lmplementation of Sections 25.5 and 25 1 (a)(2)   )
of the Communications Act of 1934,        >
as Enacted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 )
Access to Telecommunications Service,      >
Telecommunications Equipment and        >
Customer Premises Equipment by         >
Persons with Disabilities             >

MM Docket No. 96-198

   American Foundation for the Blind
Motion for Extension of Reply Comment Deadline

Pursuant to 47 C.F.R. Section 146, the American Foundation for the Blind requests that

the Commission extend the reply comment deadline with respect to the Notice of Inquiry (NOI)

in the above captioned proceeding by fifteen (15) days from the time that comment replies have

been posted at a minimum in HTML or ASCII text format. As discussed below, AFB believes

that there is good cause to provide a brief extension of the deadline for reply comments.

Comments which can be accessed through the Electronic Filing System are currently

available only in Adobe PDF format. At the present time no reliable access technology exists

which can enable a blind user to access this format. As a result these filings are not available in

an equivalent accessible format which makes it impossible to review them and file reply

comments in the current schedule. For this reason, AFB respectfully requests that the

Commission extend the reply comment deadlines in the manner specified above.

Respectfully submitted,

American Foundation for the Blind
520 First St. N.E., Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20002
202-408-8171

-/vi%, A@*%
Alan M. Dinsmore

February 8,200O