Publications / Reports

July 2013 — Pursuant to Section 904 of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, the U.S.

July 2013 —The Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a report outlining “gaps in NENA i3 NG9-1-1 specifications related to EAAC Accessibility reports.” The report reviews the NENA Functional and Interface Standards for Next Generations 9-1-1 (NENA i3), a document widely used in the development of NG9-1-1, and notes that certain gaps in the NENA i3 may prevent accessibility within NG9-1-1.  Specifically, the EAAC notes that future versions of NENA i3 need to address many items, including the need for standards to address e

In compliance with the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 [PL 111–292], the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) 2012 Telework Report before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released Alerting the Whole Community: Removing Barriers to Alerting Accessibility, a report outlining the current efforts made to ensure accessibility for people with access and functional needs within the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). According to the report, approximately 25% of Americans may need “assistance or accommodation to receive emergency alerts,” including people with disabilities and limited English proficiency.

June 2013 — The Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a report entitled Proposed Procedures for the TTY as a text terminal in legacy 9-1-1 PSAPs without IP Connection, which outlines the use of TTY terminals as a text-to-911 interim solution for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) without IP connectivity.  The report highlights that TTY may lack some capabilities often used in SMS text messages.  For example, TTY messages have a limited set of characters available for use, are unable to use both upper and lowercase let