February 2010 Technology and Disability Highlights
Volume: 10.2 February 2010 Technology and Disability Highlights
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Contents:
Overview
There was relatively little legislative activity on technology and disability policy during the month of February. However, policymaking was quite active in the regulatory arena, especially as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) nears completion of its National Broadband Plan. Set to be delivered to Congress by March 17, 2010, the Plan outlines the nation’s broadband priorities and establishes goals for meeting them. Americans with disabilities and their ability to access and use high-speed Internet is one of the Plan’s stated areas of interest. Accompanying the latest report on its progress toward a National Broadband Plan, the FCC released the first of a series of working papers on broadband use in America. The report noted that only about 42 percent of Americans with disabilities have access to broadband in the home, and it identified difficulties in using devices or accessing web pages as one potential reason for non-adoption.
In other developments, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) issued a Declaratory Ruling that reaffirms the Commission’s rules for the structure and compensation of the Video Relay Service (VRS). The rulemaking comes amid efforts by the FCC to reform the VRS and address potential misuse of the service. As evidence of the issue’s seriousness, two former executives of a VRS company pled guilty to charges that they attempted to defraud the FCC of more than $7 million.
Regulatory Activities
Broadband Report on Americans’, People with Disabilities’ Use of High-Speed Internet
02.23.2010 – As part of its efforts to formulate a National Broadband Plan, the FCC has issued a report that concludes that 93 million Americans lack adequate broadband opportunities. The working paper, entitled “Broadband Adoption and Use in America” and written by Dr. John B. Horrigan, especially considers high-speed Internet use by people with disabilities. The report found that about 42 percent of Americans with disabilities have broadband at home, reflecting a demographic with somewhat less access to broadband than the population at large.
Furthermore, the report suggests that “the online activities of broadband-using people with disabilities are narrower in scope than others; that is, they do fewer things online. That may reflect difficulties some people with disabilities have in using the devices to get online or interacting with Web pages.” This suggestion can be evidenced in the fact that 39 percent of non-adopters have a disability, compared with 15 percent of adopters.
[Source: FCC]
Additional Information:
OBI Working Paper Series No. 1: "Broadband Adoption and Use in America" (PDF only)
Executives of VRS Company Plead Guilty to Defrauding FCC Program
02.18.2010 - Irma Azrelyant and Joshua Finkle, former co-owners of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreting Services, Inc. (DHIS), a company based in New York and New Jersey, pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the two defendants were charged with a scheme to defraud the Video Relay System (VRS) of the FCC of more than $7 million. Azrelyant and Finkle admitted that between October 2007 and July 2009, they conspired with others to pay individuals to make fraudulent VRS phone calls that were processed through DHIS. These calls were billed to the FCC through VRS provider Viable Communications Inc. Azrelyant and Finkle made VRS calls to prerecorded messages and other numbers for the sole purpose of generating VRS minutes and also coordinated with others to generate illegitimate VRS minutes that would be billed to the FCC.
Azrelyant and Finkle were indicted on Oct. 29, 2009, along with DHIS assistant bookkeeper and video interpreter coordinator Oksana Strusa, as well as video interpreters Natan Zfati, Alfia Iskandarova and Hennadii Holovkin. At sentencing in June, Azrelyant and Finkle each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, as well as mandatory restitution and forfeiture.
[Source: U.S. Department of Justice]
Additional Information:
U.S. Dept. of Justice Press Release on Azrelyant and Finkle
FEMA Seeks Members for National Advisory Council, Including Disability Experts
01.29.2010 – The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) seeks 12 new members to join its National Advisory Council (NAC). The 35-member NAC was established by the Secretary of FEMA to advise the Agency in specific areas and further its goals of effective and ongoing coordination of federal preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation for disasters and acts of terrorism. In the current call for members, professionals and experts are sought in the areas of Emergency Management, Public Health, Emergency Medical Provider, Standard Settings, Disability, Access and Functional Needs, State Non-Elected Official and Tribal Non-Elected Official. NAC members meet quarterly to discuss, deliberate, and make recommendations on FEMA plans and strategies.
[Sources: FEMA and Federal Register]
Additional Information:
Federal Register: Call for Members for FEMA's National Advisory Council (PDF only)
National Broadband Plan to Be Unveiled by FCC in March
02.18.2010 – The FCC’s National Broadband Plan is set to be delivered to Congress on March 17, 2010. In advance of this deadline, the FCC has tentatively announced plans to present and adopt the Plan at its next Open Commission Meeting on March 16. As noted in previous issues of the TDPH, the FCC has made access to and use of broadband by Americans with disabilities one of the themes for the Plan. In addition to stated concerns that people with disabilities do not have sufficient access to high-speed Internet, the National Broadband Plan touches on other aspects that affect the disability community. Chief among these goals are increasing job opportunities and driving economic opportunity, improving health care and controlling costs, providing Americans with more educational opportunities, enhancing government performance and increasing civic engagement, and increasing public safety and homeland security.
This final goal, increasing public safety and homeland security, has received particular attention from the FCC recently. Chairman Julius Genachowski recently issued a public safety briefing that outlines how the Plan will address this important issue.
[Source: FCC]
Additional Information:
FCC Report: National Broadband Plan update (PDF only)
VRS Rules and Policies Reaffirmed by FCC
02.25.2010 – The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) issued a Declaratory Ruling (DA 10-314) to reaffirm the Commission’s rules for the structure and practices of the Video Relay Service (VRS). In particular, the CGB’s action pertained to VRS reimbursement and calling practices, in order to deal with service provider activities that have recently concerned the FCC.
The Declaratory Ruling emphasized that VRS calls made or arranged for the purpose of generated per-minute fees for service providers are not and have never been compensable from the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund. The CGB’s ruling addressed three practices in particular. First of all, calls from or to employees of VRS services cannot be compensated from the VRS Fund on a per-minute basis. Rather, they must be considered as business expenses and are only compensable if the provider can demonstrate that they are legitimate business calls. Second, VRS Voice Carry Over (VCO) calls cannot be made between two people using their voices and compensated from the Fund, out of concerns that practices constitute abuse of the service. Finally, VRS calls that originate and terminate from outside the United States cannot be compensated from the fund.
[Source: FCC]
Additional Information:
Other Items of Interest
AT&T Convenes Advisory Panel on Access and Aging
02.04.2010 – AT&T held the quarterly meeting of its Advisory Panel on Access and Aging in Atlanta on Thursday, February 4, and Friday, February 5. For the last four years, the panel has advised AT&T's subsidiaries, affiliates, leadership, and external partners on critical issues impacting seniors and people with disabilities. The purpose of the most recent quarterly meeting was to announce the nation’s largest carrier’s continued dedication in product and service offerings for customers and employees, particularly seniors and those in the disability community. The focus of this year's first meeting was national marketing with the Disability and Mature segments, in addition to the development of applications that can further support these communities.
[Source: PRNewswire and AT&T]
Additional Information:
AT&T's Advisory Panel on Access and Aging
NCD Engages Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities
02.04.2010 – National Council on Disability (NCD) First Vice Chairperson Pat Pound and NCD Director of Research and Technology Martin Gould gave a presentation at the National Evacuation Conference in New Orleans. The presentation centered on the NCD’s ongoing efforts to roll out its findings and recommendations from the Council’s 2009 report “Effective Emergency Management: Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities.”
While NCD ostensibly undertook its report in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2005 hurricane season, its efforts stood out because of the specific inadequacies in how federal authorities were equipped to meet the special needs of people with disabilities in times of emergencies. In its findings, the Council found that the greatest amount of work has been done in the area of disaster preparedness, but noted that much remains to be done in the areas of response, recovery, and mitigation.
[Sources: NCD and National Evacuation Conference]
Additional Information:
Text of NCD Presentation for National Evacuation Conference (PDF only)
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Wireless RERC Updates
CTIA Wireless 2010 Accessibility Forum to Feature Wireless RERC’s Jim Mueller
02.23.2010 – Jim Mueller, Project Director for the Wireless RERC will be a featured panelist at the CTIA Wireless 2010 conference’s Accessibility Forum, which will be moderated by the Wireless RERC and Shepherd Center in Atlanta. The forum will take place on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM, in Room N-103 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Conference attendees and other individuals in the area are invited to attend.
“Apps” and “accessibility”. For millions of aging and disabled wireless users these two words go hand in hand. The flexibility of apps allows these customers increasingly innovative ways to take advantage of the power of their wireless devices. Apps are adding a new dimension of usability to information and handset design, opening doors to new market opportunities for developers, manufacturers and service providers.
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) at Georgia Tech and the Shepherd Center moderates a discussion with representatives from the wireless industry, policy makers, and consumer advocates on opportunities and challenges for developing apps to enhance access to mobile devices and services. The panel will also provide dialogue on how the new app market can address emerging needs of wireless customers with diverse ages and abilities.
This session is intended for wireless industry application developers, engineers and designers, disability/consumer advocates, and state and federal policymakers.
Session Highlights:
-
App Development: Current wireless industry approaches and opportunities for accessible app development
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App Storefronts: Current wireless industry approaches and opportunities for accessible app storefronts
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Disability advocacy for universally designed mobile apps and increased wireless industry awareness of accessible app opportunities
-
A look towards the future on how regulations might impact accessible app development and their deployment onto inclusively designed handsets
Panelists:
- Hamish Caldwell, Executive Director, Mobility Product Management, AT&T
- Jane Jackson, Associate Bureau Chief, FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
- Scott Kelley, Disability Access Manager, Motorola
- Jim Mueller, Project Director, Wireless Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (Wireless RERC)
- Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Government Affairs, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Take the Online Accessibility Resources Survey, until March 31, 2010, Win a Free iPod Nano
January 31, 2010 - In 2004, Consumer Advisors asked the Wireless RERC for help in choosing among available wireless products and services. So we developed the popular online and pocket guide, “Your Guide to Choosing a Cell Phone.” Today, there are several online guides to help. Which are most useful? Would a “guide to the guides” be helpful? We invite you to take a tour of these sites with us, tell us what you think of them, and register to win an iPod Nano or $150 Amazon gift certificate.
The Wireless RERC has a set of wireless resources at its
website. By visiting both of the General
resources, all four of the Wireless
Carrier resources, at least four of the
Wireless Manufacturer resources, and filling
out our
short online survey, you will be entered into a drawing to
win an iPod Nano. Participation in the survey is
not required to enter the drawing. Just provide your contact
information for a chance to win. The survey will take
approximately 15 - 20 minutes and will help determine how useful these
resources are to people with disabilities. Deadline for entry is
3/31/09.
Please Take
the 2010 Online Accessibility Resources Survey.
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Upcoming Events
CSUN Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities
March 22, 2010 - March 27, 2010 – The 25th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, hosted by California State University, Northridge, will be held at the San Diego Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, on March 22-27, 2010. For more information about the conference, please visit the CSUN Center on Disabilities website.
[Source: CSUN Center on Disabilities]
CTIA Wireless 2010 Conference
03.22.2010-03.25.2010 – CTIA, The Wireless Association, will host its annual conference on wireless technologies and services on March 22-25, 2010, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas. In addition to a panel on accessibility involving the Wireless RERC, the conference will feature 1,200 exhibiting companies, dozens of industries, and over 40,000 professionals in attendance. For more information, please visit the CTIA Wireless website.
[Source: CTIA]
RESNA 2010 Annual Conference
June 26, 2010 - June 30, 2010 – The Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA) will hold its annual meeting from June 26-30, 2010, at the Red Rock Spa in Las Vegas. The meeting site will also host the associated International Symposium on Quality of Life Technology.
[Source: RESNA]
Technology and Disability Policy Highlights reports on national and local public policy events and recent wireless technological advances and political activities; and tracks emerging issues of interest to individuals with disabilities. Technology and Disability Policy Highlights is published monthly by the Wireless RERC. The Wireless RERC is a research center promotes universal access to wireless technologies and explores their innovative applications in addressing the needs of people with disabilities. For more information on the Wireless RERC, please visit the Wireless RERC website.
For further information on items summarized in this report, or if you have items of interest that you would like included in future editions, please contact this edition’s editor, Nathan W. Moon [nathan.moon@cacp.gatech.edu] or Paul M.A. Baker, Ph.D., AICP, CACP Director of Research [paul.baker@cacp.gatech.edu].
Congratulations go to Brian Coppola!
Assistive Technologies Showcase at Abilities Expo - Atlanta 2012
