To allow Americans with disabilities to experience the benefits of broadband, hardware, software, services and digital content must be accessible and assistive technologies must be affordable.
Accessibility for the Disabled
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FCC Seeks Nominations for Chairman's Awards in Accessibility
The Federal Communications Commission will accept nominations for the eighth Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility (Chairman’s AAA). The nomination period opens on Dec 1, 2018 and continues through Feb 28, 2019 for products, services, technologies or practices introduced to the public between Jan 1, 2018 and Dec 31, 2018. Nominations may be submitted for the development of new mainstream or assistive technologies introduced into the marketplace, the development of standards, or the implementation of best practices that further accessibility.
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FCC Updates Hearing Aid Compatibility Reporting Requirements
The Federal Communications Commission today adopted a Report and Order that:
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FCC Agenda for November 2018 Meeting
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, November 15, 2018:
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FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for Nov 2018 Open Commission Meeting
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the Nov Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, Nov 15, 2018:
Galileo Order – The Commission will consider an Order that addresses waivers of certain satellite licensing requirements for receive-only earth stations operating with the Galileo Radionavigation-Satellite Service. (IB Docket No. 17-16)
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Space Month at the FCC
In Nov, during what we’ve dubbed Space Month, the Federal Communications Commission will take up nine items to ensure that America leads in the New Space Age, with an emphasis on cutting through the red tape. We start with improving a satellite-enabled technology that millions of Americans rely on every day without even knowing it: the positioning, navigation, and timing service known to most Americans as the Global Positioning System, or GPS. The Commission will vote on allowing American devices to access the European global navigation satellite system, known as Galileo.
Child Advocates to FCC: Rules Were Not Made to Be Broken
A coalition of organizations told the Federal Communications Commission that the FCC should retain its children's programming rules. The Center for Digital Democracy, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Common Sense Kids Action, Color of Change, Dr. Jenny Radesky, and the Benton Foundation wrote:
FCC Eyes Change to Hearing-Disabled Call Reimbursement
The Federal Communications Commission is planning to reduce its reimbursement for hearing-impaired phone services that display a call’s text. The FCC could adopt a change in its reimbursement formula within 12 months, it said in the Trump administration’s fall regulatory agenda. The FCC reimburses telecom service providers for hearing- and speech-impaired telephone services. Agency officials, though, are worried that providers are marketing captioned phone services to people who could use cheaper methods, such as amplifying phones, in order to receive larger reimbursements.
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Technology improves for people with disabilities as firms respond to moral, legal demands
Over the last few years, Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have leveraged artificial intelligence, computer vision and advances in voice recognition to deliver tools to assist blind individuals and people who are deaf, have motor impairments or other disabilities.
The PSAP RTT Education Day will provide information to PSAPs and other emergency communications systems about RTT features and benefits for emergency response personnel and consumers (including consumers with disabilities); best practices for processing RTT requests from service providers; and ways to implement the RTT service feature. Among other things, panels will address regulatory policy, PSAPs’ experiences with RTT testing, and RTT infrastructure issues. There will be a live demonstration of the use of RTT and opportunities for interaction by and with the audience.
At this meeting, the Disability Advisory Committee is expected to receive and consider reports and recommendations from its subcommittees.
The DAC may also receive briefings from FCC staff on issues of interest to the Committee and may discuss topics of interest to the committee, including, but not limited to, matters concerning communications transitions, telecommunications relay services, emergency access, and video programming accessibility.
This agenda may be modified at the discretion of the DAC Chair and Designated Federal Officer