Accessibility, Simplicity Important Factors in FCC Broadband Labels: Panelists

Disability rights advocates and digital navigators on Wednesday urged the FCC to emphasize accessibility in its forthcoming consumer broadband labels. Several panelists at the commission’s third public hearing on the labels highlighted the need for multiple languages and alternative formats for individuals who may not understand technical language (see 2204080027).

The “most important thing for me” is ensuring that “we do this in a way that's going to be simple and straightforward,” said Commissioner Brendan Carr. “We have to keep it focused on the actual information that will be actually meaningful to the consumer and family making the purchasing decisions,” Carr said, adding “simplicity is a goal.” It's "imperative” the eventual labels are accessible to all consumers, said Commissioner Nathan Simington, “including those with visual and hearing disabilities.”

Including languages other than English should be a “top priority,” said Asian Americans Advancing Justice Director Emily Chi, including languages that “might not be alphabetized and might need verbal or video translations.” Ensuring the labels are also “easily accessible as possible by either adding audio or visual tools will be helpful,” Chi said.

Not every broadband offering is “equal,” said Hispanic Federation Senior Vice President Brent Wilkes. It's “sometimes hard to make sense of what's out there.” Consumers should be able to “make an informed comparison” to see whether any given offering will allow households to engage in distance-learning, telehealth, remote work and training programs, Wilkes said.

“The label needs to be highly visual” because “text-based labels likely are not our most universal option,” said Magdelena Wittenzellner, East Hartford, Connecticut, Public Library's digital navigator. It's also “really important” when considering the placement of the labels to “think about number of clicks before you get to something.” Wittenzellner suggested allowing consumers the option of hovering over something on a screen to view information rather than having to download a label to review information.

Latency upload and download speeds are important factors to consider when setting label requirements, said Gallaudet University IT Director Raja Kushalnagar. “Anything more than a couple of milliseconds of a delay can make it really difficult to track a conversation” for individuals relying on audio or visual cues, Kushalnagar said: “Those are two really key considerations for determining whether you are getting sufficient bandwidth.”

Among the basic label requirements should be price, speed and the amount of data available, Wilkes said, adding it can become “confusing” when there’s “a lot of variation” among those criteria: “Data caps are an important factor for everyone looking at these labels and trying to decide what broadband service will work for them.”

The FCC should ensure that “wherever and however the broadband label information is communicated to consumers” is “done so accessibly,” said the American Council of the Blind's Advocacy and Governmental Affairs Director Clark Rachfal. “Effective communications and alternative performance could include large print for somebody who has low vision,” Rachfal said, but that may not be effective for somebody who is blind. Somebody who is blind may prefer Braille, he said, or “to have the information audibly conveyed to them or in electronic format.”