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D-Day is approaching for the Federal Communications Commission. On July 21, the agency that regulates the telecommunications industry is expected to appprove three rulings that will have a dramatic impact on not just the millions of blind, deaf, hard-of-hearing, and speech-impaired Americans but also on the broadcasting industry as whole.
Led by activist Chairman William Kennard, the commissioners are expected to call for nationwide implementation of a 711 phone service to provide access to telecommunications relay services, new requirements for the four major TV networks and cable companies to provide video-descriptive programming, and new technical standards for displaying closed captions on digital television receivers.
Telecommunications relay services (TRS) enable people with either a hearing or speech disability to communicate by telephone to people who may or may not have these disabilities. To make a call using a TRS, a deaf caller would use a Tele-Typewriter (TTY) to dial 711 and reach a TRS operator. The deaf caller could then type the telephone number of the person they wish to reach, and the operator would place an outbound voice call to that number. The operator is the link in the conversation, converting all TTY messages from the caller into voice messages and all voice messages from the called party into typed messages for the TTY user. The process is reversed when a voice-telephone user initiates a call to a TTY user.
ONE SERVICE.
Telecommunications for the Deaf and Self Help for Hard of Hearing estimate that 28 million Americans are either deaf or hard-of-hearing, and nearly 2.5 million speech-impaired individuals nationwide will benefit from this service. This is roughly one out of every nine people in the U.S. The 711 national number would replace a hodgepodge of toll-free numbers used by some states.
The mandate would mark a big victory for disability groups, which are expected to push for quick implementation of the new system in all 50 states. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia plan to offer 711 service by yearend. The states are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii (with 511 for voice calls to TRS), Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. Canada already offers 711 TRS service in the all the provinces.
While initially skeptical of a 711 system, the telecommunications industry now embraces it. Some companies, such as Sprint, have already installed 711 services. "Sprint is prepared to support all of its state accounts with 711 access," says Mark Seeger, customer relations manager.
FCC Chairman Kennard, who has championed the change, thinks the new system will provide big improvements. "This will make TRS more accessible to everybody -- easier, faster, more convenient. If you have a hearing disability, you will not have to worry about finding the right relay number when you travel to a different state. It will be easier for you to fill out applications, doctors' forms, and even prepare your business cards, so that you can receive more calls back from hearing people," Kennard told me.
RIPPLES.
While the 711 issue isn't controversial in the telecom industry, the FCC's other two expected rulings are causing ripples among broadcasters. The commission is expected to mandate that broadcasters and cable companies provide video-description service (VDT) for blind and visually impaired customers. VDT provides voice-over narrations of the settings and actions that appear on screen. The service is provided via the secondary audio programming (SAP) channel, so it's audible only when that channel is activated through a SAP-capable TV or VCR. The authority for this ruling comes from the Communications Act of 1934.
The Decoder Act of 1990 gives the FCC the power to establish technical standards for the display of closed captions on digital-TV receivers. This would be a plus for both the deaf and hard-of-hearing as well as the visually impaired. Audiences could harness digital technology to enhance closed captioning by controlling the color, fonts, size, and location of the captioned text that appears on the TV screen.
The National Association of Broadcasters doesn't oppose either VDT or closed-captioned services for digital TV per se. But it bristles at the notion of FCC mandates to do so. According to the NAB, it would be costly for individual TV stations to modify their signals to be in compliance. Many broadcasting execs think Kennard is too activist. One telecom lobbyist told me, "He is concentrating too much power in the hands of the FCC. He is making decisions that we should make and will eventually make for our customers."
REGULATORY PUSH.
Well, that's great. But the problem is unless the FCC mandates action, the telecom and broadcast industries will be slow to implement anything that benefits a niche group of customers --even one as large as the 30 million-plus hearing- and speech-impaired citizens in this country. By making these decisions, the FCC would be ensuring telecom access for every citizen. And eventually, these rules will bring in revenues, not just to the phone companies bringing services to a broader customer base but to TV stations that will win larger audiences and can therefore charge more for advertising.
The FCC is expected to give the industries at least a year to comply with the mandates. That's more than enough time for these businesses to do what's in everybody's best interest.
What do you think about the FCC's proposed mandates? Let us know at BW Online's Assistive Tech Forum. Or drop John a line at JMMAW@aol.com
Copyright 2000 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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