Info on access provisions in Telecom Act (fwd)
F. Pennell
fpennell at u.washington.edu
Thu May 2 19:46:25 PDT 1996
Here is a message regarding the recently enacted
Telecommunications Act. Francie Pennell
Dear Tech Act Projects,
Here are some excerpts on disability access provisions in the recently passed
Telecommunications Act. Also some excerpts from ADA giving definitions
referenced.
There are a number of things in here that we should watch, as they will
affect the access of people with disabilities to all kinds of
telecommunications services in our states and territories. To the extent
that mainstream information technology isn't accessible, we'll continue to
need to work overtime to develop (inadequate) work-arounds for people with
disabilities.
Thanks to Paul Schroeder of the American Foundation for the Blind for
compiling these excerpts.
***
Disability Access Provisions
Excerpted from Telecommunications Act of 1996
One Hundred Fourth Congress
An Act
To promote competition and reduce regulation in order to secure
lower prices and higher quality services for American
telecommunications consumers and encourage the rapid deployment
of new telecommunications technologies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.
(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the
`Telecommunications Act of 1996'.
(b) REFERENCES- Except as otherwise expressly provided,
whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in
terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
section or other provision of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).
TITLE I--TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES
SUBTITLE A--TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF PART II OF TITLE II.
(a) AMENDMENT- Title II is amended by inserting after
section 229 (47 U.S.C. 229) the following new part:
PART II--DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETITIVE MARKETS
SEC. 251. INTERCONNECTION.
(a) GENERAL DUTY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS--Each
telecommunications carrier has the duty--
(1) to interconnect directly or indirectly with the
facilities and equipment of other telecommunications
carriers; and
(2) not to install network features, functions, or
capabilities that do not comply with the guidelines and
standards established pursuant to section 255 or 256.
(d) IMPLEMENTATION-
(1) IN GENERAL- Within 6 months after the date of
enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the
Commission shall complete all actions necessary to
establish regulations to implement the requirements of
this section.
(2) PRESERVATION OF STATE ACCESS REGULATIONS- In
prescribing and enforcing regulations to implement the
requirements of this section, the Commission shall not
preclude the enforcement of any regulation, order, or
policy of a State commission that--
(A) establishes access and interconnection
obligations of local exchange carriers;
(B) is consistent with the requirements of this
section; and
(C) does not substantially prevent implementation
of the requirements of this section and the
purposes of this part.
SEC. 255. ACCESS BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.
(a) DEFINITIONS- As used in this section--
(1) DISABILITY- The term `disability' has the meaning
given to it by section 3(2)(A) of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102(2)(A)).
(2) READILY ACHIEVABLE- The term `readily achievable'
has the meaning given to it by section 301(9) of that
Act (42 U.S.C. 12181(9)).
(b) MANUFACTURING- A manufacturer of telecommunications
equipment or customer premises equipment shall ensure that
the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be
accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities,
if readily achievable.
(c) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES- A provider of
telecommunications service shall ensure that the service is
accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities,
if readily achievable.
(d) COMPATIBILITY- Whenever the requirements of subsections
(b) and (c) are not readily achievable, such a manufacturer
or provider shall ensure that the equipment or service is
compatible with existing peripheral devices or specialized
customer premises equipment commonly used by individuals
with disabilities to achieve access, if readily achievable.
(e) GUIDELINES- Within 18 months after the date of enactment
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board shall develop
guidelines for accessibility of telecommunications equipment
and customer premises equipment in conjunction with the
Commission. The Board shall review and update the guidelines
periodically.
(f) NO ADDITIONAL PRIVATE RIGHTS AUTHORIZED- Nothing in this
section shall be construed to authorize any private right of
action to enforce any requirement of this section or any
regulation thereunder. The Commission shall have exclusive
jurisdiction with respect to any complaint under this
section.
SEC . 256. COORDINATION FOR INTERCONNECTIVITY.
(a) PURPOSE- It is the purpose of this section--
(1) to promote nondiscriminatory accessibility by the
broadest number of users and vendors of communications
products and services to public telecommunications
networks used to provide telecommunications service
through--
(A) coordinated public telecommunications network
planning and design by telecommunications carriers
and other providers of telecommunications service;
and
(B) public telecommunications network
interconnectivity, and interconnectivity of
devices with such networks used to provide
telecommunications service; and
(2) to ensure the ability of users and information
providers to seamlessly and transparently transmit and
receive information between and across
telecommunications networks.
(b) COMMISSION FUNCTIONS- In carrying out the purposes of
this section, the Commission--
(1) shall establish procedures for Commission oversight
of coordinated network planning by telecommunications
carriers and other providers of telecommunications
service for the effective and efficient interconnection
of public telecommunications networks used to provide
telecommunications service; and
(2) may participate, in a manner consistent with its
authority and practice prior to the date of enactment
of this section, in the development by appropriate
industry standards-setting organizations of public
telecommunications network interconnectivity standards
that promote access to--
(A) public telecommunications networks used to
provide telecommunications service;
(B) network capabilities and services by
individuals with disabilities; and
(C) information services by subscribers of rural
telephone companies.
(c) COMMISSION'S AUTHORITY- Nothing in this section shall be
construed as expanding or limiting any authority that the
Commission may have under law in effect before the date of
enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
(d) DEFINITION- As used in this section, the term `public
telecommunications network interconnectivity' means the
ability of two or more public telecommunications networks
used to provide telecommunications service to communicate
and exchange information without degeneration, and to
interact in concert with one another.
TITLE III--CABLE SERVICES
SEC. 305. VIDEO PROGRAMMING ACCESSIBILITY.
Title VII is amended by inserting after section 712 (47 U.S.C.
612) the following new section:
SEC. 713. VIDEO PROGRAMMING ACCESSIBILITY.
(a) COMMISSION INQUIRY- Within 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Federal
Communications Commission shall complete an inquiry to
ascertain the level at which video programming is closed
captioned. Such inquiry shall examine the extent to which
existing or previously published programming is closed
captioned, the size of the video programming provider or
programming owner providing closed captioning, the size of
the market served, the relative audience shares achieved, or
any other related factors. The Commission shall submit to
the Congress a report on the results of such inquiry.
(b) ACCOUNTABILITY CRITERIA- Within 18 months after such
date of enactment, the Commission shall prescribe such
regulations as are necessary to implement this section. Such
regulations shall ensure that--
(1) video programming first published or exhibited
after the effective date of such regulations is fully
accessible through the provision of closed captions,
except as provided in subsection (d); and
(2) video programming providers or owners maximize the
accessibility of video programming first published or
exhibited prior to the effective date of such
regulations through the provision of closed captions,
except as provided in subsection
(c) DEADLINES FOR CAPTIONING- Such regulations shall include
an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of
closed-captioning of video programming.
(d) EXEMPTIONS- Notwithstanding subsection (b)--
(1) the Commission may exempt by regulation programs,
classes of programs, or services for which the
Commission has determined that the provision of closed
captioning would be economically burdensome to the
provider or owner of such programming;
(2) a provider of video programming or the owner of any
program carried by the provider shall not be obligated
to supply closed captions if such action would be
inconsistent with contracts in effect on the date of
enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, except
that nothing in this section shall be construed to
relieve a video programming provider of its obligations
to provide services required by Federal law; and
(3) a provider of video programming or program owner
may petition the Commission for an exemption from the
requirements of this section, and the Commission may
grant such petition upon a showing that the
requirements contained in this section would result in
an undue burden.
(e) UNDUE BURDEN- The term `undue burden' means significant
difficulty or expense. In determining whether the closed
captions necessary to comply with the requirements of this
paragraph would result in an undue economic burden, the
factors to be considered include--
(1) the nature and cost of the closed captions for the
programming;
(2) the impact on the operation of the provider or
program owner;
(3) the financial resources of the provider or program
owner; and
(4) the type of operations of the provider or program
owner.
(f) VIDEO DESCRIPTIONS INQUIRY- Within 6 months after the
date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the
Commission shall commence an inquiry to examine the use of
video descriptions on video programming in order to ensure
the accessibility of video programming to persons with
visual impairments, and report to Congress on its findings.
The Commission's report shall assess appropriate methods and
schedules for phasing video descriptions into the
marketplace, technical and quality standards for video
descriptions, a definition of programming for which video
descriptions would apply, and other technical and legal
issues that the Commission deems appropriate.
(g) VIDEO DESCRIPTION- For purposes of this section, `video
description' means the insertion of audio narrated
descriptions of a television program's key visual elements
into natural pauses between the program's dialogue.
(h) PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTIONS PROHIBITED- Nothing in this
section shall be construed to authorize any private right of
action to enforce any requirement of this section or any
regulation thereunder. The Commission shall have exclusive
jurisdiction with respect to any complaint under this
section.
***
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Title III - PUBLIC
ACCOMMODATIONS AND
SERVICES OPERATED BY PRIVATE ENTITIES
Definitions
As used in this title:
Readily achievable
The term "readily achievable" means easily accomplishable
and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense.
In determining whether an action is readily achievable, factors
to be considered include--
(A) the nature and cost of the action needed under this
chapter;
(B) the overall financial resources of the facility or
facilities involved in the action; the number of persons employed
at such facility; the effect on expenses and resources, or the
impact otherwise of such action upon the operation of the
facility;
(C) the overall financial resources of the covered entity;
the overall size of the business of a covered entity with respect
to the number of its employees; the number, type, and location of
its facilities; and
(D) the type of operation or operations of the covered
entity, including the composition, structure, and functions of
the workforce of such entity; the geographic separateness,
administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility in question
to the covered entity.
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