
later and some companies still forget to design at the front end for the
needs of people with all kinds of disabilities, leaving them behind as
the rest of the population gets to use all kinds of new and exciting
communication technologies. Everyone's getting pretty fed up with not
being able to use these innovative gadgets and services. This FCC action
is a good step forward, but it's time for the whole communications
industry to take a giant step forward. We want to see accessibility in
all products and services in the marketplace."
COAT is a new coalition of disability organizations, launched in
March 2007, to advocate for legislative and regulatory safeguards that
will ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high
speed broadband, wireless and other Internet protocol (IP) technologies.
The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT,
consists of over 67 national, regional, and community-based
organizations dedicated to making sure that as our nation migrates from
legacy public switched-based telecommunications to more versatile and
innovative IP-based and other communication technologies, people with
disabilities will benefit like everyone else. More information about the
disability coalition is available at website http://www.coataccess.org
