July 14, 1999 [INLINE]



Dow Jones Newswires

FCC Adopts Rules Making Telecom Services Accessible

   By MARK WIGFIELD

   WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission has adopted rules
   meant to make it easier for people with disabilities to use
   telecommunications services.

   Voice menus to help the blind use features on a cell phone, keyboards
   with digital cues, voice-mail systems that allow more time for user
   response, and more effective tele-typewriter systems for the deaf are
   all possible changes that could result.

   While the final details of the new rules haven't been released,
   industry officials said they seemed to strike a balance between
   flexibility for manufacturers and service providers and meeting the
   needs of disabled consumers.

   "The item goes a long way to ensure competitive industries can develop
   unique ways to comply with the FCC rules," said Brian Fontes of the
   Telecommunications Industry Association.

   However, questions remain about the FCC's legal authority to apply the
   rules to providers of voice mail and so-called "information services."
   Such menu-driven services often require speedy responses by users,
   frustrating blind people or those with impaired motion.

   These services aren't explicitly governed by the law requiring that
   telecommunications services be accessible. Instead, the FCC may rely
   on so-called "ancillary authority," or authority that is implicit in
   the law.

   But industry fears that could set a precedent making the FCC's
   regulatory powers more expansive and less predictable. Commissioner
   Michael Powell plans to develop a separate legal theory to sidestep
   concerns about regulatory precedents, a theory which could be included
   in the final version of the rules.

   An FCC statement called the new rules "the most significant action for
   people with disabilities since the passage of the Americans With
   Disabilities Act in 1990. The change is needed, the statement said, as
   telecommunications become a more critical part of daily life and
   economic life.

   The rules require manufacturers to include features making
   telecommunications accessible to people with disabilities if such
   features are "readily available." The FCC could investigate complaints
   after giving manufacturers 30 days to respond.
   - By Mark Wigfield; 202-828-3397; [log in to unmask]


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html