Wireless RERC - Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Wireless RERC on the Record: FCC’s Section 504 Compliance

mz22 — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 16:08:51 +0000

10.3.2016 – Comments of the Wireless RERC-Sec 504 Compliance

Publication Type:

Georgia Tech’s Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP), in collaboration with the Wireless RERC, submitted comments to the Public Notice, Request for Comment on the Commission’s Policies and Practices to Ensure Compliance with Sections 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [CG Docket No. 10-162]. Section 504 requires that federal agencies make their programs and activities accessible to people with disabilities. The FCC sought public input on their programmatic access. Wireless RERC comments asserted that baseline accessibility is consistently impacted by access to customer service and print and electronic materials furnished by industry and policy makers alike. To improve access to programs and services, we recommend addressing fundamental issues of awareness and accessible formats. The FCC’s American Sign Language (ASL) Consumer Support Line, launched to provide programmatic access to consumers who are deaf and hard of hearing whose primary language is ASL, was commended as a great step forward in providing parity of access. The support line enables the caller to make inquiries about disability-specific communications issues, as well as, obtain information that could impact any consumer, using their primary language. However, work remains to expand access to the rulemaking process. One part of the FCC’s Section 504 Handbook stipulated that the Commission will not transcribe or translate comments submitted in alternative formats. The Wireless RERC urged the Commission to reconsider this position. As it stands, the requirement that comments be filed in written English excludes people who rely on ASL from participating in the rulemaking process. Other comments addressed:

Ensuring the Accessibility Clearinghouse is prominently displayed on the website and its contents are reflective of consumer expectations and the evolution of technologies.
Adding a statement about relating to the person-first and using person-first language in written and verbal communications to the Section 504 Handbook’s Basic Principles of Access section.
Providing more detailed guidance on accessible print and electronic documents to improve FCC personnel’s awareness about and capability to deliver, accessible formats.

Wireless RERC Comments on Impact of Federal Accessibility Mandates

mz22 — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 15:42:54 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

Comments of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP) and the Rehabilitat

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

Georgia Tech’s Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP), in collaboration with the Wireless RERC, submitted comments to an FCC Public Notice [CG Docket No. 10-213] asking for comments on the tentative findings about the accessibility of communication technologies. Released on August 28, 2014, the Public Notice requested comments assessing the extent to which telecommunications and advanced communications services and technology have complied with CVAA accessibility mandates, related recordkeeping and enforcement obligations effects, and the existing accessibility barriers for new communications technologies.

Georgia Tech’s CACP and the Wireless RERC submitted comments addressing various aspects of inclusive and accessible technologies, including:

Research supporting tentative findings that show an increase in readily available and accessible technologies;
Information concerning the staffing and training of people who are knowledgeable about assistive technologies and the people who use them;
Discrepancies among retail staff and retailer knowledge about assistive technologies and;
The lack of accessible alerting systems.

Effective Date and Compliance Deadlines for IP Closed Captioning of Video Clips

mz22 — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 16:46:18 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Closed Captions

Internet Protocl (IP) Closed Captioning

Notice of Effective Date of Rules Governing Closed Captioning of IP-Delivered Video Clips

August 2014 – The Federal Communications Commission released a public notice informing citizens of an adopted order requiring closed captioning of internet video clips [MB Docket No. 11-154]. According to the Federal Register summary, published August 5, 2014, the adopted rules concerning video clips delivered using Internet protocol will be effective on September 4, 2014. Compliance dates are as follow:

January 1, 2016: “Straight lift” clips or video clips containing a single excerpt of a captioned television program with the same video and audio previously aired on television;
January 1, 2017: “Montages” or a single file containing multiple straight lift clips;
July 1, 2017: Video clips of programming shown live or near-live on television.

The FCC is also requesting additional comments on the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by October 6, 2014, with reply comments by November 3, 2014. For additional information, please click the link below.

FCC Sets Comment Deadlines for EAS Refresh

mz22 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 20:28:24 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Nationwide EAS Test

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [EB Docket No. 04-296]

July 2014 – The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Matter of Review of the Emergency Alert System [EB Docket No. 04-296] was published in the Federal Register, officially setting the deadlines for public input as August 14, 2014 for initial comments and August 29, 2014 for reply comments. Stakeholders are invited to comment on issues identified following the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System on November 9, 2011. Although the test was regarded as successful, the Bureau noted that more recent technological advances could aid in ensuring more effective alerting through EAS. Accordingly, the FCC is seeking comment on the adoption of a national location code, which could indicated that the entire country as an affected area during emergencies or tests of the EAS system. The FCC is also seeking comment on the adoption of rules requiring EAS participants to submit results of EAS tests to the FCC within 45 days of a system test. Finally, the Nationwide Test revealed that the visual text crawls accompanying the alert were often reported as unreadable due to either the speed of the crawl or the font. Accordingly, the Bureau is seeking comment the introduction of standards for visual text crawls, specifically noting the need for standards regarding the crawl speed, completeness and placement of text information and the need to ensure that audio and visual information provide identical information.

FCC to Vote on Closed captioning of Online Video Clips

mz22 — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 18:12:46 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

closed captioning

FCC Announces July Open Meeting Agenda

June 2014 –Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman, Tom Wheeler announced a tentative agenda for July’s Open Meeting. Reports to be considered by the Commission include: Modernizing E-Rate to Deliver Digital Learning, Connect America Fund Rural Broadband Experiments, and Closed Captioning of Internet Protocol-Delivered Video Clips. Regarding the latter, the FCC has planned a vote to determine if online video clips will be included in closed captioning mandates. The meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 11, 2014 at 10:30a.m. EDT.

FCC Issues $12M Fine to Purple Communications

mz22 — Tue, 06 May 2014 14:23:41 +0000

Purple Communications

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS)

Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture

May 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture against Purple Communications proposing a forfeiture of almost $12 million for abuse of the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund. TRS is a service for individuals with speech and hearing disabilities, providing them with free accessible telephone services. Due to past abuse of TRS, the FCC implemented new measures to help prevent fraud, waste and abuse by users and providers alike. In 2011, the FCC Enforcement Bureau began investigating Purple Communications to ensure the company was in compliance with TRS rules. Through the investigation, the Bureau found Purple Communications to have repeatedly violated TRS rules by failing to verify new user information. Accordingly, the Bureau found that over 40,000 new TRS users registered by Purple Communications had names “that appeared to be gibberish, random keystrokes, vulgarities, or otherwise self-evidently false names.” The Bureau also found that Purple Communications repeatedly submitted calls made under false names for reimbursement. In accordance with the Rules and the iTRS Numbering Orders, the FCC determined that Purple Communications was liable for forfeiture for willfully and repeatedly violating TRS rules.

FCC Launches New Website for Text-to-911

mz22 — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:43:58 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Text-to-911

FCC Blog Post

FCC Text-to-911 Best Practices Website

March 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a new website this week highlighting best practices currently in place for implementation of text-to-911. The website is designed to provide resources for text providers and public safety answering points (PSAPs), including lessons learned by the State of Vermont during their text-to-911 rollout and information on various technology solutions that can be used for text-to-911 implementations. Currently the site provides sources from public safety organizations, such as the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, in addition to states where text-to-911 has been deployed. Going forward the site is meant to be an interactive “tool enabling text providers and PSAPs to contribute and refer to comments, best practices, and informational materials.

FCC Seeks Comment on Rules To Implement Text-to-911

mz22 — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:38:20 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Text-to-911

FCC 2nd FNPRM

March 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) in the Matter of Facilitating the Development of Text-to-911 and Other Next Generation 911 Applications and Framework for Next Generation 911 Deployment [PS Docket No. 10-255 and PS Docket No. 11-153] regarding the implementation of text-to-911. Primarily, the FCC seeks comment on the feasibility of a proposed timeframe, which would require text-to-911 to be made available by all text providers by December 31, 2014. Additionally the FCC seeks comment on location accuracy of emergency texts, “delivery of text over non-cellular data channels,” and the use of text-to-911 for consumers who may be outside of their typical network and considered “roaming.” A final concern presented in the FNPRM is that of relay services used by individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech disabilities. Accordingly, the FCC seeks comment on whether relay services should provide text-to-text and text-to-voice services “to support communication with [Public Safety Answering Points]” for consumers. Comments on the document are due April 4, 2014 and reply comments are due May 5, 2014.

FCC Releases Rules to Improve Closed Captioning

mz22 — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:33:01 +0000

Closed Captions

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

deaf

hard of hearing

FCC R&O [CG Docket No. 05-231]

February 2014 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Report and Order (R&O) and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FRPRM) In the Matter of Closed Captioning of Video Programming [CG Docket No. 05-231]. The R&O adopts new rules in accordance with Section 713 of the Communications Act to enhance the quality of closed captioning, including new standards to ensure that captions are accurate and synchronous in portraying the spoken words and background noises, are present for the whole program, and are placed in such a way that they do not block important visual content. Also adopted are rules which require broadcasters “who utilize Electronic Newsroom Technique (ENT)” to ensure that all news scripted for the teleprompter is also captioned. In order to ensure technical compliance of the rules, the R&O specifies that video programming distributors must “monitor and maintain their equipment,” in addition to keeping records of any “maintenance, monitoring and technical checks of their captioning equipment.”

In the FNPRM, the FCC seeks comment on additional factors to further enhance “accessibility of television programming.” Specifically, the FCC seeks comment on whether metrics should be established to measure the completeness of live and near-live captioning and if specific time intervals should be established for equipment checks. Regarding consumer complaints, the FCC seeks comment on methods to improve complaint handling and proposes a “public dashboard containing information about captioning complaints.” Finally, the FCC is requesting comments on the level of compliance regarding technical standards of captions and whether consumers have had any issues with recent “on-screen visual changes or textual depictions.” Comments for Section VI.A of the FNPRM are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and comments for the remaining sections are due 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Wireless RERC Files Reply Comments on Accessibility of Devices for Video Programming

mz22 — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 17:52:19 +0000

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA)

Video Programming

Accessible Emergency Information

Wireless RERC Reply Comments

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

February 2014 — The Wireless RERC submitted reply comment to the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM): In the Matter of Accessibility of User Interfaces, and Programming Guides and Menus and Accessible Emergency Information and Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. The FNPRM requested input on defining the scope of Sections 204 and 205 of the Twenty First Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA) which require user interfaces and navigation devices for video programming to be accessible to people with vision loss.

Wireless RERC comments highlighted that despite the presence of accessibility features on many devices, consumers are often unaware of these features. Accordingly, in agreement with the Consumer Groups and Telecom RERC, the Wireless RERC recommends implementation of “information, documentation and training requirements” in accessible formats for consumers with and without disabilities. The accessibility of the devices, equipment and services should be conceived as a continuum that includes the technology itself and any support for using/accessing the technology.

Regarding a mechanism for activating accessibility features, the Wireless RERC notes that “a minimal step accessibility button, key or icon” should be used to ensure ease of activating and inactivating accessibility features such as closed captioning and video description.” However, they acknowledged and concurred with the Consumer Groups and Telecom RERC that the minimal step accessibility activation and configuration recommended does not supplant the need for a single step activation/deactivation of closed captions.

Finally, Wireless RERC comments disagree with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s (NCTA) position that the FCC does not have the legal authority to require a mechanism by which may enable people with visual disabilities may access a secondary audio stream for emergency information. Instead, the Wireless RERC stresses that the FCC’s basic mission is to “provide for the safety of life and property of Americans,” and accommodations for people with disabilities must be made to the fullest extent possible, including providing emergency information in the most accessible and effective format for each individual.