accessibility

April 19, 2013 — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered a settlement agreement with the City of Jacksonville, Florida in April. The DOJ Project Civic Access initiative is a wide-ranging effort to ensure that communities comply with the ADA by eliminating physical and communication barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully in community life. The DOJ evaluated 64 of the city’s facilities and identified deficiencies at each location.

April 16, 2013 — The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) announced that AT&T, Best Buy, Panasonic, Regal Entertainment Group and Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) are the 2013 Access Award winners. This award is given annually to those individuals, corporations and organizations that AFB recognizes as substantially improving the accessibility experiences of individuals with vision loss. Carl R.

April 9, 2013 — The Wireless RERC submitted reply comments to the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: “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]. The Wireless RERC expressed their continued support for obligatory rules concerning the deployment of text-to-911.

April 08, 2013— The Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released a Report and Order and a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) (FCC 13-45) related to the accessibility of emergency information provided in video programming. The Report and Order requires that emergency information communicated via video programming is accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. This includes the requirement of an aural presentation of the emergency information on a secondary audio stream that must be conveyed at least twice in full.

March 27, 2013 — On April 16, 2013, Sprint will be honored as the Marketplace winner at the Seventh Annual U.S. Disability Matters Awards Banquet and Conference for innovative accessibility solutions. Sprint will receive the award for the Sprint Relay ID pack and four accessibility-themed Sprint ID packs. The packs were funded and developed through Apps4Android and the Apps Factory project of the Wireless RERC.