FCC Should Deny Consumer Group Recon Petition On Accessibility, CEA Says

The FCC should deny a petition for reconsideration filed by consumer groups representing the hearing impaired challenging the commission's accessibility rules for programming guides and user interfaces, CEA said in an ex parte filing posted online Friday. The consumer groups, which include the National Association for the Deaf, disagree with the FCC stance that using voice or a gesture command to activate closed captions is reasonably comparable to using a button, key or icon. A CEA-conducted poll of its TV manufacturer members received no responses indicating plans to provide access to captions only through voice or gesture commands, CEA said.