Disability Advisory Committee Meeting
The Committee was established in December 2014 to make recommendations to the Commission on a wide array of disability matters within the jurisdiction of the Commission, and to facilitate the participation of people with disabilities in proceedings before the Commission. The Committee has established subcommittees to consider the following five issues:
- Communications Subcommittee: access to communications services and equipment (including advanced communications, telecommunications, and hearing aid compatibility);
- Emergency Communications Subcommittee: Next Generation 911 and emergency alerting (Emergency Alerting System (EAS) and Wireless Alert (WEA));
- Relay/Equipment Distribution Subcommittee: telecommunications relay services and the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program;
- Technology Transitions Subcommittee: issues relating to technology transitions underway in our nation’s communication networks, such as the transition from services running on copper to new, all-Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia networks; and
- Video Programming Subcommittee: video programming access (including closed captioning, video description, access to video programming apparatus, and access to televised emergency information).
At its June 16, 2016 meeting, the Committee is expected to receive and consider reports and recommendations from its subcommittees, as follows:
- A report on the activities of its Communications Subcommittee;
- A report and recommendation from its Emergency Communications Subcommittee regarding proposed DAC comments on the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Wireless Emergency Alerts released in November 2015;
- A report on the activities of its Relay & Equipment Distribution Subcommittee;
- A report and recommendation from its Technology Transitions Subcommittee regarding the benefits of HD Voice and ways to address the transition to HD Voice; and
- A report and possible recommendation from its Video Programming Subcommittee regarding appropriate capitalization of offline captioning of video programming.
The Committee will also (1) receive presentations from Commission staff on recent activities; (2) hear reports from various FCC bureaus, including: a report from the FCC Wireline Competition Bureau on the modernization of the Lifeline program; a report from FCC Media Bureau on the commercial availability of set top boxes and the expansion of video description; and an update on the ACE Direct project; and (3) discuss new issues for its consideration. In addition, a reserved amount of time will be available on the agenda for comments and inquiries from the public. The public may comment or ask questions of presenters via the email address livequestions@fcc.gov
For further information contact: Elaine Gardner, DAC Designated Federal Officer, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, (202) 418-0581 (voice); or Suzy Rosen Singleton, Alternate DAC Designated Federal Officer, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, (202) 510-9446 (VP/voice). Both parties can also be reached by email at DAC@fcc.gov.
Meeting minutes will be available for public inspection on the Committee's website at http://www.fcc.gov/disability-advisory-committee.
Meeting Minutes