Target Broadband Research at Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing

In comments filed at the Federal Communications Commission, the Broadband for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Corporation (BDHH), an organization formed to bring broadband Internet access to the low-income deaf and hard-of-hearing population, says any recommendations the FCC makes to Congress on funding broadband research should include a targeted focus on the deaf and hard of hearing, for whom broadband Internet access can be life changing. The most vulnerable populations, those who are disabled and who are poor, are geographically dispersed and their broadband needs are notoriously difficult to assess accurately. As organizations serving the deaf have noted, despite the myriad opportunities that "broadband offers to Americans with communication disabilities, there remains a paucity of comprehensive data about broadband subscribership among this population." Because funding for the provision of broadband is frequently built upon research findings, research targeted at vulnerable populations will likely result in increased broadband provision to these groups, thereby drastically altering the lives of groups that have historically been excluded from the benefits of broadband.