1 ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS RELATED TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES BILL LUTHER FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C.

2 ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES  INTRODUCTION  TERMINOLOGY  STATISTICS  MAIN TYPES OF ACCESS TO CONSIDER  HUMAN INTERPRETERS  ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY  U.S. ACCESSIBILITY STATUTES  FCC REGULATIONS  DETERMINING STANDARDS

3 INTRODUCTION FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL FIRST, NOT THE DISABILITY

4 TERMINOLOGY USE: PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF PEOPLE WHO ARE HARD OF HEARING PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING NOT: DEAF-MUTES DEAF AND DUMB HEARING IMPAIRED USE: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES NOT: THE DISABLED THE HANDICAPPED USE: PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND PEOPLE WITH LOW VISION PEOPLE WHO ARE VISUALLY IMPAIRED NOT: THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

5 DISABILITY STATISTICS SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, 1997 DATA. % DISTRIBUTION INDIVIDUALS WITH A DISABILITY 23.0 DIFFICULTY SEEING WORDS/LETTERS 3.7 DIFFICULTY HEARING CONVERSATION 3.8 DIFFICULTY WITH SPEECH 1.1 DIFFICULTY WALKING/USING STAIRS 12.1 USES A WHEELCHAIR 1.0 USES A CANE/CRUTCHES/WALKER 3.1 MENTAL DISABILITY 6.9 LEARNING DISABILITY 1.7 MENTAL RETARDATION 0.7 ALZHEIMER’S/SENILITY/DEMENTIA 0.9 OTHER MENTAL/EMOTIONAL CONDITION 1.6

6 MAIN TYPES OF ACCESS TO CONSIDER  MOBILITY DISABILITIES  HEARING DISABILITIES  VISION DISABILITIES  SPEECH DISABILITIES

7 MOBILITY DISABILITIES ACCESSIBILITY FOR: WHEELCHAIRS SCOOTERS CANES CRUTCHES MEANS SIDEWALKS, CURBS, ENTRANCES, DOORWAYS, AISLES, TABLES, AND CHAIRS NEED CONSIDERATION

8 HEARING DISABILITIES ACCESSIBILITY FOR: PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING - - MEANS ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES, CAPTIONING, LAPTOP OR PROJECTION SCREEN TRANSLATION, CUED SPEECH TRANSLITERATORS, NOTETAKERS, TACTILE INTERPRETERS, AND ORAL OR SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS NEED CONSIDERATION

9 VISION DISABILITIES ACCESSIBILITY FOR: PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR HAVE LOW VISION - - MEANS BRAILLE, ELECTRONIC FORMAT, AUDIO FORMAT, GRAPHICS, AND TACTILELY ACCESSIBLE MEDIA NEED CONSIDERATION

10 SPEECH DISABILITIES ACCESSIBILITY FOR: PEOPLE WHO HAVE IMPAIRED SPEECH - - MEANS RE-VOICERS, COMMUNICATION BOARDS, SPEECH OUTPUT DEVICES, OR OTHER ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES NEED CONSIDERATION

11 HUMAN INTERPRETERS AFTER 30 MINUTES, ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETERS DECREASE PRECIPITOUSLY, FALLING 10% EVERY 5 MINUTES - - THE HUMAN MIND CANNOT HOLD FOCUSED CONCENTRATION FOR LONGER PERIODS SOLUTION: TEAMING

12 ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY  TELECAPTIONERS  TTY/TDD DEVICES FOR TELEPHONES  ASSISTED LISTENING DEVICES  VOICE-RECOGNITION SYSTEMS  VOICE SYNTHESIZERS  SCREEN READERS  COMPUTERS

13 U.S. ACCESSIBILITY STATUTES - 1 REHABILITATION ACT, 1973, as amended in 1978 (Section 504): provides for participation in, and access to any program or activity receiving federal financing, and requires federal agencies, including the Postal Service, to promulgate relevant regulations for reasonable accommodation AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, 1990: addresses state and local governments, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, telecommunications and the U.S. Congress

14 U.S. ACCESSIBIILITY STATUTES - 2 ARCHITECTURAL BARRIERS ACT, 1968: requires new and altered buildings and facilities designed, constructed, or altered with federal funds or leased by a federal agency comply with federal standards for physical accessibility TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT, 1996: requires manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and providers of telecommunications services to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to, and can use their equipment (telephones, cell phones, pagers, etc.) and services (call-waiting, operators, etc.), if readily achievable; required the FCC to promulgate rules for TV closed captioning (video description requirements are being considered)

15 U.S. ACCESSIBILITY STATUTES - 3 TELEVISION DECODER CIRCUITRY ACT, 1990: requires all TV sets with screens 13 inches or larger, made or imported, to have built-in closed-captioning decoder circuitry HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY ACT, 1996: requires all manufactured or imported telephones, including cordless phones, be hearing aid compatible by internal means, with exemption for secure, public mobile, and private mobile telephones

16 FCC REGULATIONS WITHIN THE U.S. CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS: (TITLE 47, PART 1, SUBPART N) “ENFORCEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAP IN PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION” (PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AND PROVIDING FOR ACCESSIBILITY)

17 DETERMINING STANDARDS ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ARE DETERMINED WITH:  ATTITUDE OF INCLUSION  COMMITMENT TO ACCESS  ACCOMMODATIONS

18 DETERMINING STANDARDS INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ARE THE BEST SOURCES OF INFORMATION REGARDING NEEDED STANDARDS AND ACCOMMODATIONS