36 CFR Part 1193 Telecommunications Act (Section 255) Accessibility Guidelines - Preamble

Peripheral Devices (Section-by-Section Analysis)

Section 255 (d) of the Act provides that when it is not readily achievable to make telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment accessible, manufacturers shall ensure that the equipment is compatible with existing peripheral devices or specialized customer premises equipment commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access, if readily achievable. No definition is provided in the Act but the term peripheral devices commonly refers to audio amplifiers, ring signal lights, some TTYs, refreshable Braille translators, text-to-speech synthesizers and similar devices. These devices must be connected to a telephone or other customer premises equipment to enable an individual with a disability to originate, route, or terminate telecommunications. Peripheral devices cannot perform these functions on their own.

No substantive comments were received and no changes have been made to this definition.