Accessibility Fans Push FCC to Revisit 2011 Videoconferencing CVAA Rules

Revisit the FCC 2011 rulemaking on videoconferencing requirements of the Communications and Video Accessibility Act, accessibility advocates asked FCC staff, per a filing posted Thursday in docket 10-213. Representatives of the Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, National Association of the Deaf, Hearing Loss Association of America, Gallaudet University Technology Access Program, American Council of the Blind and American Foundation for the Blind attended. "As people move from conversing over phone calls to video conferences, users who are accustomed to connection through relay services cannot participate in this mode of calling as they previously did," they said. Open a docket to facilitate wireline real-time text and interoperability between wireless and wireline RTT, because calls to emergency numbers, for example, can't accept RTT messages, they said: "Especially in light of the prevalence of mental health issues over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is frightening that deaf and hard of hearing people cannot access 988 and 911 services" (see 2101270051).