Wireless RERC News

October 2013 — The Wireless RERC filed comments in response to a Public Notice [EB Docket No. 04-296] issued by The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (the Bureau) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding issues identified during the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on November 9, 2011. The comments filed by the Wireless RERC specifically responded to the Bureau’s request for comment on how the FCC can address the accessibility of visual text crawls accompanying EAS alerts.

October 2013 — The Wireless RERC released a Research Brief entitled, “FM Radio and RBDS-Based Emergency Alerting: Possibilities and Potholes.”  The brief discusses the limitations of current mobile emergency alerts, noting the expense and unreliability of Short Message Service (SMS) text messages and the limited text allowed for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).

September 2013 – Wireless RERC Researchers Brian Jones and Carrie Bruce presented at the CDC Grand Rounds, discussing the Grand Rounds’ September theme of “Technology and Health: Aging Safely and More Independently.”  Brian’s discussion, entitled “Researching Technologies for Healthy Aging,” focused on technologies available for assisting older adults in living independently, while Carrie spoke on the applications of universal design in comparison with assistive devices in her discussion entitled “Supportive Design Strategies to Facilitate Function, Independence, and Safety.”

The RERC's App Factory is holding open its 2013-14 Call for Proposals until October 8. Interested app developers can view the PDF below for proposal requirements or view the App Factory RFP webpage.

August 2013 - The Wireless RERC filed reply comments with the FCC in response to their Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: In the Matter of Accessibility of Emergency Information and Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 [MB Docket No. 12-107].