The FCC shouldn’t mandate what specific functions in a device should be accessible in its implementationnof rules from the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) governingnuser interfaces and programming guides, said Dish and EchoStar in a joint ex parte filing Thursday (http:/bit.ly/18MWUlZ). “It is not necessary for the Commission to mandate any particular functions in order tonensure baseline accessibility,” said Dish and EchoStar. CEA and consumer groups representing the visionimpairednrecommended earlier this week that the commission require manufacturers to make accessible alln11 “essential functions” from a list created by the Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committeen(CD Aug 20 p15). If the FCC follows that recommendation, it should clarify that the accessibility requirementsnwill apply only for functions on the list that are “native” to the device, said the joint filing. The DBSnproviders also want power functions and volume buttons excluded from the list, along with “Configurationn— Setup” and “Display Configuration Info.” The latter two “represent broad, umbrella categories of functionsnthat reach beyond the narrow, more easily identifiable” device functions targeted by the language innthe CVAA, said the filing. The agency should also try to preserve flexibility in any rules governing thenclosed caption function, and not require a “single step” process for activating captions, said EchoStar andnDish. The commission should also give companies flexibility to determine “how to ensure that an appropriatenselection of accessible navigation devices” is available to visually impaired consumers, said the companies.nIf the FCC requires companies to provide “accessible versions of all of the classes of devices theynmake available” and doesn’t allow them to recoup the cost, providers should be allowed to “apply a per-userncharge to all customers” to fund the R&D necessary to create the devices, the filing said.
展开▼
