Accessibility for the Disabled

We are a little under three weeks away from revealing the winners of this year’s Academy Awards, but you don’t have to wait to find out what the Federal Communication Commission has lined up for our Open Meeting just days after the Oscars. Here’s what to expect at our March meeting:

At Senator John Fetterman’s (D-PA) desk in the Senate chamber, there is a newly installed monitor that rises or lowers, depending on whether he sits or stands, and provides closed captioning so he can follow the proceedings. At the center dais, a custom desk stand has been built to accommodate the same technology for when he takes his shifts presiding over the Senate. The sergeant-at-arms has arranged for live audio-to-text transcription for the committees on which Sen. Fetterman serves, and plans to expand the service to all Senate hearings.

The Federal Communications Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for a new three-year plan for compensation rates for Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS).

The Federal Communications Commission announced the agenda for its December 2022 open commission meeting. The FCC will consider:

Senator Edward Markey (D-MA), author of the 21^st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), and Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D- CA-18) introduced the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA).

The results of a spring 2022 survey of 820 US undergraduate students, across four key areas: Technology Challenges and Solutions, Modality Preferences, Access to Educational Technology, and Student Success. Key findings from the research report include:

The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to bring relief to incarcerated people with communication disabilities by easing the obstacles they face in communicating with family, loved ones, and other sources of support.

The Federal Communications Commission updated its Emergency Alert System rules so that alerts delivered over television and radio are more informative and easier to understand by the public, particularly people with disabilities. The Emergency Alert System, which is used by government agencies to send alerts and warnings to the public over television and radio, is comprised of both a legacy system and an Internet-based system, with the latter offering superior messaging capabilities.

Older adults and people with disabilities cannot equitably access the same health information and care as people without disabilities when hospital websites are not accessible. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) found the following key insights relating to digital accessibility and its importance to older Americans:

• Hospitals and health care systems in the U.S. need continuing education on the role of web accessibility in American Disability Act (ADA) compliance given the significance of newly issued federal guidance.