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

Background

On February 8, 1996, the President signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Access Board is responsible for developing accessibility guidelines in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under section 255(e) of the Act for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment. The guidelines are required to principally address the access needs of individuals with disabilities affecting hearing, vision, movement, manipulation, speech, and interpretation of information.

Section 255 provides that a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment shall ensure that the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. A provider of telecommunications services shall ensure that the service is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. Whenever either of these is not readily achievable, a manufacturer or provider shall ensure that the equipment or service is compatible with existing peripheral devices or specialized customer premises equipment commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access, if readily achievable. Section 255(f) provides that the FCC shall have exclusive jurisdiction in any enforcement action under section 255. It also precludes an individual's private right of action to enforce any requirement of section 255 or any regulation issued pursuant to section 255.

On April 18, 1997, the Access Board issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (62 FR 19178) for accessibility, usability, and compatibility of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment covered by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In addition to proposing specific guidelines, the NPRM asked questions about some of the proposed provisions. The proposed rule was based on recommendations of the Board's Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee.

The Committee was convened by the Access Board in June 1996 to assist the Board in fulfilling its mandate to issue guidelines under the Telecommunications Act. The Committee was composed of representatives of manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment; manufacturers of specialized customer premises equipment and peripheral devices; manufacturers of software; organizations representing the access needs of individuals with disabilities; telecommunications providers and carriers; and other persons affected by the guidelines.

The Board received 159 comments in response to the NPRM. Comments were received from 109 individuals who identified themselves as being hard of hearing. Also, comments were received from 19 members of the telecommunications industry and industry associations. Some of these comments were received from manufacturers of specialized customer premises equipment and peripheral devices, service providers and telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment. Additionally, 31 comments were received from organizations representing persons with disabilities. Comments came from state organizations representing individuals with disabilities, advocacy organizations, independent consultants and academic organizations. Some of the comments received were from members of the TAAC.

The majority of TAAC members supported the proposed rule but had recommendations for changes to specific provisions. The majority of comments received from individuals who identified themselves as being hard of hearing supported the rule and specifically supported increasing volume controls on customer premises equipment. A few comments raised by these individuals included some issues that were not covered in the proposed rule. For example, some of these comments recommended providing enhanced radio volume, providing a device that displays through text what is being said on radio stations, providing car radios equipped with headphone jacks and providing closed captioning for television programs and motion pictures. Other comments included recommendations for more efficient and effective telecommunications relay service operations, designing accessible roadside emergency call boxes which ensure two- way communications by people with hearing or speech disabilities and designing homes with acoustically absorbent materials. These issues are not covered by section 255 of the Telecommunications Act and are outside of the Board's jurisdiction in this rulemaking.