Regulatory

February 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun accepting nominations for the third annual Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility (Chairman’s AAA).  The awards are designed to “honor outstanding private and public sector ventures that advance accessibility for people with disabilities.” Nominations may be made for mainstream or assistive technologies, standards, or best practices for the following areas:

January 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held an open meeting regarding the considerations for a Report and Order and Notices of Proposed Rulemaking to address both technology transition experiments and policy goals regarding widespread implementation of public safety measures.  Following the meeting the FCC announced the launch of voluntary experiments regarding the technology transitions in communications networks.

January 2014 — Following a petition filed by the Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a class waiver for basic e-readers from section 716, part 14 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA).  Part 14 of the FCC’s rules that require advanced communications services (ACS) and equipment be accessible to people with disabilities. The waiver is for a narrow class of e-readers with the following features:

January 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the agenda for an Open Meeting to be held on February 20, 2014. The agenda includes considerations for a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address the “quality and technical compliance of closed captioning on television programming.” Additionally, the Commission will consider a Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the accuracy of caller location information provided for wireless 911 calls.  The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m.

January 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an Order in the Matter of Closed Captioning of Internet Protocol-Delivered Video Programming: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 [MB Docket No. 11-154].