HLAA as well as other disability and consumer advocacy organizations were welcomed to a meeting the Senate HELP Committee (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) focusing on issues related to predatory recruiting of students by for-profit colleges. At that meeting, participants discussed the newly released report by the US Government Accounting Office (GAO) detailing questionable academic practices, as well as poor results for these colleges. “Once again a report reveals that too many students at for-profit colleges end up without a diploma and saddled with debt,” said Senator Tom Harkin.
76% of for-profit colleges are owned by Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs. Once these firms take over the schools, often academic considerations became secondary to profits. Even though over 86% of revenues comes from federal tax payer dollars in the form of student loans and grants, these colleges spend the majority of their revenues (approximately 60%) on marketing and profits, not academics. For example, Bridgepoint Education, a publically traded for-profit company spent 29.7% of its income on marketing, 30.3% on profits. Other for profits spent between 18%-22% of their funds on marketing. CEO Andrew Clark of Bridgepoint Education, Inc’s compensation in 2009 was $20.5 million.
The HELP Committee got involved because many of these students found that after taking the coursework, they couldn’t get the jobs they were looking for. Many ended up not finding jobs at all. Others found jobs but at a lower salary than people who attended state or community colleges. And all were saddled with debt. Without a job, these students find it difficult to pay back their loans. The rate of defaults on government loans has increased steadily since 2005.
The HELP Committee is also concerned because they are seeing more and more veterans targeted by these companies. The New York Times September 21, 2011 reports that returning veterans eager to earn post-secondary degrees have been exploited by unscrupulous for-profit companies. PBS’ Frontline reported that some recruiters signed up Marines with serious brain injuries who could not remember what courses they were taking. “Vast sums are involved. Between 2006 and 2010, the money received in military benefits but just 20 for-profit companies soared to $521.2 million from $66.6 million.” (NYTimes, For Profit Colleges, Vulnerable G.I.’s,” September 21, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/opinion/for-profit-colleges-vulnerable-gis.html?ref=forprofitschools )
Why was HLAA invited to a meeting about predatory practices by for-profit companies?
The HELP Committee has been gathering information about for-profit companies aggressive recruiting of students for over a year. They are now reaching out to a variety of communities of people who may have been targeted by these companies.
We know that people with disabilities in general, including people with hearing loss, are often underemployed or unemployed in the best of times. In a sagging economy, we are often “last hired, first fired.” People who are out of work often turn to schools to get the education and training they need to get back to work. It wouldn’t come as a great surprise if people with disabilities were among those targeted by these for-profit companies.
HLAA is seeking input from students, or people who know students, who have been targeted by these companies. If you have information on this topic, contact us. People who want to do better by going back to school should have all the information they need to get the best education possible.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Join the Captioned Conference Call with FEMA & FCC Today
EAS Test: Don’t Stress; It’s Only a Test
HLAA has been working with FEMA and the FCC regarding an important test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). We have posted an FCC announcement on our home page regarding this test to alert people that the test may not be accessible. If you are watching this 30 second test on broadcast television or satellite or a service provided by your phone company, you should be able to see and hear during the test that it is not an actual emergency. However, if you are watching via cable television, you or may not get a visual message along with an announcement that it’s a test. People watching need to be aware that it is only a test, that there is no need for concern.
We applaud FEMA and the FCC for working hard to get a test out soon so they can determine where the problems are with the system. We know they are working on the issue of visual access. Other problems may arise as well. The more that FEMA and the FCC can learn about the flaws of the system, the more able they will be to make any future alerts fully accessible to all people with hearing loss and solve any problems to ensure that when an emergency does happen, all of us will get the information we need.
HLAA has just learned that a conference call, with captions, has been set up to advise the community about this test. If you are interested in learning more, plan to join the call this afternoon at 4:30 pm ET with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. Below is the message HLAA received from FEMA:
DISABILITY COMMUNITY CALL - FIRST NATIONWIDE TEST OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Teleconference Call to Take Place November 7th at 4:30 pm ET
Test to Take Place November 9, 2011 at 2 p.m. ET
Dear Colleagues;
Many of you have told us you have passed along the information we sent out last week about the upcoming nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. We thank you for your help. Please remind the communities you serve about this nationwide test, being held Tuesday, November 9th at 2pm ET. Here are more tools and information about the test, all on one page: http://www.fema.gov/eastest
We're also happy to announce that FEMA's Administrator Craig Fugate and Damon Penn, Assistant Administrator, National Continuity Programs Directorate as well as leadership from the FCC will participate in teleconference call with the disability community on Monday, November 7th at 4:30 pm Eastern. We invite you to participate in this call, find out more about the test, and why the test is an important step towards building a modern, accessible alert and warning system.
To participate in the call:
(800) 320-4330, Participant Code is 247177
To access captioning for this call, click this link: http://fedrcc.us//Enter.aspx
Event ID=1855918
CustomerID=321
Thank you!
---------
REMINDER:
FEMA wants everyone to know about the upcoming Emergency Alert System (EAS) test and how it may impact them. Please share this message with your communities and through your social networks.
• FEMA’s Emergency Alert System website: http://www.fema.gov/eastest
• FEMA Administrator’s Message – In English http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/media_records/6407
• FEMA Administrator’s Message – In Spanish http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/media_records/6408
As part of our larger efforts to strengthen our nation’s preparedness and resiliency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct the first nation-wide test of the Emergency Alert System on November 9th, at 2 p.m. ET. The test will occur simultaneously across the United States and the U.S. territories and will last approximately 30 seconds, after which regular programming will resume. The test will appear on all broadcast radio and television stations, cable television systems, satellite radio and television systems, and wireline video service systems. The test will not involve landline or mobile phones or other infrastructure such as power grids.
Testing the Emergency Alert System plays a key role in evaluating and improving the systems we need in place to ensure our nation is prepared for all hazards and that people within its borders are able to receive critical and vital information through the system, should it ever be needed. It’s important to keep in mind that this is not a pass or fail test of the Emergency Alert System, but an opportunity to improve the system on a national level. Below we have provided a template for both a press release and/or a newsletter that you can use in your organizations to help inform your stakeholders, partners and continuances.
The national Emergency Alert System is an alert and warning system established to enable the President of the United States, if needed, to address the American public during emergencies. It is another critical communications tool that can protect the public and strengthen our nation’s resiliency. The National Weather Service, governors, and state and local authorities also use parts of the system to issue more localized emergency alerts. The test is an important exercise in ensuring that the system is effective in communicating critical information to the public in the event of a real national emergency.
This national test will help federal partners and EAS participants determine the reliability of the system, as well as its effectiveness in notifying the public of emergencies and potential disasters both nationally and regionally. The test will also provide the FCC and FEMA a chance to identify improvements that are needed to build a new, modernized, and fully accessible Emergency Alert System.
To help inform, and support the distribution of this information, FEMA has developed a toolkit of useful information which consists of the following examples and video links with additional information about the test.
If you have questions, please contact us at FEMA-Disibility-Integration-Coordination@dhs.gov.
HLAA has been working with FEMA and the FCC regarding an important test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). We have posted an FCC announcement on our home page regarding this test to alert people that the test may not be accessible. If you are watching this 30 second test on broadcast television or satellite or a service provided by your phone company, you should be able to see and hear during the test that it is not an actual emergency. However, if you are watching via cable television, you or may not get a visual message along with an announcement that it’s a test. People watching need to be aware that it is only a test, that there is no need for concern.
We applaud FEMA and the FCC for working hard to get a test out soon so they can determine where the problems are with the system. We know they are working on the issue of visual access. Other problems may arise as well. The more that FEMA and the FCC can learn about the flaws of the system, the more able they will be to make any future alerts fully accessible to all people with hearing loss and solve any problems to ensure that when an emergency does happen, all of us will get the information we need.
HLAA has just learned that a conference call, with captions, has been set up to advise the community about this test. If you are interested in learning more, plan to join the call this afternoon at 4:30 pm ET with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. Below is the message HLAA received from FEMA:
DISABILITY COMMUNITY CALL - FIRST NATIONWIDE TEST OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Teleconference Call to Take Place November 7th at 4:30 pm ET
Test to Take Place November 9, 2011 at 2 p.m. ET
Dear Colleagues;
Many of you have told us you have passed along the information we sent out last week about the upcoming nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. We thank you for your help. Please remind the communities you serve about this nationwide test, being held Tuesday, November 9th at 2pm ET. Here are more tools and information about the test, all on one page: http://www.fema.gov/eastest
We're also happy to announce that FEMA's Administrator Craig Fugate and Damon Penn, Assistant Administrator, National Continuity Programs Directorate as well as leadership from the FCC will participate in teleconference call with the disability community on Monday, November 7th at 4:30 pm Eastern. We invite you to participate in this call, find out more about the test, and why the test is an important step towards building a modern, accessible alert and warning system.
To participate in the call:
(800) 320-4330, Participant Code is 247177
To access captioning for this call, click this link: http://fedrcc.us//Enter.aspx
Event ID=1855918
CustomerID=321
Thank you!
---------
REMINDER:
FEMA wants everyone to know about the upcoming Emergency Alert System (EAS) test and how it may impact them. Please share this message with your communities and through your social networks.
• FEMA’s Emergency Alert System website: http://www.fema.gov/eastest
• FEMA Administrator’s Message – In English http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/media_records/6407
• FEMA Administrator’s Message – In Spanish http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/media_records/6408
As part of our larger efforts to strengthen our nation’s preparedness and resiliency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct the first nation-wide test of the Emergency Alert System on November 9th, at 2 p.m. ET. The test will occur simultaneously across the United States and the U.S. territories and will last approximately 30 seconds, after which regular programming will resume. The test will appear on all broadcast radio and television stations, cable television systems, satellite radio and television systems, and wireline video service systems. The test will not involve landline or mobile phones or other infrastructure such as power grids.
Testing the Emergency Alert System plays a key role in evaluating and improving the systems we need in place to ensure our nation is prepared for all hazards and that people within its borders are able to receive critical and vital information through the system, should it ever be needed. It’s important to keep in mind that this is not a pass or fail test of the Emergency Alert System, but an opportunity to improve the system on a national level. Below we have provided a template for both a press release and/or a newsletter that you can use in your organizations to help inform your stakeholders, partners and continuances.
The national Emergency Alert System is an alert and warning system established to enable the President of the United States, if needed, to address the American public during emergencies. It is another critical communications tool that can protect the public and strengthen our nation’s resiliency. The National Weather Service, governors, and state and local authorities also use parts of the system to issue more localized emergency alerts. The test is an important exercise in ensuring that the system is effective in communicating critical information to the public in the event of a real national emergency.
This national test will help federal partners and EAS participants determine the reliability of the system, as well as its effectiveness in notifying the public of emergencies and potential disasters both nationally and regionally. The test will also provide the FCC and FEMA a chance to identify improvements that are needed to build a new, modernized, and fully accessible Emergency Alert System.
To help inform, and support the distribution of this information, FEMA has developed a toolkit of useful information which consists of the following examples and video links with additional information about the test.
If you have questions, please contact us at FEMA-Disibility-Integration-Coordination@dhs.gov.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
HLAA attends FCC EAAC meeting
September 9, HLAA attended the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) meeting. The Twenty First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) required the FCC to establish the EAAC to prepare recommendations on ways to ensure that people with disabilities have access to Next Generation 911 emergency services.
Currently, the only people in America who can successfully send a text message to 9-1-1 answering centers, called PSAPs – Public Safety Answering Points, live in Sacramento, California, and Black Hawk County, Iowa. Efforts are underway to upgrade the 9-1-1 system across the country so that anyone can reach 9-1-1 via voice, text, email, or video, but it will take some time before that system is in place. The new system is referred to as Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1).
At the EAAC meeting, Jim Nixon for ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions) reported that Industry groups are actively working on solutions to the problem of access to 9-1-1 for people who rely on text or emails to communicate. ATIS is seeking a solution that would be available by June of 2012, that would have minimal impact on PSAPs as well as consumers, that would be easy to use, not proprietary, would give the PSAP the ability to record and log calls, and would be able to communicate in a secure and private way.
There was also a report from Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden from the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access (RERC-TA) making a case for text messaging to PSAPs that more closely mirrored voice communication by providing a letter by letter transmission that allows the operator to see and possibly respond to the message as its being typed. The RERC-TA also suggested establishing a central text messaging center for 9-1-1 calls, rather than depending on each and every PSAP to upgrade their local system to accept text messaging.
The next EAAC meeting is coming up soon: Friday, October 14, 2011 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the FCC Headquarters, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554, in the Commission meeting room. The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast live at http://www.fcc.gov/live.
For more info, visit:
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-access-advisory-committee-eaac
Currently, the only people in America who can successfully send a text message to 9-1-1 answering centers, called PSAPs – Public Safety Answering Points, live in Sacramento, California, and Black Hawk County, Iowa. Efforts are underway to upgrade the 9-1-1 system across the country so that anyone can reach 9-1-1 via voice, text, email, or video, but it will take some time before that system is in place. The new system is referred to as Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1).
At the EAAC meeting, Jim Nixon for ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions) reported that Industry groups are actively working on solutions to the problem of access to 9-1-1 for people who rely on text or emails to communicate. ATIS is seeking a solution that would be available by June of 2012, that would have minimal impact on PSAPs as well as consumers, that would be easy to use, not proprietary, would give the PSAP the ability to record and log calls, and would be able to communicate in a secure and private way.
There was also a report from Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden from the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access (RERC-TA) making a case for text messaging to PSAPs that more closely mirrored voice communication by providing a letter by letter transmission that allows the operator to see and possibly respond to the message as its being typed. The RERC-TA also suggested establishing a central text messaging center for 9-1-1 calls, rather than depending on each and every PSAP to upgrade their local system to accept text messaging.
The next EAAC meeting is coming up soon: Friday, October 14, 2011 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the FCC Headquarters, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554, in the Commission meeting room. The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast live at http://www.fcc.gov/live.
For more info, visit:
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-access-advisory-committee-eaac
Friday, August 19, 2011
Next Generation 9-1-1
August 10, 2011
FCC Chairman Genachowski Announces Five-Step Action Plan to Improve the Deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1
Washington, D.C. At the 2011 Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) conference in Philadelphia, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski today announced his five-step action plan to chart the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911) services. Working with the public safety community, carriers, manufacturers and other service providers, Chairman Genachowski's goal is to ensure that effective emergency response is a critical element of the broadband environment.
Under the Chairman's five-step action plan, the FCC will:
(1) develop automatic location accuracy mechanisms for NG-911,
(2) facilitate the completion and implementation of NG911 technical standards for the hardware and software that carriers and public safety answering points (PSAPs) use to communicate NG911 information,
(3) work with state 911 authorities, other Federal agencies, and other governing entities to provide technical expertise and develop a coordinated approach to NG911 governance,
(4) develop an NG911 Funding Model focused on the cost-effectiveness of the NG911 network infrastructure linking PSAPs and carriers and
(5) enable consumers to send text, photos, and videos to PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points).
Next month, the FCC is expected to launch a rulemaking to consider how to accelerate NG911 adoption to help answer practical, technical questions about how to enable text, photo, and video transmission to 911, including how to ensure adequate broadband infrastructure to deliver the bandwidth PSAPs will need to provide NG911. As part of the proceeding, the FCC will examine interim solutions for ensuring that carriers and service providers support transmission of text-to-911.
Chairman Genachowski said, "It's hard to imagine that airlines can send text messages if your flight is delayed, but you can't send a text message to 9-1-1 in an emergency. The unfortunate truth is that the capability of our emergency response communications has not kept pace with commercial innovation has not kept pace with what ordinary people now do every day with communications devices. The shift to NG911 can't be about if, but about when and how."
NG911 supports seamless, end-to-end IP-based communication of emergency-related voice, text, data, photos, and video between the public and public safety answering points. NG911 systems will continue to support the legacy 911 system on a transitional basis for as long as is necessary.
The announcement builds on Chairman Genachowski's strong public safety agenda, including launching of Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN), strengthening the FCC's existing enhanced E-911 location accuracy rules, laying the groundwork for a nationwide, interoperable public safety network and granting waivers to build out the public safety network.
-FCC-
FCC’s announcement
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0810/DOC-309005A1.pdf
FCC Chairman Genachowski Announces Five-Step Action Plan to Improve the Deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1
Washington, D.C. At the 2011 Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) conference in Philadelphia, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski today announced his five-step action plan to chart the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911) services. Working with the public safety community, carriers, manufacturers and other service providers, Chairman Genachowski's goal is to ensure that effective emergency response is a critical element of the broadband environment.
Under the Chairman's five-step action plan, the FCC will:
(1) develop automatic location accuracy mechanisms for NG-911,
(2) facilitate the completion and implementation of NG911 technical standards for the hardware and software that carriers and public safety answering points (PSAPs) use to communicate NG911 information,
(3) work with state 911 authorities, other Federal agencies, and other governing entities to provide technical expertise and develop a coordinated approach to NG911 governance,
(4) develop an NG911 Funding Model focused on the cost-effectiveness of the NG911 network infrastructure linking PSAPs and carriers and
(5) enable consumers to send text, photos, and videos to PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points).
Next month, the FCC is expected to launch a rulemaking to consider how to accelerate NG911 adoption to help answer practical, technical questions about how to enable text, photo, and video transmission to 911, including how to ensure adequate broadband infrastructure to deliver the bandwidth PSAPs will need to provide NG911. As part of the proceeding, the FCC will examine interim solutions for ensuring that carriers and service providers support transmission of text-to-911.
Chairman Genachowski said, "It's hard to imagine that airlines can send text messages if your flight is delayed, but you can't send a text message to 9-1-1 in an emergency. The unfortunate truth is that the capability of our emergency response communications has not kept pace with commercial innovation has not kept pace with what ordinary people now do every day with communications devices. The shift to NG911 can't be about if, but about when and how."
NG911 supports seamless, end-to-end IP-based communication of emergency-related voice, text, data, photos, and video between the public and public safety answering points. NG911 systems will continue to support the legacy 911 system on a transitional basis for as long as is necessary.
The announcement builds on Chairman Genachowski's strong public safety agenda, including launching of Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN), strengthening the FCC's existing enhanced E-911 location accuracy rules, laying the groundwork for a nationwide, interoperable public safety network and granting waivers to build out the public safety network.
-FCC-
FCC’s announcement
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0810/DOC-309005A1.pdf
US Access Board Holds Forum on IT Access
Virtual Forum on Improving Access to Federal IT to be Held September 8, 2011
The U.S. Access Board and the Chief Information Officers Council will conduct an online listening session, with a dial-in option, on ways to improve access to information technology in the federal sector for people with disabilities on September 8 from 2:00 to 5:00 (E). This forum will provide an opportunity for members of the public to suggest steps the federal government can take to improve its acquisition and implementation of accessible technology under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Information is also sought on emerging technologies that may pose barriers to access. People with disabilities, advocates, technology companies, government employees and other interested parties are invited to participate.
Participants can attend by logging onto the webinar, which will be captioned, or by calling in according to the instructions (http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/session-instructions.htm) posted on the Board’s website. Advance registration is not required.
This session is the last in a series held over the past year as part of an administration initiative to improve the access to government information. Under this effort, the Board and the CIO Council, along with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council and the General Services Administration, have organized these listening sessions to engage with citizens, federal employees, and other stakeholders and to collect their comments, ideas, and recommendations. Previous sessions took place in Chicago (September), Washington, D.C. (December), San Diego (March), and Silicon Valley (June).
A published notice provides additional details and background information on the session. For further information, contact Tim Creagan of the Access Board at creagan@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0016 (v), or (202) 272-0074 (TTY).
The U.S. Access Board and the Chief Information Officers Council will conduct an online listening session, with a dial-in option, on ways to improve access to information technology in the federal sector for people with disabilities on September 8 from 2:00 to 5:00 (E). This forum will provide an opportunity for members of the public to suggest steps the federal government can take to improve its acquisition and implementation of accessible technology under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Information is also sought on emerging technologies that may pose barriers to access. People with disabilities, advocates, technology companies, government employees and other interested parties are invited to participate.
Participants can attend by logging onto the webinar, which will be captioned, or by calling in according to the instructions (http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/session-instructions.htm) posted on the Board’s website. Advance registration is not required.
This session is the last in a series held over the past year as part of an administration initiative to improve the access to government information. Under this effort, the Board and the CIO Council, along with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council and the General Services Administration, have organized these listening sessions to engage with citizens, federal employees, and other stakeholders and to collect their comments, ideas, and recommendations. Previous sessions took place in Chicago (September), Washington, D.C. (December), San Diego (March), and Silicon Valley (June).
A published notice provides additional details and background information on the session. For further information, contact Tim Creagan of the Access Board at creagan@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0016 (v), or (202) 272-0074 (TTY).
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
HLAA Joins FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee
Once again this year, HLAA has accepted the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) invitation to be a voting member of the Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC). The mission of the CAC is to make recommendations to the FCC regarding consumer issues and facilitation the participation of consumers, including people with disabilities and underserved populations in proceedings before the FCC.
Topics to be addressed by the Committee will include:
1. Consumer protection and education (e.g., cramming, slamming, consumer friendly billing, detariffing, bundling of services, Lifeline/Linkup programs, customer service, privacy, telemarketing abuses, and outreach to underserved populations such as Native Americans and persons living in rural areas.
2. Access by people with disabilities (e.g., telecommunications relay services, hearing aid compatibility, video description, closed captioning, accessible billing and access to telecommunications products and services) to the extent that these issues are not within the jurisdiction of the Emergency Access Advisory Committee and Video Programming and Emergency Access Advisory Committee created by the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010.
3. Impact upon consumers of new and emerging technologies (e.g., availability of broadband, digital television, cable, satellite, low power FM, and the convergence of these and emerging technologies).
Other members of the CAC include:
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Action Network
• American Foundation for the Blind
• Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults
• Consumer Electronics Association
• CTIA The Wireless Association
• National Association of Broadcasters
For a full listing of CAC members, see the FCC’s meeting notice: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/consumer-advisory-committee
The newly chartered CAC’s first meeting will be held August 17 from 9 am to 4 pm. CAC meetings are open to the public and are webcast with captions at http://www.fcc.gov/live
Topics to be addressed by the Committee will include:
1. Consumer protection and education (e.g., cramming, slamming, consumer friendly billing, detariffing, bundling of services, Lifeline/Linkup programs, customer service, privacy, telemarketing abuses, and outreach to underserved populations such as Native Americans and persons living in rural areas.
2. Access by people with disabilities (e.g., telecommunications relay services, hearing aid compatibility, video description, closed captioning, accessible billing and access to telecommunications products and services) to the extent that these issues are not within the jurisdiction of the Emergency Access Advisory Committee and Video Programming and Emergency Access Advisory Committee created by the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010.
3. Impact upon consumers of new and emerging technologies (e.g., availability of broadband, digital television, cable, satellite, low power FM, and the convergence of these and emerging technologies).
Other members of the CAC include:
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Action Network
• American Foundation for the Blind
• Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults
• Consumer Electronics Association
• CTIA The Wireless Association
• National Association of Broadcasters
For a full listing of CAC members, see the FCC’s meeting notice: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/consumer-advisory-committee
The newly chartered CAC’s first meeting will be held August 17 from 9 am to 4 pm. CAC meetings are open to the public and are webcast with captions at http://www.fcc.gov/live
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Closed Captioning in Movie Theaters
According to a recent posting on Hearing Loss Law/Washington State Communication Access Project (Wash-CAP):
“Washington's Law against Discrimination requires movie theaters to install equipment to show closed captions, according to a ruling issued [July 22, 2011] by a King County Superior Court judge. AMC, America's second-largest theater chain, will therefore be required to install captioning equipment once it converts its theaters to digital projection.”
John Waldo of Wash-CAP notes that Regal Cinema and Cinemark Holdings had earlier agreed to fully equip all their theaters, and have done so. After this ruling, it’s anticipated that AMC will follow suit. Thanks to Wash-CAP for their update on movie captioning: http://www.hearinglosslaw.com/2011/07/articles/washcap-1/public-facilities/washington-theaters-must-show-captioned-movies-judge-rules/index.html
We look forward to hearing from residents and visitors to Washington State who take advantage of the closed captioned showings in Regal, Cinemark and now AMC theaters.
In related news, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced plans to release their notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on movie captioning in October, 2011. That rulemaking will help those of us who do not live in Washington State see more closed captioned movies in theaters.
About a year ago, July, 2010, DOJ issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) on four issues, including movie captioning. http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010.htm In the movie captioning ANPRM, DOJ proposed capping theater owners’ responsibility to provide captioning to 50%, which would only go into effect 5 years after a final rule is issued. We disagreed. HLAA sent our comments to DOJ, noting that 50% was not enough, and 5 years after the final rule was published was not soon enough. In response to an HLAA action alert, many others also sent comments: DOJ received over 1400 comments on the issue.
To see our comments:
http://www.hearingloss.org/advocacy/pdfs/HLAA_Comments_DOJ_ANPRM_MovieCaps.pdf
The step after an “Advanced Notice” is a “Notice of Proposed Rule Making” at which point DOJ will again take comments from the public before the rules are final. Lainey Feingold notes in her news item “DOJ Delays Web Accessibility Regs” http://lflegal.com/2011/07/web-delay that the expected dates for the Notices of Proposed rulemaking were reported in DOJ’s Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda for Spring, 2011. These dates are not hard and fast, but do give us an idea about DOJ's the schedule for release of the NPRM:
• The DOJ’s proposal about next generation 9-1-1 services has a date of September 2011 for publication of an NPRM.
• The DOJ Equipment and Furniture ANPRM addresses a wide range of issues including the accessibility of kiosks, golf carts and medical equipment. There is now a December 2011 date for publication of the NPRM on furniture and equipment. There will then be another public comment period after that, with no prediction when a final rule will be published. ]
• Web accessibility NPRM will not be out until December, 2012.
Thanks to Ms. Feingold for her report on the scheduled release of DOJ’s NPRM.
“Washington's Law against Discrimination requires movie theaters to install equipment to show closed captions, according to a ruling issued [July 22, 2011] by a King County Superior Court judge. AMC, America's second-largest theater chain, will therefore be required to install captioning equipment once it converts its theaters to digital projection.”
John Waldo of Wash-CAP notes that Regal Cinema and Cinemark Holdings had earlier agreed to fully equip all their theaters, and have done so. After this ruling, it’s anticipated that AMC will follow suit. Thanks to Wash-CAP for their update on movie captioning: http://www.hearinglosslaw.com/2011/07/articles/washcap-1/public-facilities/washington-theaters-must-show-captioned-movies-judge-rules/index.html
We look forward to hearing from residents and visitors to Washington State who take advantage of the closed captioned showings in Regal, Cinemark and now AMC theaters.
In related news, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced plans to release their notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on movie captioning in October, 2011. That rulemaking will help those of us who do not live in Washington State see more closed captioned movies in theaters.
About a year ago, July, 2010, DOJ issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) on four issues, including movie captioning. http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010.htm In the movie captioning ANPRM, DOJ proposed capping theater owners’ responsibility to provide captioning to 50%, which would only go into effect 5 years after a final rule is issued. We disagreed. HLAA sent our comments to DOJ, noting that 50% was not enough, and 5 years after the final rule was published was not soon enough. In response to an HLAA action alert, many others also sent comments: DOJ received over 1400 comments on the issue.
To see our comments:
http://www.hearingloss.org/advocacy/pdfs/HLAA_Comments_DOJ_ANPRM_MovieCaps.pdf
The step after an “Advanced Notice” is a “Notice of Proposed Rule Making” at which point DOJ will again take comments from the public before the rules are final. Lainey Feingold notes in her news item “DOJ Delays Web Accessibility Regs” http://lflegal.com/2011/07/web-delay that the expected dates for the Notices of Proposed rulemaking were reported in DOJ’s Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda for Spring, 2011. These dates are not hard and fast, but do give us an idea about DOJ's the schedule for release of the NPRM:
• The DOJ’s proposal about next generation 9-1-1 services has a date of September 2011 for publication of an NPRM.
• The DOJ Equipment and Furniture ANPRM addresses a wide range of issues including the accessibility of kiosks, golf carts and medical equipment. There is now a December 2011 date for publication of the NPRM on furniture and equipment. There will then be another public comment period after that, with no prediction when a final rule will be published. ]
• Web accessibility NPRM will not be out until December, 2012.
Thanks to Ms. Feingold for her report on the scheduled release of DOJ’s NPRM.
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