Feb
23
2016

Disability Advisory Committee Meeting

9:00 am - 3:30 pm EST
Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room) 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20554

The Disability Advisory Committee will on Tuesday, February 23, 2016, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at the FCC's headquarters, Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room), 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20554. The meeting will be open to the public and webcast live with open captioning at www.fcc.gov/live.

The Committee was established in December 2014 to make recommendations to the Commission on a wide array of disability matters within the jurisdiction of the Commission, and to facilitate the participation of people with disabilities in proceedings before the Commission.  The Committee has established subcommittees to consider the following five issues:

  • Communications Subcommittee: access to communications services and equipment (including advanced communications, telecommunications, and hearing aid compatibility);
  • Emergency Communications Subcommittee: Next Generation 911 and emergency alerting (Emergency Alerting System (EAS) and Wireless Alert (WEA));
  • Relay/Equipment Distribution Subcommittee: telecommunications relay services and the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program;
  • Technology Transitions Subcommittee: issues relating to technology transitions underway in our nation’s communication networks, such as the transition from services running on copper to new, all-Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia networks; and
  • Video Programming Subcommittee: video programming access (including closed captioning, video description, access to video programming apparatus, and access to televised emergency information).

At its February 23, 2016 meeting, the Committee is expected to receive and consider reports and recommendations from its subcommittees, as follows:

  • A report on the activities of its Communications Subcommittee;
  • A report and recommendation from its Emergency Communications Subcommittee regarding the provision of N-1-1 services through telecommunications relay services;
  • An update from its Emergency Communications Subcommittee regarding improvements to Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) proposed by the FCC in November 2015;
  • A recommendation from its Relay & Equipment Distribution Subcommittee regarding the compatibility of the Commission’s Accessible Communication for Everyone (“ACE”) platform with Next-Generation 911 services;
  • A recommendation from its Technology Transitions Subcommittee regarding ways to address the transition to real-time text; and
  • Recommendations from its Video Programming Subcommittee regarding 1) interagency collaboration to address access to captioning and video description in places of public accommodations and other venues, such as aircraft, where video programming may be shown; and 2) questions for the Commission to consider in a rulemaking that may address the number of television programming hours that must be video described.

The Committee will also (1) receive a report on the communication needs of deaf people with mobility disabilities from Mark Hill, President of the Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization; (2) hear presentations from Commission staff on recent activities; and (3) discuss new issues for its consideration. In addition, a reserved amount of time will be available on the agenda for comments and inquiries from the public. The public may comment or ask questions of presenters via the email address livequestions@fcc.gov.

For further information contact: Elaine Gardner, DAC Designated Federal Officer, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, (202) 418-0581 (voice); or Suzy Rosen Singleton, Alternate DAC Designated Federal Officer, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, (202) 510-9446 (VP/voice). Both parties can also be reached by email at DAC@fcc.gov.

Meeting minutes will be available for public inspection on the Committee's website at http://www.fcc.gov/disability-advisory-committee.

Meeting Minutes