National Broadband Plan Released; AFB Teleseminar, Resources
----- Original Message -----
From: AFB DirectConnect
To: AFB Subscriber
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:13 PM
Subject: National Broadband Plan Released; AFB Teleseminar,
Resources
Breathtaking National Broadband Plan's Release Puts Disability
Access Center Stage
For further information, contact-
Mark Richert
Director, Public Policy, AFB
(202) 822-0833
[log in to unmask]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released this week
its long-awaited National Broadband Plan, a set of detailed
policy recommendations and statement of FCC commitment to
specific actions designed to ensure that every American will have
access to, be able to afford, and fully use the equipment and
services that comprise the nation's high-speed voice, data and
video communications, emergency, and entertainment
infrastructure. The full report can be accessed on line at
http://www.broadband.gov/plan/.
In articulating a comprehensive vision for broadband
accessibility, the FCC is endorsing, in some cases verbatim, the
policy objectives of H.R. 3101, the Twenty-first Century
Communications and Video Accessibility Act, introduced by Rep.
Ed Markey (D-MA) last Summer. In doing so, the FCC has
officially gone on record calling for the application of existing
federal telecommunications requirements to Internet-based mobile
and other technologies, the wider availability of video
description, the necessity for more relevant emergency
information access requirements, and the critical need for video
programming devices and program menus to be usable by people with
disabilities, particularly individuals with vision loss.
In some cases, the FCC has indicated its sense that it already
has congressional authority to issue regulations accomplishing
these objectives. In other instances, the FCC is calling upon
Congress in the Plan to grant the FCC unambiguous jurisdiction
and authority to promulgate necessary rules. And in still other
instances, the FCC is calling upon other federal agencies to
undertake rulemaking or advisory committee proceedings to
implement Plan recommendations.
For example, given that a federal court of appeals has ruled that
the FCC lacks authority to require video description, the FCC is
unequivocally urging Congress to give it the necessary authority
through legislation. In addition, the FCC is urging the U.S.
Department of Justice to amend its Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) regulations to clarify the ADA's applicability to
commercial websites. Advocates will recall that AFB and other
organizations in the vision loss community have been aggressively
pushing the Justice Department to issue such clarifying rules in
order to ensure that retailers and other public accommodations
that do business exclusively on line are nevertheless covered by
the ADA's nondiscrimination protections. The Justice Department
is expected to issue its much-anticipated updated ADA regulations
in the coming months.
The release of the FCC's National Broadband Plan comes at a
critical time in the progress of technology and disability policy
development. For instance, the U.S. Access Board has just begun
the official rulemaking process to update the requirements of
section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the federal provisions
requiring federal government electronic and information
technology accessibility.
To keep advocates current on these and related information access
issues, AFB is offering several opportunities to the vision loss
community and beyond. In addition to its regular reporting on
accessible mainstream and assistive technologies, AFB's free on
line magazine, AccessWorld http://www.afb.org/accessworld, is
currently providing readers with comprehensive coverage of the
technology policy landscape and how advocates can make a
difference.
Additionally, stay tuned to this newsletter, AFB DirectConnect,
for details coming soon about an exciting teleseminar to be held
in April offering attendees an opportunity to learn about the
particulars of the National Broadband Plan and how you can
participate in the effort to make its recommendations a reality.
In the meantime, advocates are urged to continue calling upon
members of the U.S. House to cosponsor H.R. 3101 and work for
its prompt passage. Detailed information about the legislation,
including a tool kit for advocates, can be found on the Coalition
of Organizations for Accessible Technology website.
http://www.coataccess.org
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