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

Significant alternatives that were rejected

Based on the comments received in response to the NPRM, the Board considered the application of the guidelines to product "lines" or "families" rather than individual products as long as accessible products with comparable, substantially comparable, or similar features are available at a comparable cost. However, the statutory language of the Telecommunications Act requires that all covered products must be made accessible unless it is not readily achievable to do so. As the Telecommunications Act did not provide a qualifier other than readily achievable, the guidelines developed by the Board apply to all covered products, as opposed to product lines or families. (See Section 1193.2 Scoping above for further discussion.)