New rules governing accessibility for user interfaces on...

New rules governing accessibility for user interfaces on set-top boxes and video equipment should ensure that consumers with disabilities won’t have to pay extra to receive accessible devices, said the American Foundation for the Blind in an ex parte filing in docket 12-108 (http://bit.ly/15BUBWd). It’s in connection with the commission’s rulemaking on implementing sections 204 and 205 of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) (CD Aug 5 p9). Comments submitted in the proceeding have focused more on which rules should apply to which devices than on the needs of disabled consumers, AFB said. Disabled consumers expect that “in a few years” it will be “pervasive and routine” for TVs and TV-related equipment to be sold with readily available accessibility features, said AFB. The consumer group said accessible equipment from cable and satellite providers should be made available to disabled consumers after a “simple, straight forward request,” without the requirement that they verify their disability as has been requested by some trade associations (CD Aug 9 p3). “Consumers expect that their request for accessible equipment is sufficient proof in itself of eligibility for/entitlement to such,” said AFB. Accessible equipment provided by manufacturers shouldn’t require consumers to own third-party equipment such as smartphones to operate it correctly, said the filing. A fully implemented CVAA will mean that accessible devices “will saturate the consumer electronics marketplace,” said AFB, and lead to consumers without disabilities “regularly purchasing equipment that they may not even be aware is/can be accessible to people with disabilities."