This winter issue reviews the many technology and disability policy developments from the months of December 2011 and January 2012. The Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [RIN 1250-AA02] seeking comment on revisions of non-discrimination and affirmative action regulations for qualified workers with disabilities. The proposed ruling would include a hiring goal for federal contractors and subcontractors as well as better record keeping of job applicants with disabilities. In an effort to increase accessibility of information, communication, and telecommunication equipment, the U.S. Access board issued a Second Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2nd ANPRM) [Docket No. 2011-07 or RIN No. 3014-AA37] seeking comment on accessibility standards. During the comment period, the U.S. Access Board will hold two public hearings at the Access Board Conference Center in Washington D.C. on January 11, 2012 and at the 27th Annual CSUN Conference in San Diego, CA on March 1, 2012. The FCC issued an Order extending the reply comments deadline until February 9, 2012 “In the Matter of Facilitating the Deployment of Text-to-911 and Other Next Generation 911 Applications” [PS Docket No. 11-153] and “Framework for Next Generation 911 Deployment” [PS Docket No. 10-255]. In addition, the FCC issued a Fifth Report and Order (R&O) “ In the Matter of Review of the Emergency Alert System (EAS)” [EB Docket No. 04-296] to revise and implement rules regarding how Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) messages are to be processed by EAS Participants. Finally, the FCC issued a Report and Order (R&O) In the Matter of Closed Captioning of Internet Protocol (IP)-Delivered Video Programming: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010” [MLB Docket No. 11-154] concerning rules for closed captioning of video programming delivered over the internet.
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